'Familiar' book box story

Some love stands between you and danger without hesitation. 

Familiar was born from grief that I live with every day. My first dog, Emma, saw things I did not. She reacted before I understood why. She said the same damn thing over & over. We would lock eyes across the room, her body tense, mine uncertain. I thought she was anxious. I thought she was overreacting. I thought I knew better. I did not.

There was a moment when everything unraveled. A moment when I was not where I should have been. A moment where we both needed protection and the only outcomes for both of us were horrible and even worse...

The aftermath left me with a kind of guilt that settles deep in the chest and stays there.

A little girl looks toward an illusionist in the distance. Between them stands a fox. The fox is turned toward the child, alert, concerned, partially hidden in the landscape yet fully aware. The girl’s gaze is fixed on the man. The fox’s gaze is fixed on her. The illusionist represents what dazzles, distracts, persuades. The fox represents instinct. Protection. The voice that repeats itself when something is not right.. Familiar is about realizing that love had been standing guard the whole time. 

It is about the ache of not understanding until the cost is already paid. It is also about reverence. For the ones who tried to keep us safe. For the fur babies who knew. For the part of ourselves that is still learning to trust what feels off.

with love & grief,

*~jenni amid the moss