Swamp Oak Pt. 2: Watch Your Step
Wawi was giving Oakley a grave look and continued to explain why his cadre of fluffies had entered the swamp.
“Wus wif hewd, hab gud smawty, twy to wib in da pawk neaw hoomin housies. Odda bwight time, hoomins send bawky munstas to hewd. Su many bawkies, su many teethies, su many huwties. Fwuffies wun way bu’ wost da hewd. Twied to gu back but deres bawkie munstahs ebewywere.”
Wawi was describing the new program that the town of Petersberg had implemented recently after a recommendation from the state’s Fish and Wildlife Service. Dogs would be equipped with electric fence collars and be free to roam a given area when night fell. The intention was to eliminate the local herds of fluffies and the plan worked as well as expected. Soon, towns and cities all over would start implementing the same program and expanding the boundaries further and further into the rural areas. When night fell, the dogs were let out and those who brought back fluffy hides were rewarded for their efforts.
“Neba seen bawkie munstas hewe, odda munstas hewe.”, Oakley had only heard about barkie munstas from his parents when he was still a peeping foal. They made horrible loud sounds that hurt hear-places and they had sharp teeth.
“Den we stae. Nu odda choosies. Wiww hewp fwuffy maek nestie an hewp odda fwuffies!”
Wawi smiled at Oakley and motioned the other upright fluffies to help console Merebell and help her over to your tree which you had walked back to. The gnarled roots twisted in strange ways that created a few makeshift burrows but with too many opening to be deemed a safe nest. Oakley was sitting up on the roots and thinking hard about how to handle the new residents and the potential for more to come. If fluffies were being driven from everywhere else it would only be a matter of time before more arrived here. He faintly remembered his own family’s trek from their old herd to the swamp and how many fluffy herds they passed near on their way. He was forgetting something, what was it… Oh!
“Nyu fwiends, cum hewe, Oakwey has tu sho yu”
Oakley went over to where the cattails from the day before had been laid out. They had dried slightly and now were a bit more rigid. Oakley grabbed one in his mouth and motioned for the others to do so. He set his cattail by the gnarled roots, partially blocking an opening.
“We maek nestie wike dis, nee’ mo’ big gwassies.”
The other fluffs seemed to catch on to the general idea pretty quick and went off to collect the cattails. It was only after a few minutes when Oakley heard screaming once again.
“HEWP FWUFFEEEEEE! BIGGES’ HUWTIEEEEEES”
Oakley rushed over to see one of the new fluffies, a green and orange stallion, had been chomping away at the cattails and must have stepped on a black rat snake. The big snake didn’t appreciate the hoof on his head and bit the fluffy in the torso, fangs tearing through the skin and muscle underneath. Oakley barely saw the very end of the snake slithering into the reeds by the time he came over. Wawi was close behind.
“Bwiaw! Wu happen?!”
Briar, who was clearly dying from organ failure and internal bleeding, tried his best to lift his head to look at Wawi and with tear-filled eyes eeked out a sentence.
“Bettew…den…baw…kie…mu-”
His head slumped down and his body lay still.
“Wopey munsta do dis, hav to be weawwy cawefuw awound hewe. Awwae’ wook befo’ steppies.”
Wawi continued to look at his former friend’s corpse, processing exactly how dangerous his new home was. The other two fluffies, Merebell and the other pink mare whose name was Rosa appeared and cast their eyes down on Briar’s body. Merebell lunged forward towards the still body but was held back by Rosa.
“Speciaw-fwend nuuuuuuuuuu! Bwiaw pwease wakies! WAKIES!”
It seemed that Briar and Merebell had been a couple. It was obvious that Rosa and Wawi were the leaders of the small group and Merebell and Briar were along for the ride. It hadn’t been a day and Briar was dead and Merebell was almost lost to the muck.
“Wisten tu Oakwey.”
“AWWAE”
’ WOOK”
“BEFO’”
“STEPPIES”
Oakley found himself shouting each word to the two mares. Rosa didn’t seem to need the emphasis but Merebell was obviously not all there.
“Merebell, Bwiaw mae be fowevew sweepies, bu yu stiww hewe. Bwiaw wud nu wan to see yu cwyin’ an’ gibin up. Stay stwong. Fo’ Bwiaw.”
Rosa nudged Merebell back upright and gave her a big hug. Wawi almost instinctively followed suit and Merebell was encased in huggies and love. Her sniffling slowed until she was stable enough to form words.
“Am Mewebeww otay nao?”, Rosa asked
“Yus, am otay, jus’ miss Bwiaw awweady.”
“Rosa wus wowwied yu su saddies yu gu stupi!”, Rosa remarked. Upon hearing the words “gu stupi”, Wawi’s face flashed a dark, angry expression that fled his visage as abruptly as it appeared. Something was strange about Wawi.
Oakley took note of Wawi’s behavior but didn’t think much of it, they had just lost a fluff and without his guidance the other 3 would fare no better.
“Dawk tiem soon, git big gwassies an cum tu twee. Sweepies on woots untiw nestie am made. Safe fwon wopey munstas an’ fuwwie munstas”
“Fuwwie munstas?”, Rosa exclaimed in confusion.
“Yus, dey nu mess wiff Oakwey bu’ neba hab dis mani fwuffies. Hab bigges’ stickies an’ twees in nummies pwace. Nu knu wai.”
“Fuwwie munstas gib huwties?”, Wawi asked, hairs slightly on end.
“Neba seen dem gib huwties, nu wan’ fin’ ou’”
The group waddled back to the big oak tree and climbed among the roots to find good places to lie down for the night.
That night Wawi dreamed something he hadn’t dreamed in a while. He was a foal again, barely having his eyes opened and the world looked huge. The bushes and trees looked like they reached beyond the sky itself and the grass stood taller than him in most places. He was amazed at the site but was then reminded why he dreaded this dream so much when he was awake.
“Baheeeebebebb!”
Wawi instinctively turned his head even though he already knew the origin of the garbled speech.
“Heeeeee…lub blabblu”
It was his mother, Buggy. According to the others in your herd she was once a normal fluffy mare, but one day she fell off of a small embankment and hit her head on a rock. Since then she was a “stoopi-fwuff”, completely reliant on the herd for all of her needs.
“Stoopi-babbeh nee’ fin’ nummies fo’ hewd. Nu be uzewess stoopi-fwuff wike ou’ mummah. Babbeh mus’ wowk fo’ bof ou’ an mummah. Nao GU!”
The old smarty of his herd loomed over him and cast his foreboding shadow over the small figure of Wawi. Wawi did what he always did, whether dreaming or not, he followed the smarty’s orders.
“Bwebwweee wawi!
“Yu head ou’ mummah, stoopi-babbeh’s namsies am Wawi nao. Dummeh namsie fo’ dummeh babbeh. Nao gu fin’ nummies!”
Wawi knew that his mother was trying to ask him for water, not naming him but that didn’t matter. None of it mattered. He was the bastard child of a stupid mare, he couldn’t change it so why bother caring. The lonely foal hobbled his way into the brush, not knowing or caring what
None of it mattered.
Ever.
Or ever will.
The grass became thicker and the landscape darkened until there was only a black void, and then he woke up. Just like every other time that dream terrorized him. He squinted his eyes at the dawn glow washing over the swamp and thought he saw a patch of neon, no, patches of neon! More friends (hopefully) have arrived! Wawi turned to where Oakley was sitting, having also just woke up only to see the experienced swamp-dweller fixed with an expression of terror on his face.
“Tu mani fwuffies, nu tink dis gud”