Young Writers Society

“Meadow’s Aster, of the tenth cluster and of Allium’s rabble, we beckon you to the Elder’s Hollow to face trial for unnecessary murder.”

“If I can, Great Vixen, I would like to request that I report to you alone, and not the Elders.”

The Great Vixen tilted her head at me. Her glowing, auburn fur showed brighter than a wildfire, and her teeth were clenched as she tried not to growl at me. Her lip remained in a permanent curl from a scar that had split it in two.

“I call for the Elders!” a young lacewing yelled. “I call for justice!” A few of its brethren piped in, the beetles nodding their heads and birds singing in the trees. The Meadow Swarm- my own kin, born of different clusters- stared at me coldly, but was unable to look me in the eye. I was the only reason they had a chance at being exiled from the garden and the sole reason they panicked every time a male was born. I had hated my brothers from the beginning, and any male of my kin I detested- the males only ever left us, and when they didn’t leave, they lived off of the hard work the other pollinators put in.

“May I ask why you request the Elders not take part in your trial?”

I looked up into the Great Vixen’s dark eyes. “Because I will only tell the truth when you and I are alone.”

“And in any other case than that, you will lie under oath?”

“I will lie until you force me onto my deathbed and you make me beg for mercy.”

Quiet gasps filled the hollow. Birds’ feathers ruffled in the trees. I could see the circle around me grow larger as Meadow, the lacewings, and the Coleoptera drew away from me. The Great Vixen kneaded her paws before nodding.

“Very well.” She turned to a weeping willow tree, its trunk thick but hollowed, and yipped at it until a few insects came out, all the same size as me. She beckoned them to sit at her feet and commanded them to keep track of the crowd until she reappeared. We both made our way into the hollow and sat on her bed of moss.

“Meadow’s Aster,” she hissed, her gaze cold and dark. “I ought to kill you here and now.”

“I’d like to warn you that I taste terrible,” I countered.

“Then why kill two of your brethren in one day?” The fox sighed and shook her head. “The Second Law of the Lepidoptera is that ‘murder is outright forbidden once a butterfly or moth has emerged from her pupa.’ You, however, seem to think that murder is some twisted sort of game.”

“May I remind you that you are a carnivore, Great Vixen? Your entire life depends upon the killing of others.”

“I have never killed anyone in the Garden. I protect the garden from the rabbits, and the humans dare not come near me. I have contributed wholeheartedly to all of you. But you, Meadow’s Aster, would rather take away than give.”

“My brother took away from all of the Meadows!” I yelled. “He never helped me and my sisters pollinate. He just sat like a hog on the milkweed plant and let it drip into his mouth. He was a glutton.” I held my head high and fluttered upwards to meet the Great Vixen’s gaze. “I did a favor to Meadows and all of the Garden by getting rid of him.”

“You did nothing to Meadows except give them pain and fear.” The Great Vixen took a breath. “Your brother’s and sister’s deaths are a tragedy, no matter how much you try and justify it. I have no choice but to exile you. You must find a new rabble to travel south with.”

I tapped my feet with naive excitement as the Great Vixen led me out of her den. “What a miracle. I never wanted to be part of the rabble anyways.”

The Vixen looked at me worriedly. She sat down on her throne. “Don’t you know why you must leave with the rabble, Aster?”

I cocked my head. “No. Why?”

The Great Vixen sighed. “I suppose you’ll learn in time.”

I sat on the Great Vixen’s shoulder as she yipped, drawing the attention of thousands of eyes in below and above me. The birds and bugs came to a quiet as they stared at me with unfathomable rage.

‘Meadow’s Aster, who has been put to trial for the murders of Meadow’s Lantana and Meadow’s Bergamot, cannot be upheld by the Law of the Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Diptera, Hemiptera, and Passerine, and by the Order of The Fox.” The Great Vixen panted before taking a breath and speaking again. “Therefore, Meadow’s Aster is exiled to The Greenwood and cannot take part with her rabble’s migration.”

Cheering slowly built up as everyone grew excited about my demise. I was just as excited as they were; I would never have to see my Meadow kin again, and I would be able to live in the forest alone, indicated by the laws of all of the insects and birds, finally able to work on my own terms. Summer and spring always went by quickly, and I could feel it in my exoskeleton that winter would as well.

The Great Vixen gave me a wicked smile as she took her claw and ripped my wing. I held my tongue tightly, ignoring the pain that seared through my thin flesh. If this was what it took to be alone, it surely could have been worse.

“The traitor has been marked to show her treachery,” the Great Vixen announced as she let me go, “and can live in The Greenwood only with a life of guilt. She is forbidden from returning to the Garden, hunting down her rabble, and mating with anyone from the Garden.”

The cheers grew louder.

The Great Vixen gestured towards her shoulder, which I rested on with kindness. It was the last kindness I would ever see from her or the Garden. But I knew she was forced into that kindness unless she wanted an army of poisonous insects and sharp-beaked birds heading her way.

The fox and I walked through the crowd, her fur gently brushing the stems of the flowers and bushes. For as long as I could remember, I had never seen anything with thorns in the Garden except for roses. It was a weak and gentle place, its only defense a fox, which it had bowed under. Soon, I would be free from it.

I pushed away my pain and forced myself to fly so I could taste all of the different pollen for the last time. Poppies filled the air with their sweet aroma until it slowly mixed with other flowers, creating a type of scent I had only ever smelled from a human that had once strayed by, who had reeked of perfume. The Great Vixen quickly scared her off with a bite, and we had never had to deal with anything like that since. I landed on an unkempt hydrangea bush and flinched at the strong taste of the flowers, but happy I was able to find some pollen to spread. I drank a few drops of nectar before heading back to the fox.

The Great Vixen had already stopped in front of the cobblestone gates, her gaze studying each vine of ivy precisely. From what anyone knew, it was said that The Great Vixen hadn’t left the Garden in years unless she strayed to find herself food close by. But everyone’s word seemed frivolous, as no one had lived long enough to tell the tale except the birds.

The fox’s eyes grew weary as she peered at the trees above, a few songbirds studying me before I left. I could tell that the fox was filled with wanderlust. I wondered how many different forests she had traveled and how many rivers she had crossed before settling in my old home.

She used her strong muzzle to open the gate, an old trail from humans long ago guiding through the forest. Fireflies began to appear as the sun set farther below the trees. All of the trees were filled with lush leaves, but in a few months, they would be as thin and dreary as my own body.

“You miss it?” I asked. “Don’t you?”

The Great Vixen looked at me with a forced smile. “The Greenwood was a different kind of life than the Garden, but it wasn’t any better. I’m as happy here as I was then.”

“Liar!” I hissed. “I can see how you look out at it. Why don’t you come with me?”

“Because unlike you, I care about my duties.” She sighed and took a breath. “Besides, I’m too old. The Garden is safe, and no foxes or dogs ever try to come near it. I don’t have it left in me to fight a youthful fox, and I think it’s too late for me to find a mate.”

“Why?” I asked. “For a fox, I don’t think you’re that ugly.”

The Great Vixen softly chuckled. “I’m the only fox you’ve ever seen.”

“Look!” a cardinal called. A few birds and butterflies gathered around it and looked at us from above. “The Great Vixen is befriending the traitor!”

“I have done no such thing!” the Great Vixen snapped. She bared her teeth before looking at me again. I could see the sadness in her eyes, which reflected in mine. “Leave, Traitor. Before I kill you myself.”

Her words weren’t harsh. In fact, they sounded loving. I could tell that even after our short conversation, she wanted to go with me. She wanted to wander as I did, to be free from everyone and everything. But her time had passed, and it was now my turn.

I gave her a soft look before fluttering through the gate, fireflies guiding my path.

I had never had a friend before. But suddenly, I felt like I was losing the only one I had ever made.