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The Thing That Was

Pt.1 of the Triad Truth

By Noah Servant-Of-AllPublished 4 years ago 3 min read
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Tall limbering pine trees sway in the wind. Staggering cedars rustled by a breeze. Pine needles coat the ground, making for an open woodland. In these woods there are no obstructions like boulders or shrubbery. The needles alone blanket the naked earth.

You are there but you are alone. In solitude. In quietude. Alone.

That was, until it showed up.

When you first laid eyes upon it, the silence around you seemed to grow louder. You became aware of the noise you omitted. You were choking on the fumes of fear. You couldn’t make out what it is.

When it got into view you could make it out. It was an elk.

A massive one at that. It had to have been 6 to 7 feet tall at the shoulder. Weighing up to at leave 1,500-1,600 pounds. Its gargantuan antlers were 12 to 13 feet wide. It was huge!

Drawing nearer the beast’s antlers caught your attention. Near the base they were bumpy, coarse, and worn. Near the tips they were smoother than ivory.

However, they were decorated. Carved into them were swirling designs. Each engraving wrapped around every and all its bone-like protrusions.

Furthermore, the antlers had braided strips of leather and colorful cords strung between them. The cords and strips were patterned. Reminisce of a Native American culture.

At some point, the décor had lost its luster. They were faded and sun-bleached. They had been entangled there for quite a while.

Moving past the enigma that is its antlers, you noticed its coat.

It’s long and shaggy fur reached low. As for the coloration, the Elk was almost calico. With a tan undercoat, dark brown on its back, and a light cream-color on its face. Amidst the shag there were a few hidden locks of fur that at some point had been braided.

With the carvings on the antlers and the streamers strung throughout them. You weren’t surprised about the braids. You figured that a beast of this caliber must have been revered by natives at some point.

But wouldn’t it have to be this massive to have been revered? Who honors an average sized elk? Isn’t there a chance for the average elk to become food for a hunter or to die of natural causes? With the faded cords and braided fur, this monster must have stepped out of eternity past.

The ancient creature stepped even closer to you. You can still feel its hot breath moistening you face. It towered over you.

Then, it spoke.

It spoke. You were shocked, you even gasped out loud. Animals only talk in movies, stories, and fables. But never in real life.

Nevertheless, it spoke. Speaking with a grizzled voice. Like the voice of a veteran that had turned soft with age. Regardless, His voice was booming. Like a war drum of old it shook you to your core.

Two words and two words alone came out of His mouth. He said, “I was.”

Then, as mysteriously as He showed up, He vanished. It was as if He stepped back into eternity past.

You sat there awestruck. Pondering what He meant by, “I was.”

Since that moment, you had never seen the Elk. Never again would you see Him. It’s as if He had become frozen in time. Like a long gone regret or the blissfulness of childhood nostalgia. No amount of remembrance could bring Him back. He was and is now gone.

And perhaps that’s what He meant by, ‘I was.’ Perhaps He meant that as soon as the present moment is present it becomes the past.

Nevertheless, the Elk is no less real than He is behind you. In other words...

He was.

nature poetry
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About the Creator

Noah Servant-Of-All

My wife & I have a knack for writing and we dream of using this knack to support ourselves!

If you enjoy our content here & would like to keep up with us, check out our Facebook & Instagram. There you'll see our sketch art, paintings, etc.

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