View source for Progress vs. Past

[[Category:Story]][[Category:Drak'rrth]]

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It was a bad day for Tom. Never mind that he had wasted six bullets on a deer before it finally died, now he had (on the insistence of his parents) to move to this ultra-remote area of America.

To make things worse, they had a strict gun law and no hunting law, and there was hardly any internet connection there. He wondered how on earth they survived without a gun, or even an online address. A man was nothing without his gun.

Which all fitted his uncle’s style: a conservative, reserved man who absolutely refused to move on with technology until something happened in his own backyard, recently. Tom thought it was about time the old coot started waking up. He still didn’t understand how his uncle had gotten elected in the first place, anyway.

As he drove his car through the strangely-quiet city, he thought he figured out how the citizens didn’t kick his uncle out immediately – they were all exactly like him. Even the city was a remnant from the dark ages.

He rode past a bright new, spotless building. He supposed that was the one concession his uncle had made to progress. It probably housed the one scientist that had the stupidity to move in.

As he turned into the driveway, his uncle was waiting for him. The old man had gotten fat and slow, like his city.

“Welcome, Tom! I’m sure you’ll love your stay here. Absolutely nothing to disturb the countryside atmosphere, is there?”

Tom bit back a scream. It wouldn’t do to appear so weak he couldn’t endure a short imprisonment here.

“I’ve made concessions specially for you. You have access to the fastest connection here, and special permission for you to use your gun in a specified hunting area.”

He breathed a sigh of relief. The one thing his uncle knew how to do was pamper his family. This wouldn’t be so bad after all.

“There’s one thing you must remember, though. Don’t go into the woods,” the elderly mayor cautioned.

“Why not?” Tom challenged. He was old enough that he could take care of himself practically anywhere, never mind a pathetic forest only a few short feet from civilization, or at least some semblance of it.

“The woods are haunted. A few months ago, around a dozen or so people were massacred by something. Officially, I pronounced it to be wolves, which was accepted by a good number of the population, but the experts and I agree that no pack of wolves, or tigers or what-so-ever could kill a dozen people in one night. Also, citizens have reported mysterious noises from deep inside the woods.”

“Don’t worry, Uncle,” Tom proclaimed as he cocked his shotgun, his pride and joy. “I’m a good shot.”



The mayor watched his young nephew stride off towards the forest. He loved him dearly, but he was uncomfortable with all the technology that his nephew had either demanded or had brought along. Technology made a man lazy, he believed. And a gun was unnecessary if no one had one.

The problem was that, for now, his nephew had a gun, and would be harming something very soon. He would have to call his contact and make sure his nephew stayed within the excessively-generous boundaries he had put down.

He picked up the rotary phone. “Mr Brown? I need your services…”



I was sitting up in a tree when I saw him coming.

Dr Brown was rushing towards the forest. Obviously, he was looking for me. Not even Brown was daring – or stupid – enough to approach the wolves by himself. And he had done quite a few stupid things in the last few months, myself as a testimonial.

I dropped down out of the tree, using my wings to slow my fall. “Reynard, I believe you were going to look for me.”

He stepped back and looked shocked. “Don’t do that again…”

“Not even I can control the wolves if they start thinking of you as dinner, Reynard. And you were running towards a pack.”

“Sorry. Anyway, the mayor just said that his nephew was heading towards a special hunting zone near the forest.”

I shook my head. “Damn! I thought he had banned hunting altogether.”

“He had, but this is his nephew we’re talking about. He’s quite protective of his family here.”

“Do you want me to scare him away?” I menacingly asked while sharpening my claws.

“No, we have to cooperate with the mayor. He’s having a hard time accepting me as it is. Just make sure he stays within this zone,” he said, shoving a map in my face.

“Will do,” I grinned. I had my own ways of scaring off visitors.



Tom reached the pitifully-small hunting zone. Within two hours, he had shot every single animal within the zone.

He sighed. Hunting was supposed to last gloriously for whole afternoons, sometimes days on end, before coming home triumphantly with a nice fresh carcass. He prodded the body of the rabbit he had just shot. It wasn’t even big enough for a child’s mitten. He needed more area to shoot.

He spied the thick forest beyond. Within the inner heart was sure to be some nice big prey. And if he found the wolves, even better. He would have done the city a big favour, which would be worth whatever punishment they put on him. What could they do, anyway, to the mayor’s relative? He set off.

Immediately, there came a growl from nearby. He raised his rifle and took aim – not as if he didn’t have his trusty shotgun for backup - , then lowered it again. Just as a precaution, he switched to the shotgun.



I sighed. Clearly, the guy was an idiot. Despite my indirect warning, he had simply switched to another weapon and swaggered off again. It was time to up the amp.

I dropped down and blew my ultrasonic whistle. Within moments, a wolf came up to me and sat down.

I fed him and positioned him near the entrance to a clearing, into which the intruder was headed. After this, he should think twice about proceeding further.



Tom kept going. After some time, he dropped his guard and walked on casually. If there were any wolves at all, he had not seen any sign of them. The dozen people had probably misused a meat grinder and diced themselves. He wouldn’t be surprised – the people here couldn’t tell a Jaguar from a Ferrari. General knowledge.



As he stepped in, I gave three short blasts on the whistle.

It went off right on time – just as he walked past us, the wolf howled. The guy jumped and fired off a stray shot, which unfortunately clipped the wolf’s paw. I quickly shut his muzzle – I didn’t need him knowing my position.

It worked though. He started looking nervous and seemed to be having second thoughts. But, amazingly enough, he still went on.

After dressing the wolf’s paw, I sent him off. And I decided that, after the next stage, I would take his rifle and put a bullet through – not his brain, since I had sworn not to kill again – but his hand. It would be perfect payback for what he had done.



Despite being extremely rattled, Tom continued going. Being scared was part of the fun of hunting, and he intended to exploit it to its fullest.



This time, I decided to take him out physically, if he couldn’t be shaken off mentally. Besides, he was getting a bit too close to a nearby den, and I couldn’t risk him finding it.

As he cautiously walked through the woods, I quickly clambered to a tree directly above the path and waited.

He walked below and I dropped down.

“WHAM!”

I knocked him out immediately. Being flattened by a dragon, no matter how big, was sure to cause a concussion immediately.

Before I dragged him out, I took his shotgun and broke it in two. Then I took his rifle and, as promised, shot his hand. Then I took the rifle and hid it behind a tree, along with the rest of the guns I had slowly accumulated from unwary city-folk. If ever I needed firepower, I had it at hand.

Finally, I took his body and dragged – yes, dragged – it all the way near the border of the zone. He would assume that it was an animal that knocked him out and dragged him all the way there.



Tom was in bed with bandages around his right hand and body.

The mayor walked in. “I told you it was haunted. And you disobeyed me, despite my kindness to you.”

“I could have handled it. It was just bad luck,” Tom protested.

“Silence! You may be my nephew, but I cannot accept this kind of behaviour! Unless you wish for me to remove all your privileges, I forbid you to go hunting again!”

Tom sat in stunned silence. No hunting – it was unacceptable.

“I see you’re taking this quite well, Tom,” his uncle continued gently, misreading Tom’s expression of horror. “I’m sorry, but my people do come first. Having a person mauled in the woods will bring back memories of what had happened all those months ago. Work with me here, Tom.”



Reynard went out of his office/lab. He had been working full-time on something Brent had specially requested, although what for he did not know.

A voice from a megaphone caught his attention. It was coming from a gathering down the road.

“…and I promise you, your lives will be improved! You will never have to toil in the field again! We cannot hold back progress – we must embrace it! Embrace technology! Embrace progress! To hell with tradition!”

He grew alarmed and decided to investigate. It turned out to be the mayor’s brash young nephew, gesturing wildly with a bandaged hand. Worryingly, there was already a large crowd gathered around his platform.

“We must progress, and the first to go must be Nature! Ecological restrictions are holding us back! Without Nature, there will be free rein, to do whatever you need, whatever you want! Thus, we must display a show of force against Nature! Thus, we must burn the forest, kill the animals, and build a new city upon its foundations!”

“Burn! Burn! Burn!” the crowd chanted. This was getting very bad.

Tom jumped down and grabbed a torch. “And I, your leader, will be the first in the attack! Follow me!” Reynard was now close enough to sense his thoughts, and they were screaming murder.

The crowd slowly moved down the road, brandishing knives and torches. Reynard dashed off towards the forest. He had to warn Brent.

-

As the crowd reached the forest, Tom grew excited. Who else but him was fit to lead such a glorious revolution, in the face of his uncle?

Unexpectedly, they were stopped by a figure standing in the middle of the road.

It was his uncle.

“Tom, please don’t do this,” he begged.

“Stand aside, Uncle. I am about to improve your town, and you won’t stop me. In fact, as time goes by, you will thank me for saving your ass from a eternal hell of a backwater city.” They were already wasting time.

“I will not.”

“Then move out of the way, or I will force you out,” he threatened.

Contrary to his expectation, his uncle stood stubbornly there. “All right, clear him out of the way,” he shouted to the mob.

“I can disarm you with three sentences,” his uncle quietly said.

“One, I have been your mayor for a long time now, and I have always have had your best interests in mind, yet you now listen to, and believe, this young hoodlum instead of me?”

The crowd muttered, and some of them backed away. “He’s the mayor – he’s right,” they muttered.

“You imbeciles would rather listen to this old man instead of me? Fine, then! Go! I don’t need you!” Tom shouted at their retreating backs.

“Two,” the mayor continued, “the police are on their way to arrest you all for civil unrest, yet I can still grant a pardon to those of you who back off right now.”

More people, afraid of the law, dropped their weapons and went off. “You can’t threaten me with the police, you corrupt old man! Those of us here will overwhelm your precious police!” Tom roared in defiance.

“I am not corrupt,” the mayor calmly replied. “I have, and will use, the authority invested in me as mayor to call in the police, to quell a potential riot.”

“That still leaves one sentence, and around a dozen of us! No matter how many policemen you call, they’ll never stop us!” Tom laughed insanely.

“Three,” the mayor started, then snapped his fingers.



As prearranged earlier, I blew the whistle the moment I heard the snap. Almost immediately, the wolves I had put around the area advanced out of the bushes.

The effect on the remaining few was immediately noticeable. Most of them, brave men all, paled at being surrounded by predatory animals. And I had trained them especially for that role.

Almost simultaneously, the whole lot, except for Tom himself, bolted off like rabbits. Tom still shook his torch defiantly at the wolves. “You cannot touch me!” he shouted, swinging his torch in a wide arc, although it was evident that he was terrified.

I decided to release the one wolf I had held behind, because I knew he would show such false bravado. He was the kind who would never run till the last minute.

I sent him behind, the wolf he had injured earlier. His paw was now healed, and I could tell he was longing to bite the person that had injured it. He lunged toward Tom.

With a yell, Tom backed off and waved his torch, but the wolf bit his hand and forced him to drop it. Now without a weapon and the use of both hands, Tom wisely took off – but stupidly, for the woods.

-

As Tom was running away, I decided to ambush him, ironically enough, at exactly the same spot where I had first knocked him out. This time, though, he wouldn’t be going out of the forest.

At the exact moment when he went past, I blew the whistle and the two wolves bounded out of hiding. Tom had barely enough time to face his attackers before they pinned him down.

I walked out of hiding then. “The mayor may have pardoned the others, but you are too dangerous to let go.”

His eyes opened. “You!”

“Yes, I look unusual and you’ll no doubt like to have my head on a wall. Unfortunately, you’re in no condition to keep your own head, never mind mine.”

“You’re the one that…”

“I know, I’m the one that massacred all those people long ago, and I’m not proud of it. But it’s done, and you’re lucky I swore not to kill after that. No, I have something else interesting in mind.

Tom squirmed under the weight of the two wolves. “You can’t touch me,” he cried. “I’m the mayor’s nephew!”

“Stop relying upon your connections, you coward,” I growled back while I readied the needle. He was too dangerous to exist. ‘You forfeited your right to live when you started attacking the forest.”

I plunged the needle into his arm. As Dr Brown promised, it would wipe out his intelligence when he finished changing.

“I know how you feel right now. But unlike me, you will not experience the aftermath – at least not with your current mind. Consider that a blessing,” I told him.

I walked away. The wolves would treat him more kindly than I would.

On the way, I met the wolf which had attacked him at the start. He seemed to relish the taste of Tom’s blood. I chased him off back into the forest. Let him play with his new pack-member, who should be coming around in a day or so.



The mayor sat down. “I don’t know how on earth you got a whole pack of wolves to obey you so efficiently, but it certainly worked. No one was harmed, except for...” His words choked in his throat.

“I have to admit, the results surprised even me,” Brown admitted. He would have to ask Brent someday. “I had thought there would be casualties, too.”

“Do you know what happened to Tom?” the mayor asked earnestly.

Brown struggled to keep a straight face. “He’s dead,” he told the mayor – and himself. He wondered if it was actually better than death, as Brent had so claimed. He would never understand transformees.

The mayor sighed. “I admit I had probably pampered him too much. He was bound to do something like this eventually, even if it didn’t result in… that. Could you find his body?”

Brown acted incredulous. “Mr Mayor, sir, with all due respect, you’re nuts. You expect me to go alone into the forest to find a half-devoured body?”

“Fine, fine. Forget that I brought it up.”



I slept in the trees nowadays. With the events of recent days, I didn’t want to risk another young, foolish idiot from outside stirring up something else. What scared me was how Tom had apparently entered the town and, within a few days, had incited popular revolt.

What made it even scarier was that many people readily followed him. The reaction to the incident must have been stronger than I thought. With Tom’s speech, or what Reynard had told me of it, there would probably be something cropping up soon.

I raised an eyelid. The pack was quiet. Somehow, the new wolf had taken command of the pack quite fast. I wondered if there was still a bit of intelligence inside.

I closed it again. I would deal with that when it came. As with everything else.



Dr Brown was about to sleep when the phone rang. He picked it up and answered.

“Mr Brown, sorry to disturb you now, but I just had a thought. Do you seriously believe that we must progress or be stuck forever?”

“Well, mayor, I can’t really answer that, but you can’t just stick in the past, like you try to enforce here. Nor can you rush ahead without thinking. That was your nephew’s mistake.” He yawned.

“So that means that we can’t totally abandon the past, but we can’t stay in it either?”

“Yes.”

“So we should preserve the forest?”

“I have a personal stake in the forest, for reasons I can’t tell you about. But suffice to say, the forest is neither the past nor the future. It is, or at least should be, ever constant and ever present, for our future survival. So I’ll say, keep the forest, and your anti-hunting laws. Goodness knows how many animals your nephew shot.”

“But what if someone else demands to hunt as well?”

“Figure that out yourself. Good night.” He put the phone down.