put me out of my misery

"Stay here."

Grim was never good at listening or doing what he was told, and today was hardly any different. Mother had gone off to hunt, or try to anyway. Something about the season being harder to find prey and actually bring it down. She never told him much about her ventures in search of food, but he knew it must be hard. They hadn't eaten anything substantial in days. She was giving him everything she found and he if he knew any better, he'd notice her thinning away into nothing. Her fur wasn't as soft as he remembered, that much he knew. If he'd stopped to think about it, he'd probably realize that she wasn't as soft either. She was losing weight, and fast. Grimshaw, on the other hand, was a pudgy little thing that never seemed to stop growing. Every day his mother told him how big he was and how surprised she was that he was larger than most puppies she'd ever known for his age. He loved the attention, but he'd never known any other puppies to compare himself to. Was he really that big?

He usually was pretty good about staying out of trouble, even if he didn't listen to his mothers rules about staying where she'd left him. He silently promised to never go far and today wasn't any different. Except something was different about today. His ears flicked as he heard a rustling in the leaves and a strange sound that didn't sound much like anything he or his mother had ever made. With a tilt of his head, heavy puppy paws quickly hurried in the direction of the rustling bush. Peering around the edge of the foliage, he wasn't sure what he saw, but it was looking back right at him.

At first he was startled. He'd never seen anyone besides his mother and the things she brought back for him to eat. This didn't look like anything he'd ever eaten before. The eyes on the new animal were as large as his, but round and different. He didn't know what he was looking at, but they seemed just as spooked about them as they did of him. He tried not to let it show, though, and carefully moved around the bush to show himself. Standing as tall as he good, he forced a smile to try and seem friendly to the strange creature. Mom wouldn't be too happy if he got hurt, but maybe if he made a friend she would be!

"Hi, my name's Grimshaw! What's yours?" His tail wagged excitedly behind him, studying the creature and waiting for a response that never came. The other collected themselves and scurried through the bushes, leaving Grim to frown and follow after the young creature. Perhaps it was a bad idea, though.

As he pushed through the mangrove's overgrowth, he must have spooked the young animal. It made a strange hissing sound and ran off, leaving Grimshaw frowning in his place. Confused, he wondered why the other ran away from him. Had he done something wrong? His bottom lip pooched out a little in a pout as he thought about what he'd done and how it might have scared the other. He'd admit that he'd never introduced himself to someone before, but was he really that big and scary?

Lost in his thoughts, he hadn't heard the new sounds of rustling in the overgrowth. A roar erupted from his right and Grimshaw instinctively cowered, frightened by the sudden sound and approaching beast. A grown version of what he'd just tried to make friends with, it seemed. It was advancing on him though, the complete opposite of the other one, and making strange noises of hissing and growling. Grimshaw whimpered but was too startled to move as his legs trembled and his tail tucked up tight against his rear and between his rear legs. Silver eyes were wide, locked on to the cougar and full of fear.

A split second later, the cougar charged and lashed a paw out at him and smacked him straight in the face. He could feel the sharp claws tear at his skin as contact was made and it simply tossed him to the side. He yelped at the pain and cried as he tried to scramble away from the cougar, towards whatever he could get to that might protect him. The cougar was advancing on him again, certainly not finished and readying another attack. Grimshaw kept scooting away until he felt himself press into something - mother.

Where she had come from, he didn't know, but he wasn't thinking about that now. Her deep growls were scaring even him as he looked at her through teary eyes to see her fur bristled and teeth bared towards the cat. She was small, but she was mean. He'd never seen this side of her before, but he was almost certain he'd be seeing it when she was done with this cat! He should have just listened and stayed where she told him to. Stupid, stupid, stupid! He hurried to get behind his mother and hide from the cougar, but kept his eyes on the battle as it begun.

The cat was much larger than his mother, but he knew she could do it. They wrestled and played all the time, he knew she was tough. He always won of course, but she didn't make it easy! A paw swiped out at her and made the same contact with her as it had him, though they were much less successful at sending her skidding across the ground. The flesh on her face was torn too and blood ran down her face as it was his, but it hardly seemed to faze her. She lunged at the cougar, but her attack was not successful. The cat stopped her in mid air and tossed her onto the ground with another swipe of it's paw. His eyes widened in fear, praying his mother would get up. She tried and she struggled, but the cat simply knocked her back down. Again and again until she stopped trying.

A strange sound rang out and the cougar sniffed at his mother before heading off in the direction the young one went. Once the cat was out of sight, Grimshaw drug himself out of his bushes and flung himself at his mother. "Mom? ...Mom?" He sniffled, pressing his paw into her shoulder to try and wake her. He tried again, harder this time, with no success. His silver eyes searched her body, noticing the tears and blood everywhere. His breathing became rapid, if it wasn't really already, and he cried out. "Mom?! Mom!" He cried, pressing both paws into her shoulder now, but he already knew. She looked too much like the meals she had brought home for him, all bloody and limp and... lifeless.

Tears poured down his face, stinging as they crossed the wound on his cheek. He pressed himself into her, burying himself up under her foreleg and sobbed into her chest. "I'm sorry, Momma..."


"Speech!"

TABLE & CODE © SKELLE 2020