Nin was dragged before the warlord. And as he looked around the war-room, he saw that the walls were adorned with the skulls of many creatures, keepsakes of the lord’s prior victories. And he wondered if his own head would soon be joining this collection.
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Starlings at Dusk
The starlings gathered at dusk, like a congregation assembling for evening prayer. From all directions they came, starting in groups of five or six, slowly amassing into a great swarm that danced and flickered like a great creature all of its own.
Continue readingThose Who Play Games
During his childhood, Nin played the games of children. Running, hopping, playing in the fields. Improvised games without set rules or boundaries, where being the winner meant very little, where mere participation was enough to spark joy.
Continue readingCarrot and Stick
Nin entered the lecture hall and took a seat in the front row. Today two esteemed thinkers were debating the best method of educating the young. It was the classic dilemma; one suggested rewarding good behaviour, the other favoured punished bad action.
Continue readingThe Owl
Here is a story from when Nin was young, and still a prince among rabbits:
Nin was sitting under a great old tree, and the rain trickled down through the palms and wet his head and fell on his nose. The rainstorm had come out of nowhere. Nin was irritated. He was cold and miserable, and with nothing to distract him from his coldness and miserableness, his irritation only increased.
Continue readingA Successful Rabbit
Nin had been dreaming of an old friend, and the falling out that had occurred between them—a friend he hadn’t seen in many a long year.
This friend had always been a free thinker and debater, one who revelled in discussion and playing devil’s advocate.
Continue readingWan-ui Receives Praise
Wan-ui, the black rabbit, Nin’s faithful retainer—still she searched for her old master. At every warren or burrow or watering hole she’d ask the animals there for help in locating the lost prince. Had they met him? Had they seen him? Had they heard rumours of a travelling rabbit, more noble than all the rest?
Continue readingThe Wretched
Nin joined the great march to the east. There he walked among the old, the sick and the hungry. Rabbits of all castes and creeds and colours. It was a great mass moving as one, and in their hearts they were one. Their shared suffering had overridden all former divisions, now they all belonged to one group: the vanquished.
Continue readingValley of Death
Lo!
And Nin came to the valley of death and he looked upon that place and saw the corpses of ten thousand beings. And Nin went down into that charnal house and walked amongst the dead.
Continue readingDiddle Diddle
Nin came upon a farm. In his younger days he would have disparaged the animals here as tame and dull, but now he was a little older, and a little wiser and thought perhaps they warranted further evaluation.
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Crosstown Gate 