A Porch of My Own

A Porch of My Own

Friday, March 1, 2013

The Last of the Mohicans

He's a scrappy little fella and in spite of his size and their numbers, he doesn't hesitate to go in and try to stand his ground. He's the only one left of the four of his kind that ruled his kingdom here in the fall. He considers this particular ground his, even though he has conceded the other places to them without a fight. 

He goes in from the higher ground first, coming at them from above with his arms waving, making his war cry to try and intimidate them. It's his only hope since he is so outnumbered. He has to bluff his way in. He has faced the reality that he can't run them all off. He is outnumbered 50 times over. His only hope is that they let him share this land that once was his alone. His plan is not to appear weak. They spot weakness in an instant and show no mercy in the face of it.

As soon as he hits the ground they attack. Again and again they repel him. He retreats to the last sanctuary in the kingdom. One that has been largely ignored throughout the year. He knows there is food there and he thinks he can hold out. Maybe they will move on later and he can return to the land he once roamed freely.

He is wrong. They have split their numbers and have taken the last hope he had from him. Beaten and hungry, he makes his retreat. Like others taken over by stronger and more powerful enemies, he is defeated. The powerful show no mercy to him. They rule now by their size and their numbers, as has happened throughout the history of the world. They allow him to live, but he lives at their pleasure, cut off from his food and water supply.

The weak live at the mercy of the strong. Once he was powerful and the land was his to control as far as he could see and travel. His enemies were powerful but they were small in numbers and he had his defenses. He was quick and he could hide when he could not defeat them in battle. His strength was that he endured. That will be his strength now if he and his kind are to survive.

Not everyone likes him. He has a reputation of destroying things others love and he is often cruel himself. He is a killer of babies and a destroyer of crops. His ways are hard but he is trying to survive in a hard world. He knows no other life.

He has one powerful friend and one only. Though she loves the new invaders and is in fact partial to them above all others, she has a soft spot for a beaten people. It is both her weakness and her strength. She will make sure his food supply is replaced when they move on and she will try and stay the hand of the most powerful enemy of all. The one who would put a bullet in his head and be done with him.

The flock of wild turkey hens are back and they have the squirrel on the run. Spring has come to the ranch.