Maranda Cromwell's Blog - Posts Tagged "skull"
Freewrite: About a Dog
I found the skull at a Value Village and I thought I needed to rescue it. I only had thirty dollars left, or so, and I spent it all on that busted up skull with barely any teeth. All the upper fronts, all the jagged molars chipped and some missing, the canines all lined with cracks and fractures that went down to the root. Something that looked a lot like orange crayon stained its cheekbone. The skull was in disrepair and was definitely not worth the rest of my money, my frugal side insisted. I had a perfectly good coyote skull at home, why did I need this thing? But it was something else. The symmetry of this skull spoke to me. Comparing this mystery canine to my coyote, I drew a few observations. While Coyote is a shrewd arrow shape, all fluff in life and no form, this one was substantial. Notably wider, shorter, but not cartoonish. There was still some sort of divine biology dictating its shape, some sort of higher function. I’m sure if it had all its fangs, they would crisscross just like Coyote. And just like Coyote, its nasal bones, the maze of every skull, the intricacies akin to coral reefs and lichen growth and neurons firing, were pristine and plentiful. Something had helped this canine along. It wasn’t a wild animal, fighting to pass genes or continue its legacy, this was a dog. This was man’s friend of 13,000 years. And now it was my friend: my friend of $25.99 plus sales tax.
Sometimes I like to look at it closely, very closely, so that the pores in the bones become as prominent as sponges. I can see how the bones grew as the dog aged. Bones didn’t just swell like lungs, shapeless and soft, but they crawl. They overlap like the earth’s crust, grinding and pushing and weaving shapes into one another. Their plates and spongey surface, like pumice, gently creeps against the flesh, willing vein and nerve along with it. A member of an animal bones Facebook group made the observation this was a young dog, due to the unfused nasal bones. A puppy. Or probably more like an adolescent—young enough to have that puppy exuberance, but old enough to allow nature to leave behind a noble shape. Even though he was wrapped in plastic with a price tag in a thrift store, he went to a home that will continue to love and admire him as much as if he were still alive. Cracks, chips, broken enamel, and unfused nasal bones—this puppy got so close. But he can still go so far.
Sometimes I like to look at it closely, very closely, so that the pores in the bones become as prominent as sponges. I can see how the bones grew as the dog aged. Bones didn’t just swell like lungs, shapeless and soft, but they crawl. They overlap like the earth’s crust, grinding and pushing and weaving shapes into one another. Their plates and spongey surface, like pumice, gently creeps against the flesh, willing vein and nerve along with it. A member of an animal bones Facebook group made the observation this was a young dog, due to the unfused nasal bones. A puppy. Or probably more like an adolescent—young enough to have that puppy exuberance, but old enough to allow nature to leave behind a noble shape. Even though he was wrapped in plastic with a price tag in a thrift store, he went to a home that will continue to love and admire him as much as if he were still alive. Cracks, chips, broken enamel, and unfused nasal bones—this puppy got so close. But he can still go so far.
