Fox FIRES

 light throbbed and pulsed with life. It basked the woods in a sunkissed glow, and the animals reveled in fear, not in joy, for the only thing they feared more than darkness was the unknown.    

   Animals rose from their burrows and nests blinking in astonishment and disbelief. All except one…who blinked in wonder and joy.

A fox. He sat in a small clearing in the undergrowth basking in the light, staring in wonder and joy at the world around him. Oblivious to the animals which crowded in concern near the clearing, seeking answers to what had disrupted the peace of their slumber.

 Because only the dawn could lift the weight of sleep from them, and this was not dawn…this was something else entirely that they both feared and despised.

Everyone in the clearing began to chat anxiously, and a large thrum built in the air like the buzzing of an angry nest of bees. Everyone found someone to share their fears with, except this fox. 

He sat alone his head down, for he had been taught by the animals that he was nothing. No one would speak to him, he was a friendly creature that had no friends. A creature who believed the lies others told him and saw himself as valuable as the trodden dirt which lay tramped into the ground.

Though even if he thought of himself as not special he seemed to be in every which way. He stood out like that purple flower in a field of whites.

 His sleek orange fur lit up under the sunkissed glow a brilliant shade of red. So bright it was as if flames licked up his paws and pelt. His eyes shone with joy that no other creature could know and in his soul reveled in such pureness that even the resentment of the animals around him, even his own lack of confidence in his own beauty and diversity, could snuff out the flame of his lively personality.

Yet he contained his boundless energy and his endless curiosity, within the confines of his fur coat as an elk with long muscled legs and huge horns that glistened under this glow, stepped into the clearing, his hooves paying no mind to the fox and nearly trodding on his small petite body.

“Friends,” the elk hummed his deep voice rumbling, like a wisp of thunder in a cloudy sky. It sliced through the humming of anxious voices and drew their attention to him. Eyes of all sorts and colors bored into his fur and the elk raised his head basking in their attention.

Everyone looked respectfully except the fox who kept his tiny, unkempt head down marveling at a worm that writhed in the dirt, wondering if maybe it felt as small as he did in that moment.

“I know we must be unsettled,” the Elk said and a chorus of agreements and whines followed his words. “But you think others can disturb our forest and slumber with this awful light?” the Elk snarled his golden gaze piercing the very hearts of the animals around them.

“We will find this inconvenience and purge it from our lands!” the Elk cried his hoof scuffing the ground his eyes filled with certainty.

Yet the Fox was not filled with certainty, for although he was small and puny, although he was seen by no one, and although he lacked confidence, what he did not lack was an eagerness to embrace new things.

“Excuse me sir?” the Fox squeaked. His little body trembled beneath his small frame as all eyes fixed on him. They pinned him down assessing him and the Fox had never been laid so bare.The Fox latched onto the ethereal light allowing its glow to fill him with confidence. “Why do you despise this light so much?”

The Elk let out a low husky laugh as if mocking him, and as he did, so did the others of the forest their laughs shrinking and shriveling his morale into a small ball in his chest.

 “You are a silly little thing, Fox, there is nothing you shouldn't despise about uncertainty,” the Elk ranted.However, no matter how much the Fox wanted to believe the Elk’s words, he saw no wisdom in the Elk’s gaze, no knowledge, only contempt.

“But don't you bask in its warm glow, don't you marvel at the beauty and colors its warmth brings?” the Fox inquired. For when the light touched his body every whisker on his pelt felt alive. Infact when the Fox looked at everything he felt alive, this is what made him different. 

Although the animals of the forest may be wise, he was curious and open to the beauty the world had to offer. And it was for this reason that the Fox could hear the rumble of delicious power in thunder, or see the thousands of beautiful shades of grey in a stormcloud. He saw the good in the bad and always would.

“No you silly creature!” the Elk huffed as if his suggestion was vile. “You must learn to not be so naive” and with a snort, he turned his back, marching away, his hoofs snapping on twigs, and brushing through bracken towards the source of the glow, the rest of the animals following on sure feet. 

All except the Fox, because the animals seemed so sure, yet he felt so small. He felt so unsure that they should purge the woods of this evil when all it felt to him was good.

A  brilliant blue light glistening with a thousand colors of blue and green and even purple flicked in front of him, dancing before his eyes. It wove through the air fluttering and dancing like a lightning bug tossed in a light breeze.

The Fox felt curiosity replace the uncertainty inside him. He felt wonderful and could not think for the thousandth time that this was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. It danced enticingly in front of his snout, and filled with the need to follow this light, the Fox leaped into the air in a bound of energy only to land flat on his paws. 

Joy filled him with liquid strength as the speck of light lingered farther, teasing him to follow. and forgetting his worries the Fox ran from the clearing his eyes fixed on nothing but the light which danced and pulsed in the air.

Oh, what a beautiful light it was, so pretty the Fox could not help but reach his paws into the air to feel its colors, taste its beauty. But no matter how much he tried it would dance just out of reach, teasing him with its breathtaking light.

The Fox burst into a clearing by the lake which rested next to the grove joyfully prancing around the shore, but was cut short as a hoof stomped down onto the light pressing its beauty into the earth and it blinked out to be part of the nothingness. 

The joy the Fox had felt whisped from him in an instant as he glanced up at the sharp, golden eyes of the Elk. His antlers gleamed in the moonlight and the Fox lowered himself to the ground, shrinking under the Elk’s spiteful gaze.

“Your playing with that….that thing like it's the best you've ever seen” he snarled.

“But..it is”  the Fox whispered so low that the Elk barely caught it. The Elk's gaze steamed hatred whipping through his eyes like a gust of angry autumn breeze.

“Go back to your den,” he said dangerously low, and the Fox crouched down, he wanted to see what had brought upon the beautiful light, Wanted to see what was out there.

“Bu-” he was interrupted as the Elk reared his hoof swinging foxes in the air tossing up the leaves and whisking them around the Fox's face. Startled, frightened and filled with nothing but self-deprivation, the Fox stalked into the bracken. 

He began to head home when he paused. He would never be accepted by the animals, he stood out like a thorn in a paw, and was worthless only causing pain. Yet no matter how much his instincts told him to heed the words of the Elk. His heart beat with defiance.

 And yearning to see what this glow was, the little Fox listened to that erratic rhythm of his heart and spun around to crouch low in the bracken.

In front of him, the lake sparkled and glittered as if a thousand stars writhed beneath its surface, the ethereal glow that had lit up the woods and the sky was pulsing from the water itself which seemed to be still and solid, as if it were being held down by an unnatural force.

 The Wolf crept up beside him glaring at him with a sharp eye and the Fox jumped shivering low, this was it, he would be exiled for not heeding the elk's words.

“Relax little fox” the Wolf did not sound friendly, yet he did not sound sharp and angry like the Elk. “I'll let you be” he grunted before turning towards the lake.

“Wow,” the Fox breathed drinking in the light as if it was the essence of life. The Wolf snapped his head towards him.

 “There is nothing wondrous about uncertainty little fox” he snapped, and the Fox shrank back.

“But how come?” he squeaked, his fur bristling. “Don't you marvel at the colors it casts…the beauty it holds?” the Wolf gave him a dubious look as if he had the third eye.

“You are as naive as ever, leave” he grunted and the Fox was filled with sadness. How come he was the only creature who had the eyes to see beauty? How come he was the only one that didn't fear the unknown but yearned for it with his whole soul?

The Fox could only imagine the words which the animals would thread through his mind if he revealed to them the yearning in his spirit.

 “You are wistfully stupid!” they would say “Give up on your dreams!” And so it was this thought that led him to leave. He was about to turn back from his den when a gasp rippled amongst the animals. He spun around glancing towards the lake and let out a soft squeak of surprise.

 Standing on the lake, as if it were the solid ground, was a figure clad in silken robes of silver. It was tall and had a humanoid shape that seemed to pulse with an underflow like the lake itself. Its skin was blanched white it’s pale hands and long fingers gripping a staff that pulsed like the beating of a heart, and the creature's head was held high, its face round with no eyes or mouth, just a crescent shape of moon that glowed like the one up high in the sky.

All the animals bristled…a low snarl ripped from the Wolf's throat. The Bear let out a rumbling growl, and the Elk grunted angrily. Even the rabbits twitch their noses with contempt.

Yet the fox felt curiosity pierce him like a spear, driving him towards the odd creature.

The Elk stepped forward rearing his massive horns in a threatening manner. 

“Who are you and what have you done with our lake?!” he thundered, his body taught, as if he were one step away from running into the water and impaling the creature on his horns.

The fox realized that although the Elk had a putrid soul, he would risk his life to protect their home.

The creature raised its staff to the sky.

 “You know me,” it said its voice filled with calming waves and ocean tides. “I am the spirit of the moon” it cried its voice a garbling jumble, soft and serene yet it took the Fox all his might to decipher the words that slipped from its mouth.“I have come to ask for your help!” the moon said, a pleading tone in its voice, and the Fox was drawn near.

“With what” the Bear stepped forward his voice dangerously low, his massive paws inches from the little Fox's face.,

“With lighting up the sky”

The Moon Spirit raised his staff to the sky clearing his throat as he prepared to make a point. “I am not as strong as the sun,” he said an ethereal glow danced from his staff, lighting the sky with strings of light that twisted and morphed into the shape of a sun.“I wax and wane,” the Moon Spirit said the sun changing into a moon which shifted into forms smaller and smaller.

“And you are cast into darkness,” it hissed. And like that the lights winked out from his staff. “By joining me you will help fight this battle, and bring joy to the nocturnal creatures” it cried. “People will tell stories about you for centuries!”

 At his words the ears of the Elk flicked and the Fox knew a yearning completely different from his own filled the Elk's veins and thrummed through his blood.

“How do we do this,” the Elk asked, wariness still edging his voice, yet his eyes softened his fur laying flat.

“Come and I will show you” the moon spirit beckoned with a pale white hand his robes rippling in the wind. The Elk looked back, his gaze landing upon the Bear and he uncertainty took a step onto the lake.“Behold” The Moon Spirit said. Before lifting its staff into the air and slamming it into the lake. And the lake began to light up with thousands upon thousands of dots of light, connecting with lines and forming shapes that seemed so beautiful to the little Fox, he yearned to stare at them forever.

The lake glistened with a newfound beauty that even the Elk could not suppress, gazing at it in awestruck wonder. As he did it pulsed like the beating of a heart and cleare. The murky white light becoming a stunning diorama of the sky.

 Thousands of stars glittered on the surface so breathtaking that even the indigent Elk stared at them in shock. They formed and shaped soft curves that the animals had never seen before, creating pictures of the lake. 

The Elk took another step and when the ice didn't give… he did. The resentment and distrust the little Fox had seen in him his whole life crumbled into dust, as joy like no other filled the Elk's gaze. Joy akin to what the Fox felt for the world

He pranced and leaped into the air upon the ice his hoofs making a steady pitter-patter on the solid surface. He tumbled in stardust and floated through the skies of the lake before coming to rest in front of the Moon Spirit.

The Moon spirit touched the lake and a star brighter than all the rest thrummed with light. It pulsed and the Moon Spirit implied that the Elk place his hoof upon it.

 So with newfound confidence, something the fox had always yearned to have. The Elk placed his hoof on the star. And jumped back, startled as his hoof turned a brilliant gold shining in the night.

A wave and ripple of color washed up his coat and the Elk neighed in panic, rearing back onto his hind legs. His fur turned a silken Azure, throbbing with the light of the lake, and flecks of Gold like stars in a sky, flecked his coat as the color washed up like the waves of the ocean lingering in his fur.

 The panic lifted from the Elk and he raised his head allowing the colors to fill him, rise up his neck and his face until his eyes opened, his horns an elegant glittering Gold and his eyes shining like the brightest of stars.

The Moon raised his hand to the sky, and the Fox could have sworn that the Elk turned giving him a glance not filled with hatred and spite, but with understanding, as the Elk leaped into the sky. 

His hoofs danced through the air his muscles working as he climbed higher and higher, until the animals saw he was nothing but flecks of light shaped like his leaping body.

The Bear glanced at the Hawk. They had seen the Elk's joy, seen the way his eyes lit up as he danced through the air, and together they stepped on the lake placing their feet on glowing stars. 

The bear turned a Ghostly White, a pale light like the Moon, his eyes glowing brighter than the sun, and the Hawk turned a Midnight Black flecks of white dotting his sheen of feathers, and together they rose up them two becoming constellations within the sky.

Filled with hope the little Fox watched every animal, the rabbits and finches and lizards and bugs climb into the sky filled with power and energy like no other. Yet he never wandered onto the lake himself. His blood thrummed with need yet he felt he was not worth the sky, and not important enough to be plastered in it for all of eternity.

So he crouched low, continuing to watch as every animal he had known leaped to the air until only he was left. And the air pulsed with warmth yet the fox had never felt so cold.

Loneliness pierced his fur bringing a chill up his spine, and he realized that no matter how much he hated the way the animals gazed at him, the way they would never understand him, Some deep primal part of him needed his companions to live. 

So he stepped onto the lake, a deep humming glow thrummed into his paws filling him with energy, and joy surged up his spine causing his whiskers to rattle with excitement and his tail to thrash back and forth.

Yes, he was sure now he would be part of the sky, even if he would never be important. Even if he would not as beautiful as the Elk and as wonderful as the Hawk he would be up there a piece of beauty forever. 

He pranced across the ice his fur glowing like the sun blazing on the cool lake and slapped his paws onto a star. He prepared to feel glowing and alive, to be filled with more beauty than he had ever known, yet nothing happened. Confused and rattled he considered it a mistake and pranced to another star smashing his paws onto the ice. Nothing. cold, flat, emptiness.

Then another star, and another, he tried star after star until he sat down cold dread filling his heart and realization flooding his senses.

He was not destined to be among the stars, he was weak, puny, and naive. And only the wise and knowledgeable would be worthy enough to become a part of that beauty that dotted the night and helped the sky pulse with light.

He was nothing, worthless, and sadness weighed his heart down so heavily that his ears drooped and his head fell with disappointment. Oh, why oh why did he have to be so different?

He heard the scuffing of feet and the swishing of robes behind him yet paid no attention to the moon. For he probably looked as worthless as a singular blade of grass in a field, to the spirit of beauty.

“What's wrong little fox?” its garbled words rang in his ear a calming wash of waves and tides through his brain. Yet it didn't cheer his cold heart.

“I tried so hard to become a star like the others!” he tilted his little head towards the sky, sadness thrumming in his gaze.“But it didn't work” he said sadly. “I just wanted to help light up the sky!” the little Fox’s voice dropped to a whisper as uncertainty flooded through his veins.

“Well, little fox” the Moon Spirit hunched down to tower over him. “Who said you could only become a  star?” and as he said that, the blue-green light shining like a ripple of beautiful water danced before the Fox’s eyes enticingly. The Moon spirit gave him a nod as if to say. Go on follow your heart and so the Fox did, despite his uncertainty, and his lack of self-confidence. He followed the deep primal thrumming that came from his heart and his heart only. 

He allowed that thrumming to run through his veins and fill his body. He allowed it to wash the waves of his sadness and uncertainty from his mind. Until he became nothing but a shining glowing soul, so different yet so wonderful.

He chased the light allowing his heart to fill with weightlessness corresponding with every beat of his blood. Pounding like the ancient drums of destiny sounded in his ears and he spotted a light, different from the lake on the far edge of the lake.

 He chased the blueish-green light through the stars paying no attention to their beauty for this beautiful glow far outdid them.

He ran until he skidded to a halt in front of a pool, not an ordinary pool.A pool of this LIGHT. It thrummed with energy and danced with thousands upon thousands of colors of Blue and Green and even a hint of purple as if it lived amongst those colors, as if it was beauty itself.

It lapped at the shore and writhed with liveliness, beckoning. And the fox felt his heart give a sharp tug like no other before. A yearning to touch that beauty, become that beauty.

 A door he had never seen before was opened. And the opportunity to be something more than he was lay through it. And he, the Fox had the choice of whether he wanted to take a step through its frame, and become part of this ethereal beauty. This otherworldly glow. This light itself. 

He squeaked with joy an enchanting hum in his ears, a need  in his veins and a certainty like no other in his heart.

 He wouldn't just shine with this light. He would become it, prancing and thrumming through the air with joy.

Taking a step he set his paw in the cool pool of light and felt its warmth lap at his pads like the rays of the sun. And he felt something else something shining brighter than anything he had ever seen.
A speck of something he had never had. And he latched onto it with desperation and openness to welcome it into his paws. Latched onto that speck, and as he did, the light surged up his body bleaching his fur a pale white like the moon. It brought a new feeling something that made his veins sing with energy. Something that made his fur stand on end, his whiskers quiver, and his heart and mind beat together as one. 

The little Fox no longer felt the need to follow his heart, because his mind followed it too. A connection he had never had. He felt like he could jump to impossible heights and climb the tallest mountain. And he realized with a jolt what this feeling was… it was confidence. The confidence was glowing and thrumming in his soul filling him with certainty he had never had.

His fur continued to bleach white and he was filled with a warm glow. 

I am strong he repeated in his head. I am lively he said I am beautiful he said. The glow traveled towards his tail as it began to light up with a flame flickering and flying into the sky. I am worth something. He repeated to himself each word building him higher and higher till he towered over everything around him.

I am friendly, joyous, and enchanting. His mind thrummed with confidence. His tail continued to light up, every single drop of light from that pool, every single shade of blue and green flowing through his veins and pooling at his tail in a roaring flickering flame of beauty.

I am everything he thought as his eyes swam with the beauty and a feeling of weightlessness flowed over him.

The Fox lifted his paws in the air, he was a purple flower in a field of whites. But for the first time in his life, he was proud. Because he realized that purple outshone white tenfold. He was more beautiful, he was better, and stronger, and his creative mind was a valuable asset to behold. 

He rocketed into the sky boundless energy in his paws. He sprinted faster and faster through the night until the thrumming of his paws hummed like his beating heart.

Never again will I believe I am weak. He thought. Never again.

His tail blew in the wind as he sprinted with all his might, joy flowing through his very soul. His tail left a streak of glowing light in the sky behind him, a trail of where he ran.

And the fox knew that no matter how much he thought things were beautiful. This was definitely and would forever be the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. I am enchanting, I am beautiful, I am a roaring flickering flame…

“I am the aurora,” the Fox said out loud as he seized his confidence, forgetting his past and only listening to the primal beat of his heart, and the need to run and show his beauty to the world that ran in his blood. 

He ran and ran. And as he ran for the first time in his life animals paid him attention, they stared at him in awe as a light flickering with a thousand colors of blue and green flashed through the sky. Lighting up their world, they awoke from their slumber and howled at the moon in appreciation.

 For bringing the Fox’s lively soul into the world. Because no matter how much he believed he was worthless, it turns out he was the most important piece of a large puzzle.

And it is said, that today he is still sprinting through the sky, leaving a trail of light behind him. Illuminating the world with his joy. His tail billowing behind him.

 And maybe one day you too will see this glow. Will see his tail streaking through the air, the flickering flames moving throughout the world. And maybe you too will one day come to admire his light, his fox Fire.