Fox and I by Catherine Raven

Author:Catherine Raven [Raven, Catherine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General Fiction
Publisher: Penguin Canada
Published: 2021-07-06T00:00:00+00:00

I was setting up the scope when the sun swords appeared.

The thick puffy cloud stack billowed, glowing orange along the bottom. The sun was partially visible above the clouds. Six distinct rays shooting from the sun reached toward the ground, forming an inverted fan of light. I walked outside, where light rays—sun swords—surrounded me. It was like being in a tepee encircled with light instead of a canvas tarp.

Orange splotches appeared in a hanging meadow near Fox’s den, one large piece topping a boulder, smaller pieces blowing through the grass. Higher magnification revealed hairs waving from the splotches. Horrified, I realized they were pieces of Fox’s hide. I regretted telling the class that Fox would be gone when I got home. More so, I regretted saying I would use him for research if he returned. Regret crossed the thin line into guilt.

After realizing that Fox was dead, I kept my eyes on the blowing hide until darkness separated us. I would like to tell you about sadness and loneliness and about losing my fox. But I won’t. Because I didn’t lose my fox. He wasn’t mine to lose. And I could not imagine the fox and me as a pair. I was, relatively speaking, too insignificant here. But I could sense our valley, with its bushy, round olive trees, knobby hills, and junipers spilling down the draws, and I sensed that we were all together one fox down, and missing him.

I went to bed thinking that one fewer fox would be sleeping in my valley tonight, and that tomorrow might not be as good as yesterday. How would I go on? Rejoice that nothing was keeping me from focusing on a responsible job? Leave this isolated patch of thatch and cranky magpies? That’s what a rational and practical person would do. An image of the Three Lakes cabin on a grassy knoll above an emerald lake appeared, and I heard tree frogs singing. I couldn’t forget Fox any more easily than I could forget those tree frogs at Three Lakes.

I would not be able to share that realization with anyone because I hadn’t told anyone he was here in the first place. But on the other hand, no one was going to tell me, Animals die! Death is inevitable! Nature is cruel! And I was grateful for that.

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.