She grew up to be wild, but ended up a street-urchin, teen-age mother.
For the sake of her kids she grew up fast and found herself a moderate dwelling, she had to feed and protect them, and that made her wise.
Wise but exhausted she watched as they twilight-twirled in their dreams
They sleep with the moon veiled and protected by blackness she left them to scavenge the dumpsters for food.
Last night she had found a half-eaten burger and the night before she found gravy-soaked fries
It had been raining, but the puddles had dried leaving no freshness behind.
She tiptoed close to the walls not to cast any shadows and pulled by the scent from a hot-dog she navigated through the reek of urine and booze from a hobo snoring away.
She a fox-mother, queen of the city, was proud to survive.
Today at dVerse prosery hosted by Merrill we are writing prose in maximum 144 characters that also has to include the following quote
“In their dreams
they sleep with the moon.”
–From Mary Oliver, “Death at Wind River”
I also link to earthweal where Sherry hosts a prompt of “Considering the non-human world”
Also, I wanted to be prepared for this Thursday where I host dVerse Open Link and a real online event. Join us early at 3PM EST and meet other poets in an attempt to have a real open mic event.
September 14, 2020
Björn Rudbergs writings 
Wow. So visceral!
That animals adapt so well to urban environments is a marvel in itself, but you have made us see this mother-fox as the backbone of her family. Love the poetic imagery intertwining throughout the narrative. 🙂
Ah… I hope you want to join in this prose challenge
I’m thinking about it 😉 Thanks, Björn.
What a brilliant twist at the end, Bjorn! 😀 The prose is riveting and I love the way you have incorporated the line from Mary Oliver’s poem. Inspired 💝
I don’t know how it came to me, but I clearly saw some children sleeping in that quote.
I have a love-hate relationship with foxes. This one is definitely a survivor. Nicely done, kept me wondering until the end.
❤ I love this, Bjorn. You and I were thinking along the same lines with the prompt, but yours is much more uplifting.
Yes we both thought about animals.
I like the title, Björn, and the fox image is lovely! I love the way you built up the character in this piece, this wise but exhausted mother who watched her children as they ‘twilight-twirled in their dreams’ (great phrase!), and slowly revealed her true nature.
Great twist and wonderful last line!
Oh, I love this. Animal mothers are sometimes more devoted to their offspring than human mothers. I like how you broke the line, too.
Wow i still cannot understand if she is vixen or woman, whichever still a very sad tale told
Happy Monday
Much💛love
Bjorn, how wonderful to see you at earthweal. Thanks, kiddo. I love your fox-mother, though it is hard to think of her trying to survive on even the edges of a city, a hard life. I love “they sleep with the moon veiled”. A wonderful write! Thanks for stopping by earthweal. My heart smiled when I saw you.
Revealing the fox as the protagonist at the end is a nice twist.
Oh yes. Grit. Smells. Too real. Great stuff, Bjorn.
This was a riveting read, Bjorn, and the ending was a stunner. Applause from here.
As noted, excellent write. I thought it was a human mother, homeless, on the streets, with her children. The image is too\ perfect; did you start with that?
Smart as a fox, your writing here. Like the adventurous dangerous essence of it — well penned Bjorn.
A great story Bjorn. I could see this happening as the twist went from human to fox. A very nice flow to this.
This was so good Björn! I love where you went and it felt so raw.
The fox caught me by surprise…a mother’s gotta do what she must for her kits!
Very good Bjorn, I can smell that hot dog!
A fantastic, fox-eye view of the human world! I used to love watching the urban foxes when I lived in London, though I got in trouble with the neighbours for feeding them, of course!
It wasn’t till the end I caught up with you. Enjoyed this…
Brilliantly created for the prompt….a bit of twilight-twirling must be in many small animals experience!
You had me cringing and tearing up until the end. Oh my, the stark realities!
Good one, Björn. Foxes adapt to our suburban environment, but even that we object to sharing with them.
A most captivating piece, Bjorn, and the twist at the end is superb!
Ya got me! Yes, many cities are home to wild creatures who have adapted their ways to that environment. Love your response to the prompt.
I thought you were talking homeless ‘human’ at the beginning too. Nice twist. And the use of the line was inspired. A good one.
Pat
I thought you were talking homeless ‘human’ at the beginning too. Nice twist. And the use of the line was inspired. A good one.
Pat
finely turned, Bjorn ~
Splendid.
Thank you for sharing!