#32 of Artwork - "The Sacrifice for Peace" Trilogy

Excerpt from story:

After Mist Runner had left to go home, Foxfire sat quietly on the pile of furs she used as a bed, not feeling very happy with herself. She reached under a bundle of fur that she used as her pillow and pulled out an old doll that her dam had given her when she was a little cubling. Around its neck was a little trinket that Mist Runner had given her before she underwent her own coming of age ritual. She had kept it close to her for all of these turns of the seasons. Whenever Foxfire had felt lonely or sad, as she was now, she would hold the doll and hum an old song that her dam would sing to her as a child. When Foxfire finished humming the tune, she fingered the little trinket, remembering when Mist Runner had given it to her. It was shaped in the head of a howling wolf made of an iridescent white stone set into a disk of silver. On the back was engraved in tiny letters:

Sing,
Dance,
Love.
-MR

Foxfire thought about when Mist Runner had given it to her--"Sing with the voice of the Moon that calls sweetly to us, dance with the grace of the stream that quenches our thirst, and love life with all your heart" he had said then. Foxfire had always looked up to and admired Mist Runner because he was always so patient with her and explained things when her older brother would rather be a humorless old rock that wasn't about to move for any reason. Not that her brother didn't have a sense of humor--he did--he just didn't show it much. Mist Runner was also the only one other than her brother that could be around her for any length of time without turning to slush. But today she had almost let her desires get the best of her. When Mist Runner handed Red Moon's bundle to her, she wanted to thank him--and her--for it, but then when she hugged him and smelled his scent it was almost more than she could stand. And unfortunately for Mist Runner, it was almost more than he could handle. Even though Red Moon was much older than Foxfire, the two of them had been friends for a long time. Red Moon was the only other person whom Foxfire was close to, and they were almost like sisters just as Grimm and Mist Runner were almost like brothers. Red Moon had known how Foxfire had felt for Mist Runner and of course, Foxfire knew how Red Moon felt about him. Thankfully, Red Moon wasn't jealous of her, and both she and Mist Runner were very understanding. Still, Foxfire felt bad about what she had done...and had wanted to do. She made up her mind that she would have to tell Red Moon and beg her forgiveness.

I did this piece entirely on the computer, using both Windows Paint and Adobe Photoshop v.6.

© 2012 Ronald J. Lebeck