Black Rainbow
An entry for week 1 of therealljidol.
The beast pushed his large snout through the tall grass, eyeing the headlights in the distance. He could make out the cab’s glow from afar by sight, but he didn’t need to. The night was damp and thick, and the road told him everything - he could feel the truck’s engine thrumming heavily over the earth, the vibration of forty tons of steel atop eighteen wheels. The road carried the tinny sound of its radio, playing an ancient country song, and the smell of the warm body inside, laced with cigarette smoke and sweat, and of course, the ever-present scent of diesel and brake dust.
The beast lumbered slowly within the dampness of the ditch, hesitating. He knew this stretch of road well, and the road knew him, and why he was there - it was practically dancing in delight, asphalt sparkling iridescent as it hummed beneath, hungry. He favored his right hind leg, readying himself for the run, but waited for the beams of the halogen bulbs to cut through the darkness, outstretched like fingers across the humid night, to find him. He could feel a voice calling him home, distantly. It was a request, not a demand, and so he kept watch instead.
Because he stood outside of time, he saw the trailer edge over the road’s faded lines before it happened. He watched the truck shimmy and buck as the brakes sang out into the darkness, witnessed the twisting jack-knife fold of the trailer winding around the cab as it crumbled on its side. A heaviness filled his breast, weighting his bones, and he knew it was time. Digging his heels into the mud, the beast broke into a run alongside the ditch, keeping his feet just out of the road’s starving reach.
The headlights finally found him, gliding over his shining ink black fur, whispering across his large frame, highlighting the multiple rows of canines in his jaw and settling on the red glow in the rims of his eyes. He felt the driver’s eyes widen, the surprised jerk to self-correct, but it was too late. The beast stopped and waited, ears and eyes tuned to the snap and crush of metal, as the scene unfolded a second time. The road rose up to eat one of its most humble worshipers.
He knew the truckers had their own stories, shared at truck stops and fast-food dining rooms. Some blamed him for the road’s hungry work, but others seemed to better understand that he ran between the worlds of living and spirit. In their world, he served as a warning. Those who wanted to avoid sighting the black dog, el perro negro, had a reason to keep their hourly logbooks current, avoid the arrogance of insomnia, and find an excuse to avert staying on the road the road too long.
When all grew quiet, the beast padded softly towards the wreckage, the smell of diesel pumping through his bloodstream. He could hear the radio still crooning softly as he approached the overturned cab, its windshield punctured by a metal beam from the twisted trailer. The driver’s body hung floppily, suspended by a seatbelt and a piercing chunk of metal. The beast carefully lowered his upper body through the broken glass, and dipping his massive jaws, licked the face beneath the battered ballcap. Her skin was lined by years of being on the road, her eyes now cool and empty.
There were no sirens - the two-lane road was devoid of other travelers, and it would be some time before the wreckage was discovered. The road’s frantic energy had dissipated, the asphalt seemed to sink back quietly into itself, grey and dull. The beast waited patiently, standing watch. Eventually, she stirred, her eyes slowly coming into focus on his broad head.
“You,” she whispered, extending a finger towards him. He licked that, too, then nudged her with his broad forehead, reminding her it was time to go.
Her eyes would have filled with tears, if they were still earthly, but as it was, they simply narrowed. She acquiesced, though, and pulled away from her mortal body, passing through the glass and metal with a grimace. He stood beside her as she gained her bearings, then started forward down the dark roadside, through the dampness of the ditch, and beyond. He looked behind only once, to let her know he knew she was following his steps to the underworld.
~o~
The beast had made this journey for generations. Before the world had filled with the noise and rumble of combustion, he had been known under other names - the dark wolf, the hellhound, the traveler - but his job had always been the same: to guard the hungry road, and to walk the paths between the living and the dead, to usher those between worlds. It was a one-way trip for most, though the spirit world was full of those who did not go quietly.
He was growing slower at it, he knew, as he favored his back leg and his joints through the briars and the mud. The sky that veiled the gates was dimly lit, as if charged with an unseen source of energy, and he knew that his coat glowed brighter the closer he drew to it. Sometimes he could feel the fear and impatience of those that followed him as they traveled. It seeped into his joints, an abrupt metaphysical ache. If he were mortal, it would be an unforgiving exhaustion, but he continued on. He knew no hunger or thirst, though sometimes he craved warmth. He preferred to spend his nights curled up in a swampy lightless bog in the spirit world, in lieu of a night of stars in the cold of humanity.
The trucker behind him made soft whimpering noises. At first she had tried to converse, but realizing that he could not reply, she grew quiet. She often held out her hands before her, staring at her fingertips and the world that shone dimly through them. She seemed unbothered by his slowness, and he could feel a warmness to her spirit that was less common these days. He wondered, if she’d been more than an impression left on the world, if he could convince her to scratch the tickle at his left ear.
Eventually they reached the gates, and he stopped, turning to look at her one last time. His coat glowed brightly now, as did his eyes. His weight was on his three good legs, and he turned his head softly, motioning her forwards.
She paused, the energy of her form buzzing anxiously, and he motioned again. She nodded and let out a small sigh.
“Thank you,” she said. “I hope.”
Walking past him, she gingerly pushed the gates apart. She paused to stare at the void beyond, then turned her head once more towards him. “Remember to take care of yourself, too, now.”
He licked his lips, his jaw dropping into a toothy grin, and shifted his tail softly behind him. She smiled and then turned away, moving forward into the void.
The beast watched as she slowly dissipated, her thin veil vanishing into the beyond, as she reunited.
And then he followed her.
~o~
The voice had been calling him home for some time, he knew, and he wondered briefly if he had faltered in some way. Either way, he had to answer. As he moved through the void, he started to become aware of the dark forms rising around him, their bodies twisting and roping into a protective thicket, and suddenly he started to feel the tiredness in his limbs, his hind leg throbbing and pulsing against the darkness. He thought himself lucky that he had no need to run. Finally he came upon the lake, which stretched as far and wide as he could see. The waters were still, and yet its yellow glow stood out from the darkness. The smell of sulfur filled his entire head, and he wished, momentarily, for the smell of diesel fuel.
“Hello beast,” the voice called across the golden expanse.
The beast knelt down, placing his head on his forelegs. He could feel the stretch in his back hips, a moment of pleasure.
The voice came closer, warmer, a genderless singsong as it moved across the lake.
“The beast has been of faithful service,” it said, now reverberating within itself as it called out to the entire void. “For over two thousand years he has traversed the roads between worlds, guarded the hungry road, and returned spirits to their rightful home. He has carried the willing and the unwilling, the elder and the child, the loved and the damned.”
The dark thicket of twisted limbs shivered and rumbled, and the lake moved from stillness into soft waves. The noise rose into a crescendo, as if in otherworldly applause.
“Thank you, beast!” a cacophony of voices called out at once.
The beast laid his head to one side, his tail thumping lightly against the ground.
The voice continued, “You have been a very good beast, and you have earned your time to rest.”
“You have earned your time to rest!” the chorus of souls shouted.
At this the beast rose, stretching his back legs before talking a few halting steps forward. He looked for the voice, but could not see beyond the darkness of the glowing lake. He felt a warm, satisfying pressure behind his left ear, and he closed his eyes, tilting into it and growling softly in gratitude.
Upon opening his eyes again, he watched the lake rise and furl in front of him, bubbling white, as a dark swath of a rainbow formed a path across its surface. The bridge appeared to stretch into eternity. But across it, he could smell the warmth of greenery and sense a brilliant blue sky.
The beast turned in circles with excitement, and then, carried by the encouragement of the chorus, he bounded towards the bridge. As he stepped on to its prismatic surface, the throbbing hitch in his back leg finally ceased. He could see the faces of the souls he’d carried mirrored in the lake’s surface, rising and falling, beckoning him onward.
“You can visit any time you like,” the voice said, with only a hint of a catch.
The beast barked once, joyfully, then ran like the wind to the other side.