Be Holden

Chapter 16: God Dog

The dead flowers on the ground face your branches that continue to get heavy as people encased in a thick exocarp grow older within their fleshy cages. Heart beats vibrate throughout your being. You feel them adjust from time to time. The exocarps begin to get wrinkly as the people suck all the liquid matter in their external wombs into themselves. You feel your branches trimmer. You hear scraping noises. Your branches start to shake ferociously until your fruit come out of their leathery, fleshy prison. When all of them are released, you feel tired and some euphoria settles within you. You move as though your body is like your fruits' bodies and twirl. Your thoughts force your tree form to recede and you are mobile again. The root holding Ishin slithers back into the marrow of your rib cage. Fifteen individuals stretch their limbs on the ground around you. Finally, they open their eyes and you giggle at their bewildered facial expressions. You run around them trying to see if any of them are different, but you see that they all look exactly like your sister.No, this cannot be happening! My sister is dead but...I am not alone anymore. They all belong to me. You hug all of them and some of them scowl at you like your father used to do. Now, those scowling faces are the exact replicas of your father. The ones that laugh look like your niece. The ones that have worried faces look like your mother. Eventually, their appearances change to different individuals you have encountered in your life. Probably, I am the tree Ishin has been searching for all along. Ishin looks at you without a hint of surprise in her face.Maybe I am not the tree she is looking for. Maybe...its the tree attached to Thyme's lover at the manor. It...but...but that does not make any sense. Why would she be looking for that tree?Ishin put her hand up in the air and her palm lands on a golden double door that appears out of nowhere again. Your offspring talk among themselves and you begin to walk slowly to Ishin.

Your ex-lover sneaks up behind you and wraps their arm around your waist. You stop walking and touch their arm. Your finger slides down their arm and you look at them over your shoulder. Your ex-lover's breaths tickle your neck and caress your face but you do not react to it. You just look at them and your mind drifts to a thought that you cannot grasp. You begin to turn your face away and your ex-lover tugs your wrist backwards. Now, you are facing your ex-lover. Black eyes with glints of red dig into your eyes until you feel uncomfortable and begin to look away. Your ex-lover grabs your chin and pulls you into a kiss. Your eyebrows furrow the moment both of your lips collide. You relax as the kiss deepens. Woof! Woof! You two freeze and the chatter from your offspring quiets. You slowly pull away from your ex-lover. Your eyes follow your movement to the direction the loud barking originated from. At first, you see white furry legs attached to four paws with sharp, uneven nails on each paw. Your eyes venture upwards and your head tilts back. White fur continues its cover over this massive body with sharp, jagged canines. The teeth shine like silver razor blades. Its silver eyes dare you to run. The white fur on this creature moves along with its pointy ears. They search through sounds inaudible to you.

You slowly look at your ex-lover and find your ex-lover bowing with their head hung low to this creature. Your jaw drops lower and you realize your mouth has been ajar this whole time. You whip your head back to the creature as a sound creeps into your ears. It can best be described as rolling dry leaves on a slab of pavement. The dog creature slowly shrinks to another form. It is the overseer of evil! His silver-white hair moves like active tails on his head before they settle on his back. He dons white, linen; long sleeved jacket without a zipper, pockets, or buttons on it. His pants are white and loose like pajama pants. He growls and walks up to the stone statue of the other overseer. The overseer of evil pinches the air before the other overseer's nose and a huge, grey cloudy orb comes out of the other overseer's left nostril.

He consumes the mass without hesitation and does not savor it. His heavy voice has whispers accompanying it as he says: "Where is Ishin?" You look around.She is not here. I don't...she was here a few moments ago. Where could she have gone? Wait a second... "Some golden doors appeared and she left. Just like that." You say and snap your fingers before your chest to emphasize the surprising departure. He trains his eyes on you, and you begin to feel like every move you make is being scrutinized under a magnifying glass. He looks away from you and at your bowing ex-lover. "You may raise your head, comrade. Is this true?" the overseer of evil asks. Your ex-lover brings their body back to an upright position and says: "I was not paying attention to Ishin, sir. I do trust my beloved to speak the truth in this instance, sir."

"Then she must not be that far away. Let's go after Ishin. The tree stays behind with the young ones."

"Sir, the tree can temporarily hold Ishin once we have caught up with her."

"Yes, the tree can be of some use but what about its young ones?"

"They will be safe here. This place is a haven for their kind, sir."

"It is settled. Let us all depart, now."

The overseer of evil shifts back into his dog form, and your ex-lover shifts back to a black dog. The overseer of evil barks at your ex-lover and your ex-sweetheart shifts into a blackClydesdale. The black horse neighs and walks up to you. You pet its head and it neighs again. You get on the horse and the overseer of evil runs forward then disappears in thin air. Your ex-lover follows and everything around you becomes a blur. You all meet up at a foggy, humid swamp land. A rumble shakes the forest trees around you. The dark soil is covered by moss. Your ex-lover steps on the soft ground and the squishing noises of the action fill your ears. Horns protrude from the edge of the huge swamp. The dirty, dark brown horns move up and the overseer of evil shifts from dog form to the form you are familiar with. His bare feet do not touch the muddy, moss covered ground. A big creature with brown eyes and leathery scales arises from the swamp. It releases smoke from its nostrils and begins to shake. You try to prepare yourself for a fireball burn by tightening your thighs on your ex-lover's back. Who am I trying to fool? If that thing spits out a fireball, I would not exist to feel the burn.

Bam! The dragon turns into a male with dark, brown dreadlocks and muddy brown skin. He stands on the moss with ease. "Let me guess. You are looking for Ishin, right?" He says with a Guyanese accent. "Yes." The overseer of evil replies. "I will tell you what I told her. I do not help baby killers, anyone who assists baby killers, and anyone cordial to baby killers!" He yells and then swiftly shifts back into Dragon form into the distance with his massive bat-like wings. The overseer of evil sighs exasperatedly then shifts back into an enormous dog and takes off running to your left. Your ex-lover follows and your surroundings become a blur again. You all meet at a gate. The overseer shifts forms again. He pulls the dirty string attached to a dented bell. It sounds like a cow bell. The Sun hangs low in this location. Lit oil lanterns hang from the stone walled gate. The overseer of evil slams his fist against one of the solid, metal gates. Light crunching of small pebbles approaches the gate and someone opens it. A little grey minion with big, floppy pointy ears looks at the overseer of evil with shaky knees as the overseer passes through the gates. Your ex-lover follows closely behind the overseer and you tighten your hold on the horse's back. The further you go in, the darker the sky gets.

You all follow a path with stepping stones on loose pebbles surrounding each stepping stone. The overseer and your lover ignore the stones and only step on the pebbles with precision. You all reach the mouth of a cave that looks like a black pointy eared demon with its canines fused to its skin and fireballs for eyes. A shiver rolls down your back. Torches light your way further down the cave until you reach a boxing ring encircled by jail fenced cages holding rowdy, hollering beings. You hop off your ex- lover's back and onto the pebble covered ground. Your ex-lover shifts their form. "What is this?" You whisper in your ex-lover's ear. "Everyone in those cages have to fight for a mate. The winners mate with the past winner or each other. Everyone else will then be let free from their cages and chase each other until they hunt their mate down for this mating season." Your ex-lover says. A male sitting on a throne on the other side of the ring stands up. "We have visitors! Some are old and one new one but we accept everyone. So, put them in their rightful cages!" He says. The black stripes on his face and his big sharp canines remind you of a tiger. Two ogres throw your ex-lover in the cage with wolves, dogs; some beings in it. The seaweed toned ogres come back and grunt at each other. One stood by the boxing ring's entrance and the other scoops you into its arms and slings you into a cage with a Wendigo, sirens, witches, warlocks, imps, and fairies.I guess I am a magic tree. "Okay, let us get this show on the road!" the next rumble and tumble will be Ishin versus Neale! There is this uncommon rumor that has been told to me about you two hating each other. So, you might as well duke it out kids! Ha! Ha!" The tiger looking guy says before he sits back on the throne and points to the stage. The overseer of evil gets into the cage your ex-lover is in and an ogre opens your cage. A figure with a burgundy coat exits your cage and the ogre locks it again. The figure walks down some steps and climbs onto the boxing ring. A translucent leg swiftly hides back under the burgundy cloak and moves to the center of the ring. The opponent of the burgundy figure towers over the cloaked individual. The burgundy figure takes off their hood. It is Ishin. She looks directly at the male's chest. His huge muscles constrict and relax as he open and close his hands. A boxing bell rings and Neale rips his shirt off. "This is going to be too easy!" Neale's raspy high-pitched voice says.