When is something repulsive something more?

A turd, a poop, a big no. 2, solid bodily waste, droppings, feces, manure. Presumably of canine origin. And just where I wanted to lie down in the grass to catch some rays.

As Mary Douglas once famously stated, “Waste is matter out of place.”

That’s what the droppings in the picture represented to me. An annoyance, a disgusting intrusion into my sunny Saturday.

But what about to everyone else involved?

This is for Nixy Valentine’s Writing Adventure Group #8. The task was to go out and find something repulsive or annoying and paint it in Rose Colored Glasses, really sell it.

Waste is life

Dog went from frustrated to happy in one tenth of a second, flat. Master was opening a can of food and Dog was beside himself, salivating with anticipation. His tail was wagging furiously and his attention wandered back and forth between the affection and loyalty he felt for Master, and the wanton desire he felt for the food.

Two hours later Dog was completely happy once more, this time because Master was taking him for their walk. His attention was focused on all the exciting smells along their usual route, his muzzle in constant motion, sweeping the olfactory landscape.

When they got to the park, he had to go. He sniffed the bushes and the grass and turned in little circles, going round himself. Master stood next to him, keeping watch, but Dog could sense his impatience. He didn’t understand it but there was nothing he could do about it, because he had to go. Now.

He squatted with his hind legs and his body became rigid as he felt the bowel movement commencing. Dog didn’t assign any value to it, negative or positive, it was just something that needed to happen right then and there. But when it was over, he felt immense satisfaction, so much so that he temporarily forgot Master’s impatience.

He was about to circle his accomplishment when Master yanked his leash and started walking again. Dog felt a slight disappointment, he’d wanted to inspect his business, to sniff it before Master bent down and picked it up. Surely he was going to pick it up, like he always did?

Dog soon forgot his disappointment and confusion, instead he beamed contentment to the world. His belly was full, his bowels empty and the night was beautiful. Cold, but so very clear, covered in stars. He looked up at them, the business in the park already forgotten.

It was the middle of the day, and Fly was following a trail of scent, shared with him by two other flies. They were closing in on their target, Fly could see it now, a huge dropping. This would be a feast for them all.

He alighted on it and immediately set to work. He spat digestive juices onto the parts that were rich in food, ceaselessly wandering back and forth between the good spots, and looking for new ones.

Fly soon had to jockey for space, other flies were arriving every minute, each one searching for the most nutritious bits, all of them frenzied by the lovely odors emanating from their windfall. It was a free-for-all, getting more aggressive by the hour.

The next day the scene repeated itself, and the next, until a week had passed and several rains had fallen. There were almost no more scents now and most of the once magnificent and seemingly endless meal had been washed into the ground. Fly was long gone, hunting elsewhere for other prizes.

The tiny shrub broke through the surface of the Earth and into the sunlight. Its roots were already deep in the soil, which was rich in nutrients. It sensed Light coming from one particular direction of the sky and started aligning its single twig above ground to it.

Four days later the twig had branches and little shoots of green. Tree was growing exceptionally fast, it had almost limitless resources available to it, more than enough water and nutrients. It fed off of the nitrogen compounds that were so abundant in this spot.

Tree had competition, but fought it ferociously. It spread more branches, with more shoots, as wide and as fast as it could. It was still the tallest growth in this spot, it literally had the upper hand: It could block the sunlight from all of its shorter competitors.

Two weeks on the little patch of grass was unrecognizable. Tree had grown to dominate it completely, with deep roots spreading far and wide. It still got most of its nutrients close to home though, but the roots also gave it access to large amounts of water. The competition was decimated, Tree controlled the Light.

One year later Tree bore flowers. Insects landed on them, seeking the rich nectar. One night a man and a dog came by, pausing as the dog peed on Tree. It sensed the drops soaking into the ground, a rich infusion of nutrients.

Tree longed for daybreak and Light, when it would put those nutrients to good use, in the endless and merciless battle against its enemies, parasites all.

It could feel the weeds pushing against the earth around its trunk, it could sense the fungi trying to smother its roots and it knew that there would come a day when an enemy would outgrow it and block its light.

Dog was happy, his bladder empty. Tree didn’t feel anything, but it radiated unyielding menace to those able to sense it.

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The other participants in this week’s WAG:

How to Join the Writing Adventure Group

Cora Zane

Nancy Parra

Peter Spalton

Christine Kirchoff

Pallavi Agarwal (On Facebook)

DMW Carol

Marsha

Iain Martin

Lulu

Melanie Trevelyan

Sharon Donovan

Next week’s Writing Adventure:

“WAG #9: Warning!” Last week the topic was to make something ugly sound beautiful, so this time let’s do the opposite! Choose an unfamiliar object (in other words, one you have no history with) that strikes you as beautiful, appealing, or somehow desirable etc… some ideas might be: a child, a sunset, an attractive shop window, a scenic view, a piece of art, an appetising meal in a restaurant… and write about it in such as way as to make it unappealing or even disgusting, frightening or repulsive to your reader. If you did last week’s topic as well (Rose Colored Glasses) I’d be very interested to know which of these was harder for you!