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Down in the Dirt magazine (v093)
(the April 2011 Issue)




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Down in the Dirt magazine cover Wake Up and Smell the Flowers This writing also appears
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Literary
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1,000 Words
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Law

Valerie Goodwine

    The old ones told the tale of a deadly flood that covered the land killing all in its wake. The gods had sent the flood to punish the tribe, said the elders. The tribe had abused the land and angered the gods. Punishment had been swift and deadly.
    Freddy didn’t know if he really believed the old legends. It happened generations ago so how could the elders be sure?
    Secretly Freddy thought the elders were just using the legends to control the tribe. The elders claimed that overuse of the land caused the flood through global warming.
    The elders said to save the land and not leave a carbon footprint. Eat sparingly to spare the land. Gluttony is a sin.
    Not to follow the laws of the elders was to risk death for all. The laws were many but they all said the same, the land must be respected.
    Oh hell, Freddy thought, I am so tired of hearing the elders preach at me. Who is to know how much I eat, if I only eat when I am alone?
    So Freddy ate and ate, always in secret, defying the gods. Sometimes the land shook and the elders worried the deadly floods would come again. Still Freddy ate.
    One day after a particularly filling meal, Freddy heard distant screams. The screams drew closer and he saw members of his tribe running for their lives.
    “To higher ground” the elders cried. “Run, run. The flood is coming.”
    Mothers and fathers carried their children and ran. Terror filled every face as they hurried towards higher ground.
    Freddy followed the elders and ran as fast as his overstuffed body would allow. He wished now he had not eaten so much. He was the slowest of the tribe. Little by little, he fell behind the others.
    As the warm waters lapped at his feet, he saw it was bubbling strangely. A pungent odor hit his nose and he had trouble breathing. Faster and faster he tried to run but the waters kept rising.
    What a fool he was to have disobeyed the elders, he thought, as the water swirled around his legs. This was his fault. He fingered the sacred amulet around his neck and prayed for forgiveness.
    Fluffy gave one last shake trying to escape the bathtub. Mark grabbed the back of Fluffy’s neck, forcing him back into the tub.
    “Oh no you don’t, get back in the tub. You’re getting a nice flea bath. You’ve been itching so much you’d think a whole tribe of critters lived on you.”



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