Moonspear snakehips

Njord was sound asleep when his wife stirred beside him. These days, Meerkat frequently needed to answer nature’s call in the middle of the night and, though Njord’s lids did fluter into a quasi-awake state, he thought nothing of it. One of his long arms wrapped around her for a cuddle as they settled back down together, though it did not last for long.

A scream shocked the man awake. Meerkat jostled into position. Blood filled the room with birth-scent. A sudden urgency speared through the man’s heart – it all happened so quickly that Njord couldn’t piece his thoughts together fast enough.

“It’s time?” he asked, the inflection of his words filled with hesitancy as he watched Meerkat’s figure bow like a swan as she tended to the tiny life she had bore.

Njord didn’t realize he was holding his breath as he waited for a sign of life that would never come.