The Immortals

For generations they have guarded over our family. From the time of my great-great-great grandfather, they have kept us safe. All our lives, we were given a safe haven to eat, sleep, and be merry in. We were given purpose in serving them, and in return they made sure that our lives were as comfortable as possible. I had a giant heap of hay all to myself, piled on the ground, and the Tall One had even given me a blanket to put on top of it.

Even now, as the clouds rolled in, and the chill settled on the floor, my blanket and hay kept me warm. Next to me I could hear my sister, also settled in for the night, breathing gently.

How happy we had been with them through our lives. Our days were occupied with helping the Tall One tend to his flock. We were extensions of his will, imparting his commands onto the Big White Ones. With nary a whistle, my sister and I always knew what to do. We always knew where to guide them. Running around a wide open field every day, only to come back and be rewarded by our guardians. They fed us with food from their own table, and sometimes when the Long Haired One wasn’t looking, the Tall One even gave us some bites of steak!

I chuckle lightly at the memory of the Tall One getting berated as he stood in front of me. I had quickly managed to scarfed the food down and then had opened my mouth to show the Long Haired One that she had lost. She just sighed as she hugged me and had given my sister an equal treat. Then I had chased my sister out back to our home, in the red building. A barn, I had heard the Tall One call it.

It had not always looked so bad. I remember, when I was but a little boy and I barely knew my own name, the building had stood strong and proud. The Tall One and his son had made sure that it stayed that way. I knew that they did it for us, but my father had insisted that it was because the red beast disliked water falling on him when he slept. I didn’t argue. The Tall One used to ride the red beast all day in his fields, but he never managed to convince me that it wasn’t going to eat me. After all, it growled at me all the time when it was awake. I was glad that he had gotten rid of it.

I looked around the inside of our home, the scratches where my father had been biting the post, the hole my mother had dug, and then hastily tried to cover up from the Tall One. There were even some bones right outside. My mother had told me it was a massive beast that my great grandfather had slain with the Tall One himself. Then, of course, there was the small trove of stones that my sister and I had hidden away, thrown away by the Long Haired One for some reason. She did seem to find new stones to throw every time, maybe she just wants us to hide them all.

My thoughts were interrupted as a fat drop of rain fell right in front of my nose, splashing me with a bit of water. Annoyed, I tuck in my nose under my hand. Beside me, my sister had tucked herself under her pile of hay. The roof was getting worse by the day. The holes were expanding as the rain hit them, and the room at the back had all but given itself up to the elements. In my father’s time, the Tall One would have never let that happen. But then, in my father’s time, he had been stronger.

“What if he is dying?”

The thought came to me unbidden. I couldn’t bear to think of that. It was almost sacrilege. After all, he had looked after countless generations of my family. I couldn’t entertain that idea, I just couldn’t. The only reason that the wall of our home seemed to be on the edge of collapsing is because their son hadn’t returned to help the Tall One with the repairs. Maybe when he came, the Tall One would shake off the wear from his bones and jump in action once again. He would ask me to fetch his tools, and when I got him the wrong ones, he would laugh and praise me anyway.

Yes, that’s all, he was just waiting for his son to come back. It had been nearly 10 summers since he had come home, but he must be coming any day now. He had to, he must surely miss me, and his family. My eyes close with that thought, maybe tomorrow might finally be the day he returns.

The next day I awoke with a loud noise, as the tray of food the Tall One was carrying crashed to the ground. He made an exasperated noise and sat down on an old chair with his head in his hands. He took a deep breath, and looked up, staring at his hands, which seemed to shake without his direction. I got up and walk over to him, and after a few quick bites of food, lay my head down in his lap. He rubbed his hand around my ears, and talked about the things that trouble him, as he usually did. Only today, his voice was more strained than usual.

He was talked about days gone past. He spoke about everything that he had lived through, about my ancestors. He spoke slowly, with laborious breaths. He spent a long time talking about his son, who had left years ago. The barn was in disrepair, and he could do nothing about it.

My sister wakes up and walks over to us, and when he feels her slightly wet fur, he breaks down, apologizing for keeping us out here. I didn’t understand what he meant; this is where my ancestors had lived too after-all. It was right here that my great- great grandfather had helped dig the hole to hold the center pillar in place. Why was the Tall One acting so differently?

I forced myself to look up at him. I truly looked at him. We had always thought him to be immortal. But now I saw him differently. As my fur has grown gray, and my joints have stiffened, so have his. It is so rare, to see one of the Old Ones die. It was almost a like a myth, a bedtime story my mother told me. I wouldn’t have even considered it to be true, had I not seen the Tall One’s daughter die when she was but a child.

The ending of life so long was a tragedy. All that he knows, all that he is, will be lost. My sister and I will be the last ones that he will care for. As his hands run in our fur, and he struggles to get up to his feet, I know that he takes comfort in our presence. He whistles at us, and we walked beside him, back to his house. We were rarely allowed in there, but today was one of those days it would seem.

As I breathe in the smells of the field deeply, and look back at the red barn, with its failing roof and peeling paint, I feel happy. I look up to the Tall One, he looks distant. I gently nudge his hand and get him to pet my head. Immediately, a wry smile breaks out on his face.

Alright then. The Old Ones may be dying, just like me. They may not be immortal, just like me. However, my only wish, only purpose now would be to be give them comfort. To watch them as they had always watched over our family. I only hope I be with him till the end of his life.

I trot ahead and look back, tail wagging wildly. The sun was rising over our home, and the Tall One was petting my sister, slowly walking towards me.

I had found a new purpose.