We Speak Through the Mountain by Premee Mohamed

Author:Premee Mohamed
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: ECW Press
Published: 2024-06-18T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

The sun is almost down when I see it, and I war internally between declaring this a Yes, you did it and a No, you didn’t, you’re too far for a long time. But the buck stands still for ten seconds, fifteen, twenty. At a minute, I detach myself from behind the outcropping of stone and slink towards it, staying low, beckoning for Clementine to follow me. My heart is pounding. Is hers? Can they hear that? Prey animals have senses like you can’t even imagine. A whole different world than the one we live in. It’s a miracle we manage to kill any at all. I wonder when this elk last saw a human. Maybe it never has.

I move when the trees rustle in the wind, making the same sound as when the wind hits my clothes. The light is low and golden. My shadow is as long as a tree. I am part of this whole landscape, I am outside the perimeter, I remind myself. If I wanted to go anywhere, anywhere in the whole world, I could do that. If.

The elk is enormous. I had hugely underestimated his size. Up close, he sails past impressive and into magisterial. And threatening too, and for some reason worse because he is standing so still, scenting the wind. He looks charged-up with potential energy, as if the longer he stands there, the more he is collecting, so that when he moves it will be with terrifying speed. His ruff is so thick it looks as if he has killed a grizzly to hang around his neck.

I also think I thought his antlers would be blunt. They are not. He has adorned himself with knives.

They were right, back home. I have come to this place of danger. I have left safety and come to danger with open arms.

He is beautiful. He is like the god of the mountains. What would our god be back home? A mangy rabbit, a sickly feral dog?

I glance behind myself quickly to make sure that Clementine is still there, and that I have an escape route that is clear of obstacles and the motion alerts him to my presence. Still in silence, he takes a step towards us. His head goes down, his eyes flare like candle flames. Still in silence. Then he snorts, a sharp, frightening sound that hits me in the pit of my stomach. Takes another step towards us. And another. We are unmoving. We are not a threat. Please don’t charge.

He stops. I stop. I did not come to worship you, I want to tell him, and I don’t want it to sound like a plea, like I am pleading for my life. I want him to see us as equals. Only to look. I mean neither worship nor blasphemy. Don’t kill me. There’s a whole world I need to change.

The sun is going down. I back away from him, hiding in the dimness, in the scarlet darkening to indigo, and only when he is out of sight do I turn again and begin to run back to campus.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.