CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER ONE

     Simon opened the car door, slamming it shut behind him and jumping down onto his uncle’s driveway.
    “Have a good week at your uncle’s!” his mother called from behind him before driving away down the cracked, asphalt road.
     Simon took a deep breath, relishing the frosty, foresty smell of fall. Leaves crackled under his feet as he walked up the driveway to his uncle’s house.
    “Simon!” His uncle exclaimed as he went down the path to meet him, “Nice to see you again! My, how you’ve grown.”
    “Uncle Quill!” Simon said in delight.
    The man’s hair was grizzled and grey, with a short, bristly beard and a long scar running across one side of his long, pointed, pale face.
    “So, how have you been?” Quill asked, ruffling Simon’s short, black hair.
    “Good!” Simon said, grinning as they walked into Quill’s old, log-cabin like house.
    The walls and floor were made of planks of wood, and Quill switched the light on as they walked in.
    In the main room, there was a chandelier made of antlers, with an old bearskin rug underneath. There were deer, fox, bear, elk, rabbit and mink furs hanging all over the walls. Quill lead Simon into the dining room, where a polished oak table sat with several chairs surrounding it.
    “Simon, I want to show you something,” Quill said, taking a beautiful red and orange fox pelt from the wall. “This,” He said proudly, holding the fur up, “was my latest catch! A real beauty.”
    “Wow…” Simon said, petting the soft fur.
    “So then,” Quill said, putting the fur back up on the wall, “What’ll it be for dinner?”
    Simon shrugged.
    “Venison and spinach sound good?” Quill asked, taking a can from the freezer.
    “Sure.” Simon said, still looking around and marveling at all the furs on the walls.

    They ate dinner, Quill asking Simon how his summer had been all the while.
After they were finished, Simon crawled into bed, slipping under the soft rabbit furs and yawned. It had been a while since he had visited his uncle. He liked it here. Tomorrow they would go fishing and then exploring. He thought as he drifted slowly off to sleep.
But tomorrow would be much different then he had expected.

    Daien watched, smiling wickedly as the two spirits - the white hare and black wolf - descended towards the wooden-shingled house below. Curls of smoke, black and white, trailed behind the spirits and melded together forming a stream of grey in their wake. The hare and wolf looked at each other silently and began to weave around each other and around Simon.

Broken by death…
Broken by word…
Unbroken forever….

    And as wisps of grey smoke ascended and hare and wolf were gone, so was Simon.

INTRODUCTION

Foxdown
By Willow S. Sedam

INTRODUCTION

    “It’s his fault my brother died! Shot by a human, the worst way to die! He ought to pay dearly as well!” Daien looked up, the dark blue clouds behind and all around him churning as lightning flared behind him.
    “Ragen was …a… risk taker. He went to the mortal realms to experience the joys of life on earth, but he did not pay heed enough to the dangers, either,” the golden-furred lynx goddess, Liru said.
    “He should pay!” The black-furred fox god shouted, as the clouds lit up with lightning and thunder rumbled above. “I say, we take that… that horrid nephew he always coos over,” Daien said, a murderous glare in his eyes.
    “Not kill him! He is only a boy! Barely thirteen!” Liru burst out, eyes flashing yellow.
    “Stop, you two,” the giant elk god Starig said, stepping between lynx and fox. “Death is too high a penalty.”
    “An eye for an eye!” Daien snarled, hunching himself over and glaring angrily at Liru from the side.
    The other gods watched from a distance, as fights between Daien and Liru where common but fierce.
    “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, though, Daien,” Starig said in a low, knowing tone. “Taking the life of another who has done nothing wrong, though? Really, Daien? Would you stoop this low? He is barely the equivalent of a calf.”
    “Well, let us see who does the killing then,” Daien said, an evil grin on his face.
    “You better not be thinking of some even more horrid plan!” Liru warned, unsheathing onyx claws.
    Daien leaned over to whisper into Liru’s ear.
    “Never!” Liru snarled, as Daien backed away and Starig stepped between them once more.
    “Don’t you say, Starig? Would it be fair?” Daien asked.
    “I still am not in favor of punishing one who has done no wrong,” Starig said. “And talk if you must say something, It displeases me when you talk from mind to mind.”
    “So then?” Daien asked.
    Starig took a deep breath, then said with a sigh, “I suppose it is… ” He trailed off.
    “It is settled then,” Liru growled, sounding displeased.
    “Yes.” Starig said, stepping back as Liru stalked through the black, stormy clouds.
    “Kira…” The lynx muttered, once she was well out of earshot of the other gods. “You’re one of my most trusted guardians, no?” she asked, as the tan-furred fox trotted up, “Then do me a favor, would you?” Liru asked, bending over to whisper into Kira’s ear.

Hold your horses!

Hi, and welcome to FoxDown. First, let me tell you what this blog is about.
First of all, my name is Willow, and I'm a young writer. This blog is all about the short story, "FoxDown" (yes, written by me).

Each week I will post a chapter, starting.... well, once I finish editing it.
Yes, FoxDown isn't completely edited yet, so you'll just have to wait and be a good sport, but once it's edited and ready to go, you won't have to worry or wait, because Copy+Pasting a chapter a time into the blog isn't as hard as it seems, and I will do so every week, until there are no more chapters to post.

If I do fall behind, it is because I:
A. Lost internet
B. Died
or C. Had to go to Grandma's house for Thanksgiving.
Now, It might also be because I forgot.... but hopefully that won't happen...

Anyway, with this blog up, and rabid hordes of readers wanting... to... read, I will try and get editing done as fast as possible. So hold your horses, and hopefully I can get this book done sooner rather than later, and have the first chapter up ASAP.

Well, hello, everyone, and welcome!