The Jungle

The Jungle

It is dark. The air is thick and the leaves are dense. The heaviness of rain hangs ominously above.

It is night. The walls pulse and seethe with life. It is claustrophobic. It is hell.

All beings are one. The floor throbs, walls close in and recede. Inhale, exhale: it breathes. It suffocates.

Noises are eerie but silence is deafening. It is the jungle.

Rite of Spring

Rite of Spring

Raindrops fall like water balloons, gently bursting at contact with human flesh. They are cool and refreshing. The sun is asleep in its blanket of clouds and the air wraps around you like a womb, soft and calming. The day goes hazily by as almost a waking dream and before you know it, you feel as though you have been hibernating for an eternity.

The Rite of Spring has begun.

Desafío

Desafío

Me dijiste que no pudiera hacerlo,
pero lo hice.
Me dijiste que fuera inepta,
pero soy lista.
Me dijiste que fuera débil,
pero soy valiente.
Me lo dijiste, y te desafío-
yo no desisto.

Musings of a Cave Bear

Musings of a Cave Bear

It is raining, like it does most days outside the cave now. You sit on your haunches, munching on leftover bones from a deer kill earlier this morning. Luckily, you are alone and don't have to guard your food as warily. You know you are the only being with any presence in this cave. Bones are strewn about all over the dirt floor from ages past, of some gawky creatures called humans. There aren't many of those around anymore.

You give hardly a thought to them, except to occasionally reminisce on those tasty morsels they provided when you brought one down. That was pretty easy to do, being that the world outside is pretty flat – not many places for a human, or any other animal, for that matter, to hide. There just aren't many animals of any kind around anymore.

The earth seems to have been permanently scorched, too. Your lips become parched easily and you are soon dehydrated after only a short venture into the desolate world outside the cave to search for food. Even the rain holds no relief; it is mostly acidic these days.

It seems like an eternity has passed since you were small and food was everywhere. You remember the days when a constant thunder roared in the distance; the endless crashing left your ears always ringing. It created chaos, every being searched for somewhere to hide from the smoke and fire, somewhere to be safe.

Except for the humans. They stayed out in the open, unafraid of the thunder; rather, they seemed to be the cause of it. You found yourself in the cave where you are now, though back then you had kin with you. You are the only one left now.

You finish the bones and retreat further back into your cave. Winter is coming – time to hibernate – and there is no telling how cold this one will be.

*Picture courtesy of Julie Hamlet