Tooth & Claw (ePub)

circle, then looked to her adoringly, his body quivering with excitement, hind end shaking with the force of his curled tail’s wagging.
Laughing, she pulled a small bag from the pocket of her worn jeans & gave the excited aussie mix one of it’s contents. Not for any special reason, just simply because he was there & was behaving himself. She took great pleasure in spoiling him.
Pleased with his unexpected goodie, the dog swallowed it & wriggled against her legs, hoping for another, but only receiving a few affectionate scratches & a kiss to the muzzle once the bag was put away. After a few minutes he once more settled at her bare feet, occasionally biting at an itch on one of his forelegs. For several long moments, he was watched enviously, his slender, elegant legs & sleek, colorful coat, even his short, folded ears were all things she would have loved to possess herself.
The young woman finally turned her attention back to the lake. The duck was still there, floating serenely. She could almost imagine it was napping, being warmed by the sun to counteract the year-round chill of the spring fed lake. ‘I should buy a duck next time I’m at Wal-Mart.’ She thought to herself fondly. 'It’s been over a year since I’ve had some.’ But then a new idea sprang up, unwanted & unwelcome. The imagined taste of roast duck soured in her mouth as a single word floated up from the dark recesses of repressed memory. ‘Lakeland.’
“Ugh, felk the duck.” She spat in annoyance, replacing the expletive with one of her own creation. “And felk that bastage at the duck lake as well. Felk all those bastages.” While not offended by such language, the use of replacement curses was a habit left over from several years back, when she had worked in an inbound call center. Thus, the commandment given, the unpleasant memories of the city Lakeland & those who she had once interacted with there so many long years ago were once more forgotten.
The thoughts were quickly replaced by much more pleasant ones. “I should work on one of my stories today.” She spoke aloud, another old habit from time beyond her memory. Jackalope, well used to such habits, mostly ignored her speech unless he felt it was directed at him. “Hm, I should work on Taiyra’s story. But I almost feel like writing about Nadirah.” Both names belonged to characters from the game World of Warcraft that had long ago taken life of their own & had several short stories written about their various adventures in the game’s digital world.
As the breeze came again, this time from the opposite direction, the young woman closed her eyes & tilted back her head, enjoying the cool caress of the wind against her face. Despite it being winter, she knew her skin would have it’s customary darkness. She had no use for tanning beds or laying in the sun, her lineage itself provided her with skin that tanned easily but rarely burned. Her sun worshiping mother’s jealousy over it was a source of great amusement.
The sudden slamming of a faraway door & angry shouts finally shattered the peace of the morning. An argument, full of cursing & words of hatred, drifted into the young woman’s ears & she sighed, shaking her head. “Thank Naomha that’s not my family.” She muttered softly while attempting to ignore the fighting from across the street. Naomha, another of her replacements, was the name of her deity, which she regarded with little more reverence than she did anything else.
“Naomha,” she had explained once to an eager listener. “Is not the christian god. She is not all vengeance & wrath & rules. She guides with a gentle hand & suggestions. You’re free to ignore her suggestions & do your own thing without fear of making her upset & being punished, you simply deal with the consequences of your decisions, good or bad. Naomha simply says that life will be easier & more pleasant if you go a certain way or don’t do certain things, but ultimately, it’s up to you. Thankfully, she never says I told you so.”
The young woman sighed sadly & turned away from the lake. The argument across the street sounded like it was just getting started, the pleasant stillness & calm of the lake irrevocably lost. It was time to go home. Rising eagerly to his feet, the Jackalope followed closely beside, pausing only to pee on some interesting patch of grass before returning to his place at her left.
Looking down at the dog, the young woman once more smiled. She owned her own home, she had a well mannered dog, & she lived just a few feet down the road from the lake. The neighborhood itself was often a quiet, peaceful place, surrounded by woods & the various wildlife that inhabited them. Despite the lack of a few minor luxuries & occasional, though brief, pangs of longing for the company of other people, she was happy.
“Life is good.” She said cheerfully to the dog, pulling out the bag of treats from her pocket to reward him once more for nothing. “And today is a good day.”

"I looked heavenward for angels, while beautiful demons showed me the way." - Shannon Nacyl