Innards
by Leilani Ahia
Problem-Solver perched on the canyon rim,
looking out at the lights of the visitor’s center in the
distance. Humans were already flocking down to the point
to view her home. They peered down into her playground
as if it was alien to them, gawking and raising their flashing
boxes to their faces. It was most fun to watch the
newcomers, people who had never seen her world before,
approach the rim. They would look over the sides and they
would open up, their mouths forming a hole in their faces
like her canyon formed a hole in the world. She quivered
when they opened their mouths, and she would often peer
inside, secretly hoping to catch a glimpse of the soft
innards.
Problem-Solver loved innards. They were always
so slippery and delicious. She had never truly glimpsed
human innards, even after falls from the rim. There would
be a broken bone here, a shattered skull there, but
generally there was very little to show for their fall. Still it
was always a great affair whenever it did happen, and
Problem-Solver spent as much time as possible near the
rim, waiting for such an event. There had not been any
falls all winter and spring, and the canyon was warming.
With the changing winds had come news from the bighorn
sheep of unsteady crags and falling rocks. Below the
Colorado River rushed ever deeper, cutting down, down
into the earth, causing the canyon floor to plummet
towards secrets only the depths know. It all made
Problem-Solver antsy.
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