Raven

The Incident

I stood on top of a rock, looking over the land and keeping my eyes on the sheep. Cecilia was gone. She left every day. Every morning, she would take the bag on her shoulders and not come back for hours. I hate the bag. It means she leaves. A few years ago, I chewed up her former bag. The next day, she had a new one. She left again. I whimpered for hours. There was no way to keep her here.

This time, it's passed sun down. She's not home yet, and I don't think I've ever been so worried. I use the sheep to keep my mind off her.

As I watch them graze and settle down, the chickens begin to make a fuss. I turn and sniff the air. A fox is nearby.  Whether he's pestering the chickens or only wondering, he better get off my turf. I growl loudly from deep in my throat as I advance on the hen house.

I see feathers flying. I hurry inside and see a blood covered fox gnawing at the mangled corpses of what used to be Cecilia's hens. I bark to intimidate him. He hisses back, ready to take me. We circle for a bit before he leaps. A scratch through my eye. I whine loudly. If it were other circumstances I would retreat. But he took somthing from Cecilia.  He wasn't leaving alive.

The fox darts for the exit and I block his path. I snap at him. He evades seemingly with grace. Showing his own jaws, he bites at my paws. I snap his ear and rip off a big chunk before he slips between my legs and tries to escape into the woods.

I chase him. I grab his tail in my jaws and take off some hide and fur. He cries out and struggles to get away. I pin him down and grab his neck in my jaws before wringing it around. I toss him around like a rag doll. The bastard deserves worse.

I hear a car engine and slowly make my way back home. I limp on my back leg and struggle to navigate with my single eye. The taste of blood pervades my mouth.  Mine or the fox's? Time will tell.

I stumble out of the woods and back to the hen house. No live chickens remain. Not even eggs. They were smashed in the frenzy or eaten by the predator. I lay down and weep. Cecilia is going to be so upset. Her chicks, her roosters, her hens. . . All destroyed by an animal with no care for humans.

"Raven!" I hear and look up. Cecilia drops to her knees and cries as she scoops me up in her arms. I whimper and lick her cheeks, lapping up the tears. I hate to see her cry. "What happened, Boy?" She asks and rubs my ears and fur. "What happened?"

I wish more than anything that I had a way to tell her. She deserves to know.

She takes me by the collar and leads me to my dog house.  She ties me to the door. She's never done that before. . .

She leaves and I pull at the chain around my neck. She's leaving and crying. Oh, what have I done. . ?