The Wolf, The Lamb...

The Wolf, The Lamb, and The Ram

There’s more to life than digestion.

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Wolf watched closely as Lamb wandered further from the flock and closer to him. When the time was right he pounced. After dining he licked the blood from his muzzle and wondered at the curious difference in flavor between Lamb and Ram.

Wolf had eaten both. He preferred Lamb.

Ram was tough and slightly sour. Lamb was tender sweet and. Wolf only ate Ram when Lamb wasn’t to be had. Besides being sour and tough Ram also made a big fuss about being eaten with all that snorting and ramming about with his horns.

Only a stupid Wolf would choose to eat Ram.

Wolf had first eaten Ram when he ran with the Pack. It was a crazy time. All too often the Pack would lose their minds to silly savagery, killing a whole flock of Sheep, then eating only a few. What foolish wastefulness.

It was one of the reasons Wolf left to be Lone Wolf.

The other reason was that he didn’t like waiting to eat. At every kill Alpha-Wolf Jarel and his greedy bitch Kinzik would stuff themselves to bloating while the rest of the Pack could only drool and wait their miserable turn.

Wolf never regretted leaving the pack. He might not eat as often, but he did eat freely and fully; no more scraps of pieces-parts.

Still, Wolf wondered philosophically. If both Ram and Lamb were Sheep, why didn’t they taste the same? It wasn’t like that with Squirrel, Bird, Rabbit, Chipmunk, or Deer.

Wait a minute! Maybe it was like that with Stag.

Wolf had never actually tasted Stag, Wolf just assumed Stag would taste as bad as Ram because Stag put up the same bothersome fuss as Ram.

Yes, That must be it. Fightsomeness must make those meals tough and sour.

But then, what about the smaller meals? Wolf pondered this mystery. Once again, he was forced into assumption. He didn’t really know the flavors of Bird, Chipmunk, and Such. He always ate them in one or two gulps; no time to taste anything. Wolf made a memo to himself - next time chew slowly and learn - there’s more to life than digestion.

Wolf thereafter practiced the wisdom he discovered.

Slow down and taste the meat.

By K. L. Shipley

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