A Scent from the Surface

This is the fifth instalment in a series focusing on Greek Mythology. This segment follows Awakening Under the Olive Tree. We enter into the mind of a beast in the Underworld as he finishes up his latest meal. A never-ending hunger inside, the watchdog of the Underworld is always ready for its next meal.

Cerberus Middle gnawed on the femur from the leg of a common livestock that had been brought down from the surface world a week before. There was still a bit of meat hanging from the thicker part of the bone. Cerberus Left slept while Cerberus Right licked his paw, contentedly.

Why was Middle always so hungry? Left and Right seemed to be able to get their fill, but Middle never seemed to be able to satisfy his appetite. Was it because he was the largest of the three heads, or was it because Left and Right actually got more of any carcass that he was able to eat, and he only received the spoils?

Middle looked at Left and Right with scorn and envy, forever stuck in his position. They were dependent on one another, they could not be separated — perhaps these were the only two reasons why they had not killed each other.

He licked the femur bone clean, the last bit of flesh dangling from the top of the knob, the bone dripping with his own saliva. He was so involved in finishing up his scraps that he didn’t notice the scent of his returning master outside of his lair.

But he did hear his master’s return.

Shuff….shuff….shuff…shuff….Clang!!!

At the sound of the the iron gate at the end of the passageway shutting, Left and Right perked up their ears almost automatically. Their master had returned and brought someone with him from the surface world. There was no mistaking the foreign scent. It was sweet, fresh, and carefree, not rancid and sour and full of decay like everything in the Underworld.

Cerberus left his post and trotted down the corridor, Left and Right now fully awake and drooling. Middle loathed how they didn’t seem able to control their drool. He judged the for it, even as he was unaware of his own drool gathering at the corners of his mouth. As they approached the guest quarters, the exotic scents from the surface world became more and more intense, as well as more distinct.

Olive tree.

Lavender.

A hint of milk.

The sweat of fear.

Female.

Pomegranate…

Left, Right, and Middle walked in step with one another, and panted in unison. Common hunger always brought them together.