; ; In a little clearing, I see a male with three ; females. He is an old male. He is guarding the ; females, keeping them in sight, until they are ready. ; I am young and vigorous, and my blood seethes to ; mate.
; ; We circle each other, growling, taking each ; other's measure. He is a skilled old fighter. Each ; season, he has defeated the younger males who have ; challenged him. He makes his move.
; ; I am quick. I feint and lunge. My claws rake his ; flesh. Blood stains and mats his fur. Still, he fights ; on. I am young and vigorous. My blood seethes to ; mate. At last, he is vanquished, and he escapes into ; the forest. The females are mine, by right of ; conquest.
; ; Watching the fight has made them ready. They ; roll on their backs, hind limbs in the air, their tails ; aside. I can see that their fur, between their legs, is ; wet. The scarlet blush of a gaping sexual orifice is ; there, and my impregnating organ is ready to serve ; them, long and hard.
; ; I fall upon the first, my organ stabbing deep into ; her body. She roars and scratches my back with her ; claws. The injury is slight. When I have done with ; her, she rolls over, regains her feet. Blood dribbles ; down a hind leg. Her tail curls to cover her sexual ; orifice. She slinks away, to watch what will ; happen next. She will not, she cannot, mate again ; this year.
; ; The second is a younger female; her fur is light in ; color, and she is not as strong as the first. She takes ; her place on her back, there in the grass of the little ; clearing, and it is only a matter of moments before ; she, too, is bleeding. I have well and truly ; impregnated her. She will bear my cubs before the ; snows of winter have melted.
; ; The third is younger still. Likely, she has never ; mated, never borne cubs. I can see that she is in ; heat, sexually ready, but she shows fear, is reluctant ; to mate. With my fore paws, I roll her over onto her ; back. It takes only moments to force myself upon ; her. My impregnating organ meets resistance, but I ; stab deep, and soon she, too, bleeds. Next year, I ; will have fathered many fine cubs.
; ; Two humans come, enter the little clearing. ; From the forest, I watch. They are strange ; creatures, smaller than we. They have no tails, and ; they have fur only on their heads. Their limbs and ; bodies are covered with naked skin, which gleams in ; the sunlight, like the skin of a fish. I cannot tell ; whether they are male or female, or maybe one of ; each.
; ; The humans perform some strange ritual, putting ; their forelimbs on each other, nuzzling their mouths ; together. I watch. After a while, they lie in the ; grass, together, and do those strange things. I ; cannot figure out what they are doing. Then, one of ; the humans runs a foreclaw down the centerline ; of the other's belly, and the gleaming skin gapes ; open, showing remarkably pale flesh. There is no ; bleeding. The second slits the first's skin. Now I ; can see. They are male and female.
; ; The female lies on her back, hind limbs in the air, ; and I can see that, just as our females do, she has a ; sexual orifice. The male has an impregnating organ, ; as we do, but his is very small, even though it is stiff. ; The male does not immediately cover the female. ; They seem to sniff at each other, and lick the ; skinless flesh. I have seen enough. My blood ; seethes to mate.
; ; The male is no fighter. When my foreclaws draw ; blood, tearing great, red grooves, he escapes to the ; forest. The female behaves as my last mate did, ; seeming to be afraid. It takes me only a moment to ; roll her on her back. I begin to insert my ; impregnating organ. She roars and claws at my ; back. I stab into her, and she lies still.
; ; She lies there, bleeding. She will not mate again ; this year. I wonder what our cubs will look like.
; ; [END] ; ;