Thursday, September 17, 2020

The Sum of your Sins

Alejandra the Shepherdess spoke with animals and could heal them with a touch and the peasants prayed to her because of it.  When she died they put her in a simple cave and sang songs and danced for the animals that had gathered from miles around.  A rumor is a lie people want to be true and a rumor sprung up that she'd been courted by a prince who sent a coffer heavy with gems as a dowry.  Some seek to profane her humble cave in quest of those gems and the animals have taken up to try and keep them out and drive them out and stop them. 

On entering the cave, a wave of rats will threaten and gnash their teeth.  If these are overcome a group of small dogs comes biting and barking.  Any rats that have been killed will be joined to the bodies of the dogs and now lively again and biting.  Then a couple boars will come to drive away the unwanted.  Any dogs slain will writhe and yap from the shoulders of the boar as if joined in birth and rats slain will be there too.  And finally a great old bull will come spinning and kicking and goring with great horns.  And any boars slain will jut from its shoulders, tusks flaring, and any dogs slain will jut from the back of the bull, all along its sides , and any rats slain will be peppered about like fruit from a briar, grasping anything it touches and trampling it and rendering it asunder and this is the sum of your sins.

2 comments:

  1. "A rumor is a lie people want to be true" I like that. Your own, or quoted from someone?

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  2. Thanks, I made it up. I'm not sure I believe it, but I was trying for a kind of chronicler's voice.

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