Always.....
The inspiration for this story is a picture by Pan Hesekiel Shioroi 'Trust Me' subtitled 'never trust a fox'. I purchased the picture, as I found it fascinating. It can be found on my 'favorite art' page
Life on the farm has always been hard; it was harder eighty eight years ago. Being a farm kid was harder still. There was the hard work, chores and long hours, combined with social isolation and boredom. This was the life to which he was born. But something happened, in the summer of his sixth year that changed everything. One night, while he lay in bed, he heard a faint voice....
"Come with me"
Nothing more, just those words. Now, being in that netherworld between wakefullness and sleep, he passed it off to a dream. But, in the summer of his seventh year, he heard it again...
"Come with me...."
This time, there was no question. It was a voice. A small, soft voice, but a voice nevertheless.
Each year, for the next six years, the voice came, beconning him....
'Come with me....'
And so again it came in his thirteenth year. The same time, same time of night....
'Come with me....'
Now, whether it was age, or bravado, he got up, searching for the voice. He walked softly to the window, where he saw a face looking back....
'Come with me....' it repeated.
This time, he followed the voice. Gently prying the screen back, he climbed out the window. Settling himself, he looked up to find the owner of the voice. In the moonlight, he saw a young vixen, a female fox. But this was a fox like no other. As a farmboy, he had seen his share of foxes. But not like tonight. She stood upright, in a human like way. She was a stunning orange-red, with a white blaze down her chest, and black paws. She lay a paw on his wrist, as if to assure him she meant no harm. The touch of her paw was like velvet. It was her eyes that fascinated him. She had these stunning turqouise green eyes, eyes that seemed to peer into his soul. Around her neck were a string of beautiful stones, perfectly matching her eyes...
"All those years, was it....has it been you?"
She seemed to smile, just a little. She nodded affirmativly, then tilted her head, as if to indicate the way they needed to go. And he followed.
The two traveled for a great distance; over great plains, across fields and streams, and deep into the woods...They walk for hours, he was sure he was about to drop, until they came to an opening in the ground. Thge fox reached in, and withdrew a candle in a holder, and a match, which she struck, lighting the candle. She handed him the candle, and with the same motion she used before, bid him to come in. He followed her, deep underground. While it was indeed a hole, it was not unpleasant, or unwelcoming. Reaching the end of the tunnel, he realised that it was her den.
"Get some rest; there is much to do tomorrow...."
Then she lay down in the sleeping place. He curled up next to his vixen. In spite of where he was, he felt very safe, very warm. He curled up with the fox, and fell asleep almost immediatly, warmed by her soft red fur.
Morning came sooner than expected. She lay next to him, saying nothing, She smiled, nuzzling his cheek softly, before she rose, and shook her long fur out, and began to leave the den. Before she could leave, however, he stopped her....
"Why"
She tilted her head, in the way that dogs do, looking as if she was trying to understand.
"Why"
She motioned him on, and he followed. Once they left the den. He sat down, deciding he would go no furthur without understanding what this was about....
"Why?" he asked again.
She curled up on the boy's lap.
"Because you were chosen." she answered, simply
"Chosen? Why?"
"Because, from the first time I saw you, I wanted you for my mate."
"But....why?"
"Why does anyone make such a choice? I just knew. A feeling, a sense. You were the one. "
"But, so many years?"
"We are patient" she replied "We work on natures time."
"Where are we going?"
"I want to introduce you to my world."
"Your world? We live in the same world, don't we?"
"We live in the same space, but we exsist in different worlds"
"Then, show me your world. But first, you speak....I never knew....."
Again, the vixen smiled...
"You never had a fox that needed to communicate with you before. We don't speak amongst ourselves; it's a skill some of us develop when we feel the need to communicate with humans"
"So, you learned to speak....for me?"
She smiled, and nodded her head, then urged him on.....
She indeed showed him a new and different world. He learned about hunting, and pulling scents off the wind, and learning how to sense the presense of predators, all the while seeing the land he grew up on in an entirely new way. And all the while, they would laugh and play.She would let him chase her, then let him catch her. When they came to a stream, she dove in...She came up, and invited him to join her..
"Come in? It's really nice..."
And he knew it was. Removing his clothes, he joined her in the clear still water...
And he kissed the young vixen.
"I'm ....confused. That was nice, but..what was it?" she asked
"A kiss." He replied "A way people show love."
"Love?" she questioned
"Don't ask me to explain that one; adults have tried through the ages, but no one has ever succeded."
"But then, you speak as if it is familiar to you"
"Well, it is. I know I love my family, my dog, my country. I know that someday I will fall in love, and take a mate.."
"Ah, a mate!" she replied "Now I understand
The vixen turned to the boy, waiting to be kissed. He obliged her gladly. They embraced, kissing and fondling in the water all afternoon. As the sun began to lower in the sky, the boy felt a tingling, a feeling in his penis he had never known before The vixen, however, understood. Climbing onto the soft mossy bank, she spoke...
"We fox....when we mate, it is for life. If we mate, you must swear to be my mate, always...."
Wild with passion and desire, he nodded his acceptance. She lay on her back, and invited the mating. She helped the boy with where he needed to be, and with what he needed to do. At that point, nature took over, and he fell totally, completely under the spell of his vixen. They were locked in the mating for hours, until it was very, very, late, and then they returned to the den, and furthur consumated their love through the night. He went home, to many questions, but he never spoke of his secret lover.
Through the summer, and the next, there were many such nights. As the years went by, the farm came to the possesion of the boy, and he farmed it. there was a marraige, but it ended tragically. His bride was bit by a wild animal. Rabies, people said. He remained a bachelor farmer all his life
The orderlies walked the halls of the 'Memory Unit" Such a beneign name; what it was was the Alzheimers' ward of the nursing home. This is where the end stage patients went, when there were no more visitors; there was no one with whom to visit. The orderlies walked the ward, silent now, as the few patients still awake had been sedated. Everything, everywhere was grey or white; The only color being a bright plush fox in the old man's bed. It had green eyes, and a matching green necklace. The orderlies didn't like it; they thought the foxe's eyes followed them around...it gave them the creeps....
"Does he...keep that fox with him all the time? one orderly asked
"Always" the other replied, as they walked down the silent hall, the foxes' eyes following them, never blinking, always vigilant.