A scowl of sun struck down my mother,

An immense wave of relief overcomes the girl when the beast finally lets her alone. Time proves a lack of threat from the man but her annoyance does not let her anxiety ebb. She tests her legs while she has the chance but those delicate stilts buckle and draw her violently into the sand. Incisors grind against the grit pressed against them. Lashes flutter and then close. When they open the bastard is upon her again. She stares bitterly and eyes the flesh struggling at his teeth. Scales slide smoothly against her face before hitting the sand with a muffled thud. Bitterness becomes distrust.

tolling her grave with golden gongs,

He shakes. Salty water rains upon her without warning and salts her left eye which shuts the way a snail contracts. One-eyed, her stare is relentless and there is no movement or response to this action until he breaks the thin air with his foreign speech. Desperation grips her at the muzzle and she roars back at him before hastily snatching the fish between her gritty teeth. Snarls erupt between slow, deliberate chews. Her eyes do not leave his. Her tail purposely kicks sand his way with relentless agitation.

but the sting of bees took away my father.