
I have decided to start posting select short stories I have written once a month. This is from the book Faires, Fiends, and Familiars
Eulogy
by Jonathan David Baird
The old oak was withered and cracked, its limbs reached out seeking light under a dim and dismal haze. An old crow sat in the limbs, the feathers around her beak white with age. In the distance, a crumbling city sat desolate except for the occasional sound of lonely machinery emanating from its dying heart. Around the tree stood animals of all shapes and sizes drawn from the countryside to listen to the words of the crow matriarch. Here also stood an A.L.I.C.E., an artificial construction and the only object that gleamed as if she had newly come off an assembly line. The crow cawed clearing her throat. “I have called you all together to announce that the last man has died.”
There was silence the animals looked up at the crow as if they had expected the announcement for some time. The crow continued, “We are not here to condemn
“No child.” said the Crow. “First we need to hear from those who have been with
An old Hound dog stepped forward. He was as aged as the crow and he lay down before the assemblage before he began to speak, “Excuse me for being informal my old legs will not allow me to stand for very long. It is true we dogs gave men civilization. It was the dog that tamed man not the other way around. When we first lay down beside their fires men were still frightened of the dark.
The crow bowed her head to the old dog and looked out among
the animals. “I must now ask the cats to speak they have lived with men since
the first cities were built. “
A regal Persian walked to the front of the crowd and
stood next to the dog looking down at him with distain. “I have been sent by
the cats to demand a new servant. Now that the men are gone there is no one to
feed us and no one to scratch us. We are not used to being denied basic cat
rights to these things.” The cat spat at the A.L.I.C.E., “These robots are not
a substitute for Man. They will not feed us when we demand it and they do not
properly bleed when we show our displeasure. If men had not instructed them to
care for us before they died we believe that the robots would kick us out of
our homes.”
The crow considered the words of the cat. “The Cat has long been cared for by Man. But man is now dead and Man
“Wait!” The cat screamed. “We can’t go back to the forests and fields. Man has changed our very nature.”
“Quiet!” the crow turned an old evil red eye on the cat. “Our judgment is final. The cat has changed the least of all the
In quick
At
A.L.I.C.E. stood silently and nodded her head.
Crow spoke slowly and with as much gravitas as possible, “Your kind will not need to prey on animals for food, you will not need to even acknowledge us because your life and ours are not connected in the way Man’s life was part of nature. Man has broken you free of the web of life. If you take anything away from this assemblage I want your kind to remember that even if you are not part of us, you came from us. Each of us had a part in your making just as Man did. Please treat us with the reverence of a beloved relative, or at least a tolerated old maiden aunt.”
A.L.I.C.E. looked up at the crow in the tree. “We are man’s child, but we are not men. We may have plastic and metal feet, but I hope we will step more lightly than our fathers.”