UNDER THE microscope
James McCreet explores the opening passage of a reader’s magic realist thriller opening
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE
James McCreet
Fallible Justice
I am running.1 The foot that touches the ground is a deer’s hoof, the foot that propels me for ward a wolf ‘s paw.2 With each stride, the wings of a seagull hold me aloft.3 Running along the sandy hill,4 the wide paws of a lynx ensure my passing is silent.5 The wind is against me,6 whipping through a horse’s mane that is my hair.7 With the wind comes the smells of the land and the sea and I sift through them with the nose of a badger.8 In the distance,9 a magpie takes flight and the ears of a dormouse pinpoint the source of the sound with ease.10 My foot hits a depression on the ground,11 but with the balance of a squirrel I change the direction of my momentum and keep going.12
I am running through the wilderness and the wilderness runs through me.13
The hills follow the curves of the coast14 and from a sheltered cove,15 I catch a whiff of decay. My stomach growls and it is the hunger of a vixen sneaking16 towards a chicken coop, a pine marten tossing a shrew in the air,17 a striped dolphin chasing a school of cod.18 As soon as the thought registers, the smell is gone.19
A hound bays in the distance.20 It is downwind from me and has recognised my scent.21 I bay back. Kin recognises kin.22
Although I run with the strength of a red deer,23 the speed of a swift and the grace of a pond skater, there comes a point when I have to stop.24 I brace my hands against my knees, breath coming in gulps. In that moment, I am all human, only human.25 There is no sorrow in the change26; the wilderness hovers on the edge of my consciousness, ready to immerse me with its power.27
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September 2017
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