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The Shallow Canal


Water splashed as the sole of our feet crossed the shallow
canal that slowly descended the skirts of the ancient
mountain with its snowy crown that ruled the innocent
minds of our ancestors and the forest that it protected.
The fresh air filled our lungs and we leaped forward
into the forest where prey and hunter danced to Death.

Ceremoniously we presented our offers to the ancient
Sun that stood as our omniscient guardian. Protector
of the realm that brought swift demise and death
to the creatures of the darkness. The face of our innocent
children shone as the Sun rays caressed the shallow
canal in the heated summer and they carried forward

with their echoing laughs as they played in the protected
tree glove where parents watched the games of the innocent
and where time stopped as the splashing water of the shallow
canal soaked their cinnamon hair. But, a midst happiness Death
lurked not far. It came out of blinding sky with its ancient
wings spread growling and the sharp craws snatched forward

and the craws met their mark and blood rained on the shallow
canal and it was dyed red like the Sunset. We leaped forward
throwing our makeshift axes at the creature that protected
its prey. Up! And Up! It went. The muttered screams the innocent
died as the creature roared into the sky and craws held to the dead.
Silence fell into the forest as the cloudless sky continued its ancient

vigil and we told the tale of that terrible summer day forward
to everyone that listened and the legends of the sky creature. Ancient
and deadly the tale grew. A fire breathing monster that protected
the forest with its black wings and sharp craws that roamed the shallow
canal among the ancient trees. Adventurers met the winged death
when they least expected in the hottest summer days. And the innocent

told the tale among the crackling summer camp-fires as the ancient
forest loomed all around them. Echoing night sounds carried protected
by the darkness and the hot summer breeze that moved slowly the shallow
canal. The ghostly laughs of the dead lingered in the air and the innocent
souls played under the mother Moon and they leaped forward
into the realm where It did not exist. The winged death.