[NEW SHORTS JAN 23, 2020]
Fiefer
by Jeri Brown
In the mountainous part of Giuseppe,
a region of Austrandic alps,
a world with extreme hot and cold,
where hunting is keen,
lived a green-minotaur interloper named Fiefer.
Naked on all fours, wandering through a Germanic forest in 1709,
raised by wolves, Fiefer ate with hooves and couldn’t speak.
Surviving the harsh three feet of snow that covered the bitter cold forest,
Prancing through backyards Fiefer became local lore with sightings,
footage from wildlife cameras set up in the area.
A local celebrity, Fiefer attracted two groups:
those rooting for its survival,
and those determined to shoot and eat it.
Eventually captured, adopted by a naturalist family,
Baby bull Fiefer was treated like a pet.
Living a relatively normal life,
kept in a large cage for safety,
farmers thought they had trained Fiefer successfully,
and gave him privileges at the homestead without leash,
until four months of age when his future changed overnight.
Cows were rounded up and sold after the farm owner died.
To preserve its own safety Fiefer took a chance, trotting into the brush,
boldly racing away, fleeing into the nearby forest.
Into the woods, he was forced to leave his home,
presumably never to be seen by human owners again.
Fiefer’s farm family searched high and low.
No matter how hard they looked Fiefer continued to evade them.
No human was fast enough to catch him.
Years passed and there was still no sign.
Each year a local virgin girl would disappear.
Man-like figure at a whim revealed Fiefer’s transformation,
sexual compulsive animalism as he grew older,
luring innocent females into its lair,
his healthy appetite for the delicacy,
devouring most.
With a pack of wild deer, Fiefer, survived
—eating, sleeping and running together,
making a family all its own in the forest,
clearly knowing it would need human attention,
to mature into a happy minotaur.
One local woman, Hildajan, started to bring food,
water, fresh bedding to Fiefer.
She spent eight months nurturing it in the woods,
continuing to do the right thing,
to do what she felt in her heart.
Hildajan continued to help-out her new bovine friend,
earning his trust, rarely separating,
knowing challenges of leaving the woods,
Their new friendship astounded everyone.
Fiefer truly loved her and spared her life.
After eight years Jeremiah was born.
Surprised at first that they could create a calf-human,
Hildajan took care to nurture her new little calf,
a bit hairy with odd-shaped hands and stubby mane,
oddly resembling a human baby,
Something wasn’t quite right with Fiefer.
One day, he passed out, dead.
after stirring in circles on the kitchen floor,
Frantic Hildajan knew nothing would make up for her loss.
She would always have her beloved in her heart.
Jeri Brown, 2019
