Post by devilinthedetails on Nov 22, 2021 3:22:00 GMT 10
Title: Cold Spring Shower
Rating: PG-13 for references to death. Specifically Jump's death.
Prompt: Cold Shower
Summary: A bad weather event forces Kel and Tobe to confront their griefs.
Cold Spring Shower
The spring showers came cold and heavy in the north. Hard sheets of rain fell from gray thunderclouds, and everyone at New Hope sought refuge from the weather indoors whenever their chores and duties did not require them to be outside, taking a beating from the whipping wind and sideways-slashing rain.
Tobe sat huddled on a mound of blankets in the corner of Kel’s room. The same mound of blankets that Jump used to curl up in when storms broke over New Hope, rain pounding at the roof and streaks of lightning carving the sky like yellow knives. The blankets where Jump would never lie again. The blankets from which he would never again thump his tail in excitement whenever Kel entered. The blankets from which he never again roll over to present his belly as an enticing place for petting.
The blankets which she still hadn’t washed because she didn’t want to remove the last scents and hairs of him from her room--from her life. Every trace of him felt like something to be treasured now that he was gone from this world.
“I miss him more when it rains.” Tears trickled down Tobe’s cheeks as Kel knelt to cradle him in her arms as if she could protect him from a grief that had already struck with devastating damage.
“I do too.” Even as she spoke the words, Kel wasn’t sure if they were true. She missed Tobe with a constant ache all the time so it was hard to know if she missed him more sharply when it rained.
“I remember how he used to curl up here when it rained.” Tobe sniffled and wiped away his tears with the back of his hand. “The last day when we carried him to the infirmary because he couldn’t walk no more, do you think he sensed he was going to die and had made peace with that?”
“I can’t say.” Kel had heard that sometimes dogs and horses could sense when they were going to die but she didn’t know if that was true. She couldn’t remember if Jump had seemed at peace or just unresisting when she carried him to Neal in the infirmary, and Neal rested his hands over Jump, green magic stemming like plants from his fingers. Neal had said in a raspy voice that there wasn’t anything he could do to heal Jump, and nothing he could do to take the pain away except put Jump to sleep forever. All she knew was that she had held Jump as he went limp in her arms and had to pray that somehow meant he was at peace and free from pain somewhere. Trying to put some of that indescribable emotion into her words, she went on with a rather hoarse scratch in her throat, “What I can say is that he knew we loved him and trusted us to take away his pain in the best way we could. And that’s what we did or tried to do.”
“Are you going to get a new dog one day, Lady?” Tobe fiddled with one of Jump’s old woolen blankets, seeming to draw comfort from the sensation of the fabric moving through his fingers.
“I don’t know. The wound of losing Jump is a bit too raw for me to think about bandaging it with a new dog right now.” Kel felt inadequate for how few of Tobe’s questions she could answer as she hugged him more tightly to her. Brushing the blond hair away from his eyes, she asked a question of her own. “Would you like me to get another dog one day, Tobe?”
“Yes.” Tobe nodded. “I would.”
“Then I will get another dog one day.” Kel kissed Tobe’s forehead where she had swept back his hair. “I promise.”
“He brought us so much joy, didn’t he, Lady?” Tobe’s eyes were wide as mountain lakes swelled by spring rains as he looked at her. Wet as those mountain lakes and spring rains too.
“Yes,” Kel agreed thickly, remembering with a twist of her lips that hovered somewhere between wryness and sorrow how much of a young scamp Jump had been when she had first met him. When he would have been chopped up by a cook’s cleaver for stealing sausages if she hadn’t intervened to save him. How he had managed to worm his way around her heart and become his dog even though she hadn’t wanted him to be. Hadn’t wanted any dog because they were forbidden to pages.
It was hard to explain what Jump had meant to her--the joy he had brought her through the years--but still Kel found herself telling Tobe stories of the exploits and trouble Jump had gotten himself into before he had met Tobe as thunder cracked and lightning flashed outside.
Telling the stories hurt but not as much as keeping them locked inside her had. Keeping the stories locked inside her had made her fear that she would forget them and forget Jump. Sharing them with Tobe assured her that she would remember them and remember Jump and so would Tobe. They would mourn Jump together, and, when the time was right, they would get a new dog, never entirely forgetting the old dog whom they had loved and who had brought humor and joy to their days.
Rating: PG-13 for references to death. Specifically Jump's death.
Prompt: Cold Shower
Summary: A bad weather event forces Kel and Tobe to confront their griefs.
Cold Spring Shower
The spring showers came cold and heavy in the north. Hard sheets of rain fell from gray thunderclouds, and everyone at New Hope sought refuge from the weather indoors whenever their chores and duties did not require them to be outside, taking a beating from the whipping wind and sideways-slashing rain.
Tobe sat huddled on a mound of blankets in the corner of Kel’s room. The same mound of blankets that Jump used to curl up in when storms broke over New Hope, rain pounding at the roof and streaks of lightning carving the sky like yellow knives. The blankets where Jump would never lie again. The blankets from which he would never again thump his tail in excitement whenever Kel entered. The blankets from which he never again roll over to present his belly as an enticing place for petting.
The blankets which she still hadn’t washed because she didn’t want to remove the last scents and hairs of him from her room--from her life. Every trace of him felt like something to be treasured now that he was gone from this world.
“I miss him more when it rains.” Tears trickled down Tobe’s cheeks as Kel knelt to cradle him in her arms as if she could protect him from a grief that had already struck with devastating damage.
“I do too.” Even as she spoke the words, Kel wasn’t sure if they were true. She missed Tobe with a constant ache all the time so it was hard to know if she missed him more sharply when it rained.
“I remember how he used to curl up here when it rained.” Tobe sniffled and wiped away his tears with the back of his hand. “The last day when we carried him to the infirmary because he couldn’t walk no more, do you think he sensed he was going to die and had made peace with that?”
“I can’t say.” Kel had heard that sometimes dogs and horses could sense when they were going to die but she didn’t know if that was true. She couldn’t remember if Jump had seemed at peace or just unresisting when she carried him to Neal in the infirmary, and Neal rested his hands over Jump, green magic stemming like plants from his fingers. Neal had said in a raspy voice that there wasn’t anything he could do to heal Jump, and nothing he could do to take the pain away except put Jump to sleep forever. All she knew was that she had held Jump as he went limp in her arms and had to pray that somehow meant he was at peace and free from pain somewhere. Trying to put some of that indescribable emotion into her words, she went on with a rather hoarse scratch in her throat, “What I can say is that he knew we loved him and trusted us to take away his pain in the best way we could. And that’s what we did or tried to do.”
“Are you going to get a new dog one day, Lady?” Tobe fiddled with one of Jump’s old woolen blankets, seeming to draw comfort from the sensation of the fabric moving through his fingers.
“I don’t know. The wound of losing Jump is a bit too raw for me to think about bandaging it with a new dog right now.” Kel felt inadequate for how few of Tobe’s questions she could answer as she hugged him more tightly to her. Brushing the blond hair away from his eyes, she asked a question of her own. “Would you like me to get another dog one day, Tobe?”
“Yes.” Tobe nodded. “I would.”
“Then I will get another dog one day.” Kel kissed Tobe’s forehead where she had swept back his hair. “I promise.”
“He brought us so much joy, didn’t he, Lady?” Tobe’s eyes were wide as mountain lakes swelled by spring rains as he looked at her. Wet as those mountain lakes and spring rains too.
“Yes,” Kel agreed thickly, remembering with a twist of her lips that hovered somewhere between wryness and sorrow how much of a young scamp Jump had been when she had first met him. When he would have been chopped up by a cook’s cleaver for stealing sausages if she hadn’t intervened to save him. How he had managed to worm his way around her heart and become his dog even though she hadn’t wanted him to be. Hadn’t wanted any dog because they were forbidden to pages.
It was hard to explain what Jump had meant to her--the joy he had brought her through the years--but still Kel found herself telling Tobe stories of the exploits and trouble Jump had gotten himself into before he had met Tobe as thunder cracked and lightning flashed outside.
Telling the stories hurt but not as much as keeping them locked inside her had. Keeping the stories locked inside her had made her fear that she would forget them and forget Jump. Sharing them with Tobe assured her that she would remember them and remember Jump and so would Tobe. They would mourn Jump together, and, when the time was right, they would get a new dog, never entirely forgetting the old dog whom they had loved and who had brought humor and joy to their days.