The Means to an End
By: dneltheexmage
Thread: Iron Writer
Posted: July 12, 2003
Do you see me?
I have hopped on this dry land for three long months.
The air is dry but cool. This land is a good place to live.
My home is burrow under a rock near a prickly bush. Not very many plants grow on this land.
Most of the plants grow by the person.
The person lives in a big burrow, under a very big rock. He comes out some days and puts water on the plants. When he is gone, I eat some of the plants and drink some of the water. Sometimes I feel a stone hit me, and then I hop into the prickly bush, where the person can`t see me.
Today is the start of another hot day.
I saw a strange creature come up the path today. It was not as large as the person, but it was still big. It was very colorful. It walked up the path to the big hole where the person lives and made a loud noise. I was scared and hid in the prickly bush so that the creature could not see me.
The person came out of its hole. The creature started to chatter at the person, who started to chatter back. I knew the person and the creature weren`t watching, so I hopped to the plants and began eating them.
But the creature saw me.
It pointed to me and chattered, and the person did not chatter back but just watched me. I froze for a bit because I was afraid. But no stone hit me.
I hopped back into the prickly bush where they couldn`t see me.
---
Do you see me?
I have flown over this brown floor for three long days.
The air currents carry me wherever I need to go. This floor is a good place to live.
I cling to green plants whenever I need to rest. There is moisture to drink.
Today is the start of another hot hour.
This hour, I perched on a soft floor that was pink. There was some moisture on it, which I drank. Then the floor moved suddenly. I had to fly away to cling to a green plant.
There was a different new floor this hour. The new floor moved. It was covered in white plants. There wasn`t any moisture, but there were smaller creatures that I killed and ate. I like this new floor.
The new floor stopped moving.
This hour, I felt waves of air move over me. I left the new floor and bumped into a pink floor. It was soft and covered in moisture. Then it moved.
I flew away and clung to a green plant. Waves of air were moving over me. I clung tighter.
I am clinging to a green plant this hour.
---
Do you see me?
I have crawled over this arid mountaintop for three long years.
The air is clean and fresh up here. This mountaintop is a good place to live. But I have lived in other places before.
I live in a depression underneath a rock. It is near a large cave, where an old man lives. The old man is bent and walks with three legs, one of them wooden. He keeps a garden, and I eat the insects that fly in the garden.
Today is the start of another hot month.
Something new happened today. A being walked up the path that comes from the foot of the mountain as I hunted insects in the garden. I crawled up that path myself three years ago to reach the mountaintop. The being was mostly covered in white hair, though other parts of him were red and yellow with black lines; he carried something large with him, made of leather. I knew it was leather for I once lived with cows. The being came up the path and stopped in front of the cave, then shouted. The old man came out, and the being immediately began speaking to the old man. The old man listened, then spoke back to the being, and waved his wooden leg at the being. The being pointed at something else in the garden, though I could not see what. Then the old man nodded and went back into his cave.
The being walked back down the path.
I went back under my rock and sat.
---
Today was wet.
I hid at first from the wetness coming from the sky. But then water started to run into my burrow. When I left my burrow, I saw the wetness only made me wet, and I knew it wasn`t bad.
I drank some water. There was water everywhere.
I went to the plants and ate some, and no stones hit me. So I ate more plants. I ate plants until I couldn`t eat any more. Then I hopped around. I was very wet.
I hopped into the big burrow under the big rock. I heard a sound, and a stone hit me.
I hopped back under the prickly bush, where no one could see me.
---
There is moisture this hour.
I am covered in moisture. I drank some, and then more came. There is too much moisture.
I was clinging to a green plant, but now I am flying around the moisture in the cold air.
There is a floor here that is gray. It is warm and dry. I cling to the gray floor and wait for the air to become dry again.
---
It rained today.
I decided to enjoy the cool air, and spent the day out from under my rock. The rain flowed down my shell as I sat in the garden. There weren`t many insects out, though I did find a large worm to eat. I haven`t seen many of them since I moved up to this mountaintop.
Sometime during the day, a large hare went into the old man`s cave. He didn`t stay long, though; I think the old man threw something at him, and he went bounding back into the sparse brush to hide. I`ve known many hares in my lifetime. He`s no different from the rest- flighty and nervous.
The rain let up after a few hours. The ground was completely saturated by that time. There were little puddles and rivulets running all over, and not a patch of dry dirt to be seen. Having fully enjoyed my time in the rain, I decided it was time to return to my rock and go to sleep.
---
I saw a strange creature come up the path today. It was very colorful.
The creature stopped at the big hole where the person lives. It started to chatter, and the person came out. The creature gave the person something, and the person gave the creature something. Then the creature walked away.
The person came over near my burrow. I hopped out and away, to try and lead it away from my home. But the person walked over to the prickly bush and put something into it. My burrow smells funny. I won`t be able to sleep in my burrow now.
---
I found a floor with white plants this hour. There were large insects there. I ate them.
Now I am clinging to a green plant with a large red spot above it. There is moisture here. I am drinking it.
---
The multicolored being came back today. It came up to the old man`s cave again, and this time instead of just talking, they also exchanged some things. Then the being left and the old man walked over and placed his thing near where that hare lives.
I was sitting in the garden at the time, and I had just eaten a large, juicy fly, but I was curious about the thing. I went over and sniffed at it, but I couldn`t smell anything- the area held the old man`s scent too well.
I can only wonder at what the thing is, and why the old man put it there.
---
I didn`t sleep well. I was out hiding in some rocks. Now I`m hopping back to my burrow.
I found something in the prickly bush. I didn`t know what it was, so I sniffed it. It smelled good. I ate some of it, and it wasn`t like eating a plant. It was all mushy and soft. But it tasted good. I ate all of it.
Now I don`t feel too good. I don`t know why. My insides hurt. I think I need to go to sleep in my burrow.
---
That idiot hare went and ate that thing the old man left in the bush. I crawled over by him while he was eating it, but it was too late. I could smell his breath, and it smelled like what the farmer put out in the barn once. Rats ate it, and then they all died the next day. I think the same thing is going to happen to the hare, because he crawled down into his hole, and he smelled bad. He smelled like death.
Something else happened today.
A large spider bit me on the foot. I ate it afterwards, but now my foot hurts really badly. I find it hard to crawl anywhere. I think it was the same spider that bit the old man. I heard him shouting, and then it came racing over to where I was. Now the old man is laying on the ground, face-down. His wooden leg fell down beside him.
Something tells me I am reaching the end of the last day of the last month of my life.
Now I am thinking of the other places I have lived. I`ll miss them. But this mountaintop has been a good place to live. The air is clean and fresh up here.
I have hopped on this dry land for three long months.
The air is dry but cool. This land is a good place to live.
My home is burrow under a rock near a prickly bush. Not very many plants grow on this land.
Most of the plants grow by the person.
The person lives in a big burrow, under a very big rock. He comes out some days and puts water on the plants. When he is gone, I eat some of the plants and drink some of the water. Sometimes I feel a stone hit me, and then I hop into the prickly bush, where the person can`t see me.
Today is the start of another hot day.
I saw a strange creature come up the path today. It was not as large as the person, but it was still big. It was very colorful. It walked up the path to the big hole where the person lives and made a loud noise. I was scared and hid in the prickly bush so that the creature could not see me.
The person came out of its hole. The creature started to chatter at the person, who started to chatter back. I knew the person and the creature weren`t watching, so I hopped to the plants and began eating them.
But the creature saw me.
It pointed to me and chattered, and the person did not chatter back but just watched me. I froze for a bit because I was afraid. But no stone hit me.
I hopped back into the prickly bush where they couldn`t see me.
---
Do you see me?
I have flown over this brown floor for three long days.
The air currents carry me wherever I need to go. This floor is a good place to live.
I cling to green plants whenever I need to rest. There is moisture to drink.
Today is the start of another hot hour.
This hour, I perched on a soft floor that was pink. There was some moisture on it, which I drank. Then the floor moved suddenly. I had to fly away to cling to a green plant.
There was a different new floor this hour. The new floor moved. It was covered in white plants. There wasn`t any moisture, but there were smaller creatures that I killed and ate. I like this new floor.
The new floor stopped moving.
This hour, I felt waves of air move over me. I left the new floor and bumped into a pink floor. It was soft and covered in moisture. Then it moved.
I flew away and clung to a green plant. Waves of air were moving over me. I clung tighter.
I am clinging to a green plant this hour.
---
Do you see me?
I have crawled over this arid mountaintop for three long years.
The air is clean and fresh up here. This mountaintop is a good place to live. But I have lived in other places before.
I live in a depression underneath a rock. It is near a large cave, where an old man lives. The old man is bent and walks with three legs, one of them wooden. He keeps a garden, and I eat the insects that fly in the garden.
Today is the start of another hot month.
Something new happened today. A being walked up the path that comes from the foot of the mountain as I hunted insects in the garden. I crawled up that path myself three years ago to reach the mountaintop. The being was mostly covered in white hair, though other parts of him were red and yellow with black lines; he carried something large with him, made of leather. I knew it was leather for I once lived with cows. The being came up the path and stopped in front of the cave, then shouted. The old man came out, and the being immediately began speaking to the old man. The old man listened, then spoke back to the being, and waved his wooden leg at the being. The being pointed at something else in the garden, though I could not see what. Then the old man nodded and went back into his cave.
The being walked back down the path.
I went back under my rock and sat.
---
Today was wet.
I hid at first from the wetness coming from the sky. But then water started to run into my burrow. When I left my burrow, I saw the wetness only made me wet, and I knew it wasn`t bad.
I drank some water. There was water everywhere.
I went to the plants and ate some, and no stones hit me. So I ate more plants. I ate plants until I couldn`t eat any more. Then I hopped around. I was very wet.
I hopped into the big burrow under the big rock. I heard a sound, and a stone hit me.
I hopped back under the prickly bush, where no one could see me.
---
There is moisture this hour.
I am covered in moisture. I drank some, and then more came. There is too much moisture.
I was clinging to a green plant, but now I am flying around the moisture in the cold air.
There is a floor here that is gray. It is warm and dry. I cling to the gray floor and wait for the air to become dry again.
---
It rained today.
I decided to enjoy the cool air, and spent the day out from under my rock. The rain flowed down my shell as I sat in the garden. There weren`t many insects out, though I did find a large worm to eat. I haven`t seen many of them since I moved up to this mountaintop.
Sometime during the day, a large hare went into the old man`s cave. He didn`t stay long, though; I think the old man threw something at him, and he went bounding back into the sparse brush to hide. I`ve known many hares in my lifetime. He`s no different from the rest- flighty and nervous.
The rain let up after a few hours. The ground was completely saturated by that time. There were little puddles and rivulets running all over, and not a patch of dry dirt to be seen. Having fully enjoyed my time in the rain, I decided it was time to return to my rock and go to sleep.
---
I saw a strange creature come up the path today. It was very colorful.
The creature stopped at the big hole where the person lives. It started to chatter, and the person came out. The creature gave the person something, and the person gave the creature something. Then the creature walked away.
The person came over near my burrow. I hopped out and away, to try and lead it away from my home. But the person walked over to the prickly bush and put something into it. My burrow smells funny. I won`t be able to sleep in my burrow now.
---
I found a floor with white plants this hour. There were large insects there. I ate them.
Now I am clinging to a green plant with a large red spot above it. There is moisture here. I am drinking it.
---
The multicolored being came back today. It came up to the old man`s cave again, and this time instead of just talking, they also exchanged some things. Then the being left and the old man walked over and placed his thing near where that hare lives.
I was sitting in the garden at the time, and I had just eaten a large, juicy fly, but I was curious about the thing. I went over and sniffed at it, but I couldn`t smell anything- the area held the old man`s scent too well.
I can only wonder at what the thing is, and why the old man put it there.
---
I didn`t sleep well. I was out hiding in some rocks. Now I`m hopping back to my burrow.
I found something in the prickly bush. I didn`t know what it was, so I sniffed it. It smelled good. I ate some of it, and it wasn`t like eating a plant. It was all mushy and soft. But it tasted good. I ate all of it.
Now I don`t feel too good. I don`t know why. My insides hurt. I think I need to go to sleep in my burrow.
---
That idiot hare went and ate that thing the old man left in the bush. I crawled over by him while he was eating it, but it was too late. I could smell his breath, and it smelled like what the farmer put out in the barn once. Rats ate it, and then they all died the next day. I think the same thing is going to happen to the hare, because he crawled down into his hole, and he smelled bad. He smelled like death.
Something else happened today.
A large spider bit me on the foot. I ate it afterwards, but now my foot hurts really badly. I find it hard to crawl anywhere. I think it was the same spider that bit the old man. I heard him shouting, and then it came racing over to where I was. Now the old man is laying on the ground, face-down. His wooden leg fell down beside him.
Something tells me I am reaching the end of the last day of the last month of my life.
Now I am thinking of the other places I have lived. I`ll miss them. But this mountaintop has been a good place to live. The air is clean and fresh up here.