Pounce

Jacqueline Nicole Harris

    I wanted the sun to shine yesterday, with its bars of gold extending ever outward as it made its journey across the blue sky. I wanted this day and its moments perfectly cast in sunny gold with no worries and my body exposed to ever-ripening, deepening possibilities.

    But no, what I received was gray light and frigid drops of water rushing downward from smoky clouds in heavy torrents, like my very being was caught in the swell of the ocean. I needed the sun, but it was hiding behind the thickness of gray clouds. And, as the chill of the rain ran its course over my body, dredging dampness into my skin and sullying all the hope of my spirit, I glanced below and saw a robin tear into a worm in the mud. As the writhing pink worm dangled from the robin’s beak, I realized that even the rain serves a purpose.

    Yes, the rain does serve a purpose. It brings your meals out of hiding. As soon as the bird was satisfied I pounced on it, and after one satisfying crunch it was in my belly. I lifted my head towards the sky with my mouth open and washed its blood down with the rain.

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