Foxglove Cottage

The chocolate box cottage stood in the middle of the meadow of foxgloves; their perfume gently lulling the wander towards the cottage, where their gentle lullaby lulled them to sleep in its bygone garden. The fox was asleep in his lair deep within the realm of the dead; he stirred as the laughter of the children born there filled his dreams and fed his soul. He did not need food; only his prey's energy and emotions could sustain him. Occasionally he would walk within his dreams, play with the children, and ensure their fox carers were being mindful of his will for his food supply. He stiffened in his sleep and growled softly; it was time for one of his children to enter the realm of the living.

The fox parents and the children stopped playing as fear encased them where they were; as he entered the garden and walked up to a blue-eyed, rosy-cheeked girl, of years gone by and whispered gently over her. The fear that had gripped her, left as he whispered words of trust over her. The fox turned, and the girl followed him out of the realm of the dead and into the realm of the living. Her fox parents smiled upon her for the last time as they fell asleep and gently transformed into foxgloves taking their place in the meadow. The girl walked after the fox with no recognition of him or where she was until the edge of the village, where the fox whispered words of waking over her and ordered her to walk into the village. She opened her eyes, and fear flooded her as she looked around and saw nothing familiar. The fox fed off the fear and watched as a kind-hearted mother gently picked her up, and as they looked upon each other, the bond was made complete, and they became mother and daughter. The village accepted her as their own, with no recognition that she had appeared from nowhere.

The fox moved on; it was time to find two of the prey he had released many years before and time for a new child to be born in the realm of the dead. He found the man in a city many miles from where he had been left; the fox was unsettled as it was the first time one of his prey had wandered so far from their village. The man resisted, and it was a hard fight, but the fox overcame him and fed off the man's fear and the final breaths his body took. The man's soul followed the fox as he journeyed to a distant village where he found the woman and killed her in her dreams. Their souls followed him back to the cottage, and as they walked, he spoke words of love over the two of them, and they were bound together by the time they reached the cottage and entered the realm of the dead. The fox returned to sleep and waited for the birth of a new child in his realm. The child was born with no difficulties, and the first look up at their beloved child was their last as humans as the fox whispered his words of transformation over them and they slowly and gently turned into foxes.

The fox was troubled at the man's resistance, but he felt safe in his kingdom as his prey's energy fed him, and as he watched the foxgloves calling wanders into the meadow, he fell into a deep sleep. What happens to the wanders is a tale for another time.