Canyon Moon

The journey is never easy, I thought to myself.

Freezing air presses on my exposed skin. My leatherskin pant hardens in the cold moisture. 

The wind howls, carrying the silent sound of the river beneath the canyon.

My torch had long died, and I walked in complete and utter darkness. 

Fear gripped my heart, but I have to trudge on. She needs me, now more than ever.

My hands tremble as I gripped on a clay pot.

As my bare feet trudge on, a howl breaks the silence of the valley.

My hands slowly reach for the spear tied to my back.

In the darkness, shapes take form: beasts of fang and fur, growling like thunder about to strike overhead.

The spear's rope loosens.

I knelt to drop the clay pot to the ground. 

The darkened beasts slowly approaches from behind the rocks, their footsteps rustling the loose pebbles of the desert. 

I grip my spear with my right hand. My eyes adjusted. 4 beasts with teeth ready to bite.

A lone shape runs in front of the other three. As it jumps, my hand moves quickly to defend.

The spear is swallowed nearly in half by the beast. It coughs blood and chokes as I tried to pull out the spear.

Two beasts began running in a half circle towards me. One of them bites my right arm.

I scream in pain. The other bites my left. 

Together, they began pulling. My arms were spread open. the third beast jumped, it's maw heading for my exposed head. I managed to duck as the beast flies over my head.

With unnatural strength I swung my right arm as the beast locks its jaw on it, and slam it to the left beast. They both yelp in pain and loosened their maws. 

My bloodied hand reached for the spear, and I swung it wildly towards the two beasts. 

The stone blade cuts one of them by the eye. The beast whimpered and disappeared into the darkness.

The beast behind me had managed to regain its focus and ran towards me. I swung my spear from bottom to top, hitting the beast from the bottom of the head. 

The stone blade pierces the bottom of its jaw, I heard the loud sound of tearing flesh. 

The beast flies backwards, and lands on its side. It shakes for a few seconds before finally ceasing to be. 

the last beast, in my distraction, rushed to bite my leg. It bit the ankles of my right leg, and pulls. I land on my back, my head hits a large stone. My vision went dark. 

I swung my right arm, and the handle of the spear hits the beast by the side of the head.

It loosened its maw and rubbed its head with its right paw. 

I jerked my leg back just as it refocuses on me. 

It opens its jaw and I swung the spear right between its eyes. 
The stone blade buried itself halfway through the beast's skull. It collapses on the ground silently.

As I catch my breath, the howling wind picks up once again.  I limped my way back to the clay pot.

Sorry dear one, I told it. I'll get you home.

I limped my way up the canyon, each step more painful than the last.

My breath fogs up making it difficult to see in front of me. I trip on a small rock and get back up painfully.

My hands trembled as I held the clay pot. 

They felt numb, but I gripped the pot as tightly as I could.

As I arrived above the peak of the canyon, the blue moon glistened with the stars.

I knelt and put the clay pot on a small rock. A pedestal. 

My lips trembled as I reached for the pot's cover. Tears began to well in my eyes.

My shaky hands opened the pot slowly and carefully. I reached my hand inside.

The contents gripped my hand,fitting between the spaces of my fingers.

Like when she held my hand as she was dying.

When she said it was ok.  That I didn't need to cry.

Her shaky hands gripping mine as her pale face smiled to tell me she's happy.

That in her last days, I was with her. That I have loved her when she couldn't do anything for the village because of her failing body.

The contents slipped between my fingers. 

It felt warm. Felt familiar.

I took my hand out and hugged the pot.

Then, without shame, I wept.

Had I been seen by my people, they would've questioned my strength. My leadership.

But here, its only me and her. 

The wind howled again, and her ashes flew from my embrace.

In the glistening moonlight, the ashes took form.

A woman wearing leatherskin. Feathers crowned her head. 

She looked down on me, and with a smile and a nod, the ashes drifted off. 

So I knelt there, trembling. Cold, alone, and weak. Smiling like a madman at the moon.

Reaching my trembling hands out just to hold her one more time.

I knelt in cold silence, as the cruel winds scattered my mother's ashes towards the canyon moon. 

Author's Note

Please leave a review if you liked the story. Thanks!

Reviews

[Sharda]

Beautifully written. From a very young age we are taught that 'strong men don't cry'. So what does a person do to relieve the heavy burden off hes chest - Hide and cry
Can you re-check this sentence - The spear's rope loosens, and with I knelt to drop the clay pot to the ground ... I feel there is an error here

Again beautifully written

[Matthew Soliguen]

Thank you for the review! I'm a bit dusty since it's been a while since I made any writing, but I look forward to making new content and being active again in this writing community.
Also, thank you for pointing out the writing error, it's fixed now :D.

[Thomas Fitzgerald]

It is a beautiful story, of masculinity, heartaches, bravery and talent really, well done, good read. My only advice is to edit yourself and be brutal, it's the only way.