Loganoh looked at the sun and noted its position. Then he remembered the position of the moon and the Bright Star last night. He looked at his little sister.
“Arvico. You were born today.”
She huffed. “No, I wasn’t. What a silly thing to say. I was born a long time ago.”
“No. That’s not what I mean.” Loganoh twitched his whiskers and tried to formulate his thoughts. The problem is that Lemmings have no concept of a “year”. When your life span is barely 20 months, you don’t bother counting years.
“What I mean is that you were born on a day like this one, many days ago.”
Arvico squinted at him. “You mean, a sunny day?”
“No, not a sunny day. It might have been a sunny day, that’s not what I’m trying to say.” Loganoh sighed.
“Why do you always breathe like that when you talk to me?” asked Arvico. “It’s rude.”
“It’s just something I noticed. When you look at the sun and moon every day, you realize that their positions repeat. This means that the days repeat. I’ve tried to count them, but the number gets to too high and I forget. It’s hard to count days when they only happen one at a time.”
Arvico giggled. “You count days? That’d be like… counting the herd!”
Loganoh had thought exactly that and pondered it often. “Kind of, but not really. Lemmings are born and die every day, so the number keeps changing. But with days, I suspect that their number is always the same. I think.”
“Our…” Arvico’s hold on the concept of tenuous. “Our days are numbered?”
“What are you two talking about?” Loganoh and Arvico looked over and saw Miriao. She was their Herdlet Mama. “What do you know about the Great Run?”
Loganoh froze. The Great Run had always been a herd rumor, and not a very serious one at that. But ever since his starvation induced nightmare, the thought of the Great Run terrified Loganoh.
“We weren’t talking about that, Ma’am.” Arvico said. “Loganoh was just trying to tell me that there are only so many days and that they repeat. Isn’t that fanciful, Ma’am?”
Miriao sighed with relief and then smiled at the young lemmings. “Well now, do you know that they don’t?”
“But it can’t be, Ma’am. It’s silliness. Just like the talk of the Great Run. That’s not a real thing either. Is it, Ma’am?”
Miriao turned abruptly. “You pups go and play.”
Loganoh sensed something in Miriao’s dismissal. “Ma’am? May I speak to you, please?”
“Fox!” the scream pierced the herd. The cry was made by a Knoght; one of the herd rim guards. Other shouts of “Fox” were passed along through the wide herd. When a Knoght shouts a warning, you had best start running in the other direction. Arvico and Loganoh bolted off together. They were still both fairly fit despite the scarcity of food. Running past slower and weaker lemming was like trying to get through maze. Then another shout from a Knoght was heard: “Foxes”! It was every lemming’s duty to pass along the warnings from the herd rim, but panic was now spreading faster.
“Loganoh, what do we do?” Arvico asked anxiously.
“Just keep running! Don’t look back! Stay at my haunches and just keeping running!”
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Things to Come – Part 6 - A Midsummer Day's Nightmare
Loganoh had not eaten in days. As a result, he spent most of his time sleeping. Today he decided to leave the safety of herdlet and venture back to his favourite spot at the cliffs. This would be the first time since the day he saw the Hwicks throwing lemmings into the ocean.
He hadn’t told anyone about that day. Who would believe him? Why would the Hwicks do it? What purpose would it serve? Why would a lemming watch such a thing? This last question was the one he feared being asked the most. No sane lemming would do such a thing. A sane lemming’s first instinct would be to run away from danger, not to observe it. What kind of a lemming would watch his herdmates be tossed into the sea by those lumbering two-legged Hwicks?
“They’d call me a deviant. They’d be right.” He turned his head side to side to see if anyone heard him. No one was there of course. Loganoh was alone. Lately he feared that he was indeed some sort of deviant. To his mind, his fondness for being alone and his ability to watch gruesome death were proof of it.
Despite his troubled thoughts, the exertion of the walk proved to be too much and Loganoh fell asleep almost instantly upon arriving at the cliffs.
He had nightmare.
It was dark. He could hear a rolling sound, deep like thunder, but much closer. He realized that he was moving. The source of the sound was forcing him forward. The darkness was actually the crush of lemmings all around him. There were so many of them and all running in the same direction. Plainly, it was not just his herdlet but the entire herd. What could make the entire herd run so? He could not see past the lemmings that surrounded him. Where could they possibly be heading?
“What’s going on?” he yelled to the lemming next to him. “What happened?”
The other lemming moved his mouth and made sounds, but he could not hear the words over the hundreds of running lemming feet. Loganoh noticed the expression on the lemmings face. The mouth was smiling, but the eyes were empty. The face scared Loganoh. He noticed that the other lemmings around him all shared the same euphoric yet vacuous expression.
The run had brought them to a crest of a hill and for the first time Loganoh could see what lay before them. He was right; it was the entire herd. They covered the earth in front of him. He looked ahead and saw that they were heading for the cliffs. Loganoh choked on his breath as he saw the first lemmings run right off the edge of the cliff without any hesitation.
Loganoh’s legs gave out but the throng kept moving him forward. He tried to dig his paws into the ground but he ended up being pushed into a roll by the other lemmings. He tried desperately to turn around, hoping to climb over the lemmings behind him. It was no use. He couldn’t do anything to slow his pace let alone stop.
He tried to yell a warning, but he couldn’t hear his own voice. All he could hear were the hundreds of lemming paws running on the ground and the growing sound of the sea. Suddenly the ground beneath his feet disappeared. He looked down at his paws and all he could see were lemmings in free fall and the sea far below.
He hadn’t told anyone about that day. Who would believe him? Why would the Hwicks do it? What purpose would it serve? Why would a lemming watch such a thing? This last question was the one he feared being asked the most. No sane lemming would do such a thing. A sane lemming’s first instinct would be to run away from danger, not to observe it. What kind of a lemming would watch his herdmates be tossed into the sea by those lumbering two-legged Hwicks?
“They’d call me a deviant. They’d be right.” He turned his head side to side to see if anyone heard him. No one was there of course. Loganoh was alone. Lately he feared that he was indeed some sort of deviant. To his mind, his fondness for being alone and his ability to watch gruesome death were proof of it.
Despite his troubled thoughts, the exertion of the walk proved to be too much and Loganoh fell asleep almost instantly upon arriving at the cliffs.
He had nightmare.
It was dark. He could hear a rolling sound, deep like thunder, but much closer. He realized that he was moving. The source of the sound was forcing him forward. The darkness was actually the crush of lemmings all around him. There were so many of them and all running in the same direction. Plainly, it was not just his herdlet but the entire herd. What could make the entire herd run so? He could not see past the lemmings that surrounded him. Where could they possibly be heading?
“What’s going on?” he yelled to the lemming next to him. “What happened?”
The other lemming moved his mouth and made sounds, but he could not hear the words over the hundreds of running lemming feet. Loganoh noticed the expression on the lemmings face. The mouth was smiling, but the eyes were empty. The face scared Loganoh. He noticed that the other lemmings around him all shared the same euphoric yet vacuous expression.
The run had brought them to a crest of a hill and for the first time Loganoh could see what lay before them. He was right; it was the entire herd. They covered the earth in front of him. He looked ahead and saw that they were heading for the cliffs. Loganoh choked on his breath as he saw the first lemmings run right off the edge of the cliff without any hesitation.
Loganoh’s legs gave out but the throng kept moving him forward. He tried to dig his paws into the ground but he ended up being pushed into a roll by the other lemmings. He tried desperately to turn around, hoping to climb over the lemmings behind him. It was no use. He couldn’t do anything to slow his pace let alone stop.
He tried to yell a warning, but he couldn’t hear his own voice. All he could hear were the hundreds of lemming paws running on the ground and the growing sound of the sea. Suddenly the ground beneath his feet disappeared. He looked down at his paws and all he could see were lemmings in free fall and the sea far below.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Things to Come – Part 5 – Apocalypse for One
It wasn’t going at all well.
Arvico had decided to take her brother Loganoh’s advice and experience being alone all by herself. This struck her as an absolutely ludicrous thing to do, but she had an adventurous spirit and needed little prompting to try anything at least once. She had only been alone long enough to stray out of sight from the herd and all she had to show for it was a nauseous feeling.
“This is utterly awful.” She thought and wondered how Loganoh could stand it. But she persisted and soon enough she found something to take her mind off her uneasy stomach.
“What is that horrible smell?” Arvico was not one to let her curiosity go unanswered, so she followed the smell despite the fact that it got worse.
She discovered the source. It was a gull. It lay motionless on the ground with one of its wings up in an awkward position. The gull smelled almost like it was dead… but not quite. Arvico approached the gull.
“Being you rat?” said the gull in its thick gull accent. Until it had spoken Arvico had trouble discerning where in the pile of feathers the head was located.
“No.” said Arvico.
“Being you eating me?” asked the gull. Its voice was very frail.
“Ew!” thought Arvico. “No.” she said.
“Being you wanting what?” moaned the gull.
“Are you alright?” Arvico asked.
“Being you eating me not, then being you leaving. Am dying and am wanting dying in quiet and peace. Being you go!” snapped the gull.
“You smell bad, but I don’t think you’re dying. What are you doing?” She rounded the gull to look into his face.
The gull leapt to its feet in a flurry of feathers, dust and stink. Arvico winced and the gust of foul air.
“Being you very rude! Being you bothering why? Being you keeping away predators. Foxes, rats, owls, stoats, skua! Being you here, being they not!” said the gull, his energy and posture greatly improved.
“You should be thankful I found you first. Any of those things might have eaten you alive!”
“Am wanting that! Being you stupid!” The gull heaved his chest.
Arvico paused a moment wondering if she had heard the gull correctly. “But that’s crazy. Why would you want to die? You’re crazy.” She concluded and approached the gull.
The gull hopped backwards, confounded by Arvico’s fearlessness.
“Being you minding matters your own!” The gull stammered.
“And you talk funny too.”
The gull was truly insulted now. “Bah! Ech! Cho! Ga!” Frustration choked the bird.
“I don’t think those were even words.” Said Arvico. “Not even bird words!”
The gull seethed silently and stared at the bold little female lemming. Instead of saying anything further the gull flapped its wings and flew away, leaving Arvico with a fresh gust of his terrible smell. Only after she had recovered, did she realize that she was alone again.
Arvico had decided to take her brother Loganoh’s advice and experience being alone all by herself. This struck her as an absolutely ludicrous thing to do, but she had an adventurous spirit and needed little prompting to try anything at least once. She had only been alone long enough to stray out of sight from the herd and all she had to show for it was a nauseous feeling.
“This is utterly awful.” She thought and wondered how Loganoh could stand it. But she persisted and soon enough she found something to take her mind off her uneasy stomach.
“What is that horrible smell?” Arvico was not one to let her curiosity go unanswered, so she followed the smell despite the fact that it got worse.
She discovered the source. It was a gull. It lay motionless on the ground with one of its wings up in an awkward position. The gull smelled almost like it was dead… but not quite. Arvico approached the gull.
“Being you rat?” said the gull in its thick gull accent. Until it had spoken Arvico had trouble discerning where in the pile of feathers the head was located.
“No.” said Arvico.
“Being you eating me?” asked the gull. Its voice was very frail.
“Ew!” thought Arvico. “No.” she said.
“Being you wanting what?” moaned the gull.
“Are you alright?” Arvico asked.
“Being you eating me not, then being you leaving. Am dying and am wanting dying in quiet and peace. Being you go!” snapped the gull.
“You smell bad, but I don’t think you’re dying. What are you doing?” She rounded the gull to look into his face.
The gull leapt to its feet in a flurry of feathers, dust and stink. Arvico winced and the gust of foul air.
“Being you very rude! Being you bothering why? Being you keeping away predators. Foxes, rats, owls, stoats, skua! Being you here, being they not!” said the gull, his energy and posture greatly improved.
“You should be thankful I found you first. Any of those things might have eaten you alive!”
“Am wanting that! Being you stupid!” The gull heaved his chest.
Arvico paused a moment wondering if she had heard the gull correctly. “But that’s crazy. Why would you want to die? You’re crazy.” She concluded and approached the gull.
The gull hopped backwards, confounded by Arvico’s fearlessness.
“Being you minding matters your own!” The gull stammered.
“And you talk funny too.”
The gull was truly insulted now. “Bah! Ech! Cho! Ga!” Frustration choked the bird.
“I don’t think those were even words.” Said Arvico. “Not even bird words!”
The gull seethed silently and stared at the bold little female lemming. Instead of saying anything further the gull flapped its wings and flew away, leaving Arvico with a fresh gust of his terrible smell. Only after she had recovered, did she realize that she was alone again.
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