Cane Waller

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st for a fortnight, spending his money lavishly on women, wine and food. When his passion is spent, he will return to his leaf hut for another year while he tends to the needs of his flock of killer ants. This is all Cane knows and all he wants to know.</p><p id="dc78">Cane’s life has been recorded in the book of the gods and he will receive his reward in the latter days when the PURE ONE returns. Cane prays the sacred prayers three times a day, facing the box elder tree where the PURE ONE was born.</p><p id="984c">Cane believes he is a descendent of the PURE ONE and desires to be like him. The Enchanted Forest was created by the PURE ONE to protect his followers from the raids of the evil ones. Only true believers can enter the forest and taste the sweetness of its shade.</p><p id="9548">The City dwellers live under the constant presence of the sun and suffer the burning of the flesh that it causes. The followers of the PURE ONE breathe the sacred air of the forest and seldom venture into the sun-covered lands.</p><p id="ae08">Cane is pledged to a woman of his own people but he finds himself longing for the burnt skin of the women of the City. Cane struggles against the ache he feels in his heart. He finds himself at

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odd moments daydreaming of the City and the brightness of the sun.</p><p id="2c10">Buried deep inside the recesses of his soul is the desire to dwell in the City. Cane cannot even admit the truth to himself. It would be sacrilegious to think such thoughts. He would be an outcast among his people and forbidden entrance to the Enchanted Forest.</p><p id="367d">Cane tends to his herd and prays daily for forgiveness. He knows he must rid himself of the evil thoughts that plague him. Cane lives as all men do: on the edge of self-destruction.</p><p id="8c77">Copyright © 2020 by Harley King</p><p id="5b21">If you like this story, you might also like <b><i>Anthony Macino</i></b>.</p><div id="44ee" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/anthony-macino-b30cce4836da"> <div> <div> <h2>Anthony Macino</h2> <div><h3>Is This Someone You Know?</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*uaKrglOQunrGIF34m7ixVQ.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div></article></body>

Flash Fiction

Canva-Photo by 42 North

Cane Waller lives on a leaf hut at the edge of the Enchanted Forest. Each morning before the sun has set, he climbs down from the roof of the hut, dresses in the soft glow of the sunset, and has a breakfast of cactus juice and mosquito bread. Dressed like a grasshopper, Cane slips unseen into the forest to begin his work as a peasant farmer who raises killer ants.

The ants will be sold to the City dwellers as pets. Each ant grows to be about six feet long and two feet high. Cane has a herd of two hundred that he shepherds. Soon he will have seventy-five ready to sell. He will drive the ants to the edge of Peco, the largest city within five hundred miles, where he will auction them off to the highest bidder.

When the last killer ant is sold, Cane will adorn himself with the soft silk clothes of the City dwellers and walk the cobbled streets that lead to the houses of women. There he will rest for a fortnight, spending his money lavishly on women, wine and food. When his passion is spent, he will return to his leaf hut for another year while he tends to the needs of his flock of killer ants. This is all Cane knows and all he wants to know.

Cane’s life has been recorded in the book of the gods and he will receive his reward in the latter days when the PURE ONE returns. Cane prays the sacred prayers three times a day, facing the box elder tree where the PURE ONE was born.

Cane believes he is a descendent of the PURE ONE and desires to be like him. The Enchanted Forest was created by the PURE ONE to protect his followers from the raids of the evil ones. Only true believers can enter the forest and taste the sweetness of its shade.

The City dwellers live under the constant presence of the sun and suffer the burning of the flesh that it causes. The followers of the PURE ONE breathe the sacred air of the forest and seldom venture into the sun-covered lands.

Cane is pledged to a woman of his own people but he finds himself longing for the burnt skin of the women of the City. Cane struggles against the ache he feels in his heart. He finds himself at odd moments daydreaming of the City and the brightness of the sun.

Buried deep inside the recesses of his soul is the desire to dwell in the City. Cane cannot even admit the truth to himself. It would be sacrilegious to think such thoughts. He would be an outcast among his people and forbidden entrance to the Enchanted Forest.

Cane tends to his herd and prays daily for forgiveness. He knows he must rid himself of the evil thoughts that plague him. Cane lives as all men do: on the edge of self-destruction.

If you like this story, you might also like Anthony Macino.