avatarThomas Gaudex

Summary

While driving home late at night, the author encountered two red foxes near a familiar woodland area, prompting a fleeting urge to abandon human life and join the foxes in their wild, nocturnal existence.

Abstract

The author recounts a recent personal experience where, after a late-night tennis practice, they unexpectedly crossed paths with two red foxes on the roadside. The brief encounter, illuminated by the car's headlights, evoked a powerful, instinctive desire within the author to leave behind their human life, possessions, and digital distractions to become one with nature and the foxes under the night sky. Despite the intense longing to connect with the wild, the author ultimately chose to return to the comforts and responsibilities of their human life, symbolizing the disconnect between human society and the natural world.

Opinions

  • The author seems to romanticize the idea of shedding human identity to embrace a more primal, untamed existence.
  • There is a sense of nostalgia and connection to the woodland area where the author used to build huts, suggesting a past filled with adventure and exploration.
  • The fleeting thought of abandoning civilization for a life among wild animals indicates a deep-seated yearning for freedom and simplicity.
  • The author's decision to continue home and attend to digital notifications reflects the modern human condition, where technology and societal expectations often take precedence over natural instincts and desires.

The Human World

And two red foxes in the dark night

Photo by Ray Hennessy on Unsplash

Last night on my way home from tennis practice at around 10:30 pm, I came across two red foxes going up the roadside embankment one behind the other, right next to the wood where I spent years building huts during the 1990s. As the headlights of my car flashed on the fur of the two foxes, no doubt frightened by my disturbing metallic presence, which lasted only a few tenths of a second, here is what a voice inside my head whispered to me: stop the car, turn off the engine, turn off the headlights, leave all your stuff in the car, go outside, lose all humanity until you too become a red fox, leave the tarmac, join your two friends under the stars and the freezing cold, in the dark night. I quickly came to my senses, went home, took a long shower, and returned to my notifications, which were wisely waiting for me to take care of them. So goes the human world.

Nature
Wildlife
Life
Humanity
Poetry
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