In the pines, in the pines... where the sun don't ever shine...
Are you more comfortable in nature or in the city?
My Dear Mannheim,
The pines which surround us whisper your name as I walk beneath them. How is it that you cannot hear them calling you to my new home? Here we live as if a century ago, in the mansion that gave birth to our lineage, in the cradle of ore and pitch and earth that once supplied a nation. The brown rivers flow like septic veins, sticky cedar waterways that once connected these little capillaries with the greater system. Now there is a great disconnect, and the iron rusts in the river bogs because there is no longer any need. Wasteful, all of it. Sire clings to the the ways of the world in the time of his youth, and yet... yet... he knows he must change.
Modernity exists just outside our dirt paths and the Devils' hunting grounds. Comes creeping, encroaching - a non-native species perhaps, but invasive - tendrils stretched into every ecosystem. This is why I was made, to what purpose - to shine the moon's light on the path they must walk, to illuminate their steps. Also, because I know how to use a computer and cell phone - oh yes, that must not be discounted in importance. How many times a day do I hear 'Maus! How do I work this confounded contraption?' Amusement, Mannheim, is a luxury - but one in which I frequently indulge. Never so bold as to let it show to them, but how I laugh when I am alone at the situation in which I find myself.
Me, born in cities, raised and educated in such - living out here in the woods like an animal. And what a fierce animal I have become, now that they no longer allow me to attend night classes. My mind turns savage, I bite at the hands that hold me here. A temporary measure, they say - you are not ready to be in a social setting, Maus. You have proven that, proven that in lack of control and in blood. But Mannheim, does it not come to blood in the end for everything? A bit of discretion, yes - I should have taken a bit more care not to attract notice. To walk among my fellow students as a shadow. But what is done is done, and now sire has taken from me the only thing which I ever desired from him- which was to allow me to have this vestige of my previous life to take comfort in. At least he cannot take you away, my dear - how could he? How could anyone ever, when you are such a part of me? He will never succeed in this cruelty, and that too amuses me.
Try to control me, to own me, punish me though he may - my soul remains ever only my own, ever free.
I will find a way to return to my education. Knowledge is the only true power, after all. Perhaps when you return, you will teach me. Come here, to these whispery pines, called by the wind echoing your name. Come here and teach me once again, for you are far more instructor than sire shall ever be. You, and only you, have ever made the world make sense for me. Come soon, Mannheim. I tire of the tedious tasks they set before me. I am lonely without you, family though they claim now to be.
Your devoted,
Maus
My Dear Mannheim,
The pines which surround us whisper your name as I walk beneath them. How is it that you cannot hear them calling you to my new home? Here we live as if a century ago, in the mansion that gave birth to our lineage, in the cradle of ore and pitch and earth that once supplied a nation. The brown rivers flow like septic veins, sticky cedar waterways that once connected these little capillaries with the greater system. Now there is a great disconnect, and the iron rusts in the river bogs because there is no longer any need. Wasteful, all of it. Sire clings to the the ways of the world in the time of his youth, and yet... yet... he knows he must change.
Modernity exists just outside our dirt paths and the Devils' hunting grounds. Comes creeping, encroaching - a non-native species perhaps, but invasive - tendrils stretched into every ecosystem. This is why I was made, to what purpose - to shine the moon's light on the path they must walk, to illuminate their steps. Also, because I know how to use a computer and cell phone - oh yes, that must not be discounted in importance. How many times a day do I hear 'Maus! How do I work this confounded contraption?' Amusement, Mannheim, is a luxury - but one in which I frequently indulge. Never so bold as to let it show to them, but how I laugh when I am alone at the situation in which I find myself.
Me, born in cities, raised and educated in such - living out here in the woods like an animal. And what a fierce animal I have become, now that they no longer allow me to attend night classes. My mind turns savage, I bite at the hands that hold me here. A temporary measure, they say - you are not ready to be in a social setting, Maus. You have proven that, proven that in lack of control and in blood. But Mannheim, does it not come to blood in the end for everything? A bit of discretion, yes - I should have taken a bit more care not to attract notice. To walk among my fellow students as a shadow. But what is done is done, and now sire has taken from me the only thing which I ever desired from him- which was to allow me to have this vestige of my previous life to take comfort in. At least he cannot take you away, my dear - how could he? How could anyone ever, when you are such a part of me? He will never succeed in this cruelty, and that too amuses me.
Try to control me, to own me, punish me though he may - my soul remains ever only my own, ever free.
I will find a way to return to my education. Knowledge is the only true power, after all. Perhaps when you return, you will teach me. Come here, to these whispery pines, called by the wind echoing your name. Come here and teach me once again, for you are far more instructor than sire shall ever be. You, and only you, have ever made the world make sense for me. Come soon, Mannheim. I tire of the tedious tasks they set before me. I am lonely without you, family though they claim now to be.
Your devoted,
Maus