Nature is Red

The neighbor’s dog was staring at him through the fence. He quickly lifted the air rifle and fired. There was a distinct yelp as the pellet made contact. The dog disappeared. He smiled in satisfaction. First blood of the day; it hopefully wouldn’t be the last. There was a call from indoors.

“Jeremy dear, is everything okay?”

 “Yes, mother, nothing to worry about.”

“That’s good, dear. Enjoy yourself!”

He reloaded his gun. His pockets were full of lead pellets and he was headed out into the countryside to see what he could kill. He suspected he would enjoy himself.

He walked down the lane towards the woods. It was Wednesday; he was meant to be at school, but he’d persuaded mother he was too ill to go. He’d also persuaded her to let him go to the woods with his air rifle. He told her it was for target shooting; he just hadn’t clarified the targets he had in mind were still alive.

It was spring, and the trees were green, giving plenty of cover for the wildlife. He entered the woods and sat on a log. He lifted the gun to his shoulder and peered through the scope. The woods were alive with noise and he watched the branches carefully. A bird landed on a nearby tree. He levelled his gun, aimed and fired. The bird fell in a pathetic heap on the ground. First kill. Keeping his eye against the scope, he surveyed the bushes. Pop! Another bird fell dead, then a third. Jeremy was both a sadist and a crack shot.

He moved from spot to spot, each time killing a couple of birds. He didn’t bother with the corpses; he wasn’t interested in anything but killing. Time passed quickly. Four o’clock found him sitting in a wooded glade, miles from anywhere. Through the scope, he noticed a pair of eyes staring at him from a bush. He recognized them as human, but he was still tempted to fire. He stood.

“You might as well come out.”

A kid of about ten emerged.

“You’re lucky I didn’t shoot you.”

“Cool gun. Can I touch it?”

“No, you’re just a kid. This isn’t a toy.”

He stretched.

“What are you doing? Are you hunting?” asked the kid.

“I’m heading home. I’m getting bored, shooting birds is too easy.”

“We could go up to the stone circle. I saw some bigger birds up there the other day. Rabbits too.”

The notion of fresh blood was too tempting.

“There better be kid, or I’ll thump you.”

“I promise.”

“Let’s go then.”

Jeremy climbed the hill to the ancient stone circle, with the boy following. The stones sat on top of a low hill, overlooking the village. Jeremy had been up here numerous times, forced by mother to go on Sunday walks, or with his teacher, on field trips. His teacher had mentioned something about the history of the circle in class, but Jeremy hadn’t been paying attention. Something to do with Pagan rites.

He knelt and propped his weapon against a fallen stone. The boy knelt down beside him. Jeremy scanned the area but saw nothing.

“There’s nothing here, kid.”

The boy pointed.

“There! A fox!”

He was right, just at the edge of the circle stood a fox, sniffing the air. It hadn’t noticed them. Jeremy put his eye to the scope and pressed the trigger. The creature dropped.

“And that seals the deal,” said the boy beside him in an adult voice.

“Huh?”

The boy jumped up onto the stone. He started to spin, round and round.

“What the fuck are you doing kid? Stop it, before I thump you.”

The spinning became a blur; it wasn’t possible, but it was happening right before Jeremy’s eyes.

“Stop!”

The boy stopped, but he was no longer a boy. In front of Jeremy stood a vision from hell. The figure had the legs of some sort of animal and the top half of a human, except for the two horns that sprouted from his forehead.

“What the hell? Who are you?”

The creature wagged its finger playfully.

“Jeremy, Jeremy, Jeremy. I thought you’d recognize me. Your poor old mummy would be disappointed after paying so much for that expensive school.”

He hopped down from the stone.

“I’m Pan.”

“Huh?”

“The god. Nice to meet you.”

“Huh?”

“You failed today’s test, you know. You killed too many animals.”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh well, what’s done is done. Let’s not dwell on your stupidity, let’s move to the main act.”

“What’s that?”

“Nature, red in tooth and claw. Isn’t that what you humans say?”

“I think so.”

The creature stared at him.

“Gosh, you are dumb, aren’t you?”

“You’re rude. I’m going home now.”

Jeremy turned to leave the stone circle, but realized he was surrounded by all sorts of creatures. There were deer, foxes, badgers, rats, mice, dogs, rabbits and cats.

“I’m afraid you can’t leave. My friends have come to meet you, to see the monster that decimated their ranks. You killed for pleasure, for no reason at all. I wouldn’t have minded if you hunted for food, but just for sport? No. Horrible, only humans are cruel enough to do that. And so, I have a little lesson in mind for you.”

“A lesson? What do you mean?”

“Well, at the risk of spoiling the surprise, we are here to show you, convincingly I might add, that nature is indeed red in tooth and claw. Very red.”

The animals around him moved closer. Jeremy didn’t even have the chance to scream.

∼ RJ Meldrum

© Copyright RJ Meldrum. All Rights Reserved.