Tuesday, May 25, 2021

No Power in the ‘Verse Can Stop this Leo, Part 3 of 3

Part 1
Part 2

Tara wasn’t dead and she didn’t know why. Her body felt uncannily rigid. She tried flexing her legs, but nothing happened. She wanted to look down at her paws, but her face refused to turn away from the sky. She wiggled her paws and tasted something rich and delicious. With her paws. She tried making sense of paws that could taste, but kept getting distracted by the sun. She just couldn’t turn away from it. The bright and warmth tasted so good on her skin.

After following the ups and downs of the sun for many dawns and dusks, Tara’s head turned to fluff. She liked the fluffy feeling. It was light and freeing and promising.

“Mommy look, a dandelion!”

The sound of the two-legged young pulled Tara out of her latest sun trance. She readied herself for the screaming and the stench of fear to overwhelm her senses. But nothing happened.

“It’s so pretty. Can I make a wish, Mommy? Please!”

“Sure,” the two-legged mother said. “Just don’t rip the poor thing out of the ground. Get on your knees to make your wish.”

The two-legged young wrapped a not so gentle paw around Tara’s body, and said, “I wish all the big kitties grow fat and happy, and that my Mommy finds the bad man who hurt their mommy, and that my Mommy can put the bad man in a cage forever and ever. I wish, I wish, I wish.”

With eyes closed and heart open, the child blew her belief-full breath into Tara. And every seed, of the flower that had once been a lioness, soared into the wind, roaring: So be it!


detail from a photo by Christian Papaux, on Unsplash


- this concludes (and perhaps also begins) Tara’s story.
- the title echoes a favorite quote from Firefly: “No power in the ‘verse can stop me!”
- for Poets and Storytellers United--Writers’ Pantry #72: Oh, I Will Walk 500 Miles…


27 comments:

  1. Well, I did NOT see that twist coming!

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    1. Some twists are yummiest when they sneak in while we aren't looking... 😉

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  2. Intriguing and original

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  3. I’m so glad I didn’t miss the final part of Tara’s story, Magaly. You really got under her skin and into her paws. And she turned into a dandelion! Please excuse me while I wipe this tear away.

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    1. This part was such a delight to write. So, I'm extremely glad you like it, Kim.

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  4. This took me back to my childhood when it was always a delight to find a Dandilion and to blow all the floating seeds fly off to find somewhere to grow.

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  5. a very heart-warming story. so Tara reborn as a flower and may the cycle comes full circle & Tara comes back as a lioness.

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  6. I join that child in wishing. May he get what he's earned. And may Tara revel in the freedom of wish flight.

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  7. I have never seen a dandelion ever but have become very familiar with them through literature. This story is beautiful and powerful I got to 'experience' a dandelion mentally and emotionally. Thanks, Magaly.

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    1. Really? I thought dandelions grew everywhere.

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  8. Rebirth is beautiful ... more so when you write it, share it.

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  9. Well done
    Happy Sunday

    Much💚love

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  10. Wow. Tara was reincarnated as a dandelion? I love this world you've made.

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    1. Thank you, Colleen. Wait until you meet Violet and Daisy. 😉

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  11. So be it! Love, love, love!! A very magical twist! Thank you Magaly! Big Hugs!

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