The Paxmatikus

WARNING: Mild gore and death. A creature is not good at swimming.

The Paxmatikus
Alira Cohen
The creature is not good at swimming. It has no gills, and its many limbs are not suited for carrying it through a body of water. The unblinking eyes that line the back of its swan-like neck sting when making contact with liquids; they burn when they cry. There are no fins on the creature’s body.
Still, I’ve seen a paxmatikus attempt to get itself to the other side of a running ravine. There were no rocks protruding from beneath the water for it to stand on, no fallen trees that could’ve possibly served as a bridge for crossing. Its plentiful twig-like limbs propelled its small body forward. It took a leap of faith. Its feet left the security of the green grass it was standing on as it plummeted into the water. I watched it kicking, thrashing, crying, groaning. Eventually it began to find its way. My eyes observed its every movement from the bushes in pure fascination.
Its fourteen thin legs battled the water, soon allowing it to gain some control. In the same instance, it was straining to keep the round eyes on the back of its neck dry. The black-rimmed eyes on its face, however, closed as the water pushed against them. As it straightened itself out preparing to swim forward, its long sharp snout made it look like an arrow. It was a sight to behold, a vision that touched my heart, to see such a weak thing fight. For a moment, a light inside was rising, becoming a touch warmer. I could feel a hope in me that I thought I’d lost.
I won’t soon forget what came crashing from beyond the brush. To this day I can’t tell you what they call that beast in the land from whence it came, but when my frightened eyes fell upon it, I could only know it as Death. A true predator, there was a jagged black tooth for every corner of its swollen gums. It stood upright with impeccable posture, but when it had to give chase, it bent down and ran on four long limbs. Its muzzle was puggish but powerful, its build sleek and lean. I sat humbled by the tragedy of broken perfection that was its presence. Its face, from what I can picture now, was a mess of swirls. It stopped and stood upright just to watch its prey struggling from a distance. I couldn’t tell if there were fins on its body; all the same I knew, as I’m convinced I saw its devilish grin. I felt the knot in my soul telling me: “It can swim just fine.”
And from that day, my spirit remains twisted, because it was something I couldn’t ever escape. It was the horror of how the smaller being had struggled and strained in the water, not managing to get far in the end, where the predator, with a few powerful strides and a snap of its jaws, colored the ravine red.

Author's Note

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Reviews

[_rabbitofhabit (1word)]

I thought it was a very good read. I liked how it conveyed a vivid image yet left most details up to the interpretation of the reader's imagination. I also loved the narrative view. The descriptions of the paxmatikus, not just physically, but in concerns to the emotional toll of looking at it, was really well done. And the beast was flawless. If I had to say anything bad, I'd probably complain about the formatting.

[Alira]

I’m glad you enjoyed the story! Something that helped me in depicting the paxmatikus itself was I drew it just as a goofy doodle before writing it, it actually was very useful! I’m really happy you liked my description of the beast in the story, that creature design was a bit ambitious for me. About the formatting, yeah, I do really need to clean these up and make clear paragraphs again because they change when I paste them into Writerscafe (not only pinning that flaw on Writerscafe, but it is something I need to do when I go back and edit my writing on here).

[_rabbitofhabit (1word)]

It's cool how you can make a whole narrative based off a doodle. Really good stuff.

[Alira]

Thanks, man! I appreciate u.