At Our Hen House, we do our best to bring you the latest from the world of animal rights. That said, when it comes to telling you about books, there are just so many amazing new ones covering all kinds of animal issues, and we simply don’t have time to review them all (but don’t miss the ones we have reviewed). That’s why we thought long and hard and decided to bring you this exciting program. From time to time, we’ll publish excerpts of the author’s choice — highlighting the best in animal rights books (both fiction and non) — right here on our online magazine.
One general note about OHH’s intention to publish excerpts: We do our best to choose excerpts from books that reflect our values to change the world for animals, and to end their exploitation altogether. However, we are not able to read all of these books in their entirety, and so please note that the books we choose do indeed intrigue us, but might not fully be in line with our ethos — though we hope they are. In other words, vet these for yourselves, and feel free to share your thoughts with us at by emailing info [at] ourhenhouse [dot] org.
Today, we bring you a short story from the collection With Animal, by Carol Guess and Kelly Magee.
As a bonus, OHH flock members can enter to win a copy, so read on beyond this excerpt for details. (Not yet a flock member? Become one today!)
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From the book’s press release:
Hybrid twins: one human, one horse. A man pregnant with a kangaroo, a woman raising a baby dragon. A twenty-first century Virgin Mary reimagined as a queer single mother giving birth in a petting zoo. In this collaborative short story collection, Carol Guess and Kelly Magee magically and playfully subvert assumptions about gender, sexuality, parenting, and family. These lyrical fictions bare teeth and spare no claw. They’ll leave you questioning the lines between human and animal, parent and child, love and dominion.
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With Human
by Carol Guess and Kelly Magee
1.
When she learned that the baby was human, she felt disappointed. It rattled inside her, fearless and furless, alphabet of bones and thumbs.
An animal pregnancy was all soft tongues, lapping; pink silk and decoration. Multiples, so they took care of themselves. They nested inside each other, fully formed at birth.
It wasn’t her fault, her husband reminded her. His DNA decided things. He was the carrier; he was the male. Still, she talked to the baby animals. Named them as if she might keep them.
Of course mothers could only keep human infants. Baby animals were whisked away. Her first three pregnancies were bundled in yellow blankets and disappeared down the hall with the nurse. Of course they reassured her that her kittens, puppies, and pandas were loved; cuddled and coddled. Of course she didn’t look at the smoke that flew over the hospital, crooked gray birds.
This time it was human, so she could keep it. Her husband would name it, reward her with gifts. She would be given a pink or blue blanket, press a heart to her chest, nurse a face when it cried.
Where were her animals? Where had they gone?
The little human baby snowballed inside her, colder and harder, collecting sharp stones.
2.
Ivy covered the windows of the animal nursery.
Night nurse, fox nurse, noon nurse, God.
3.
Down the hall, human babies failed the APGAR. Neonatal German Shepherds twitched in sleep, hightailing sheep.
She winced when her husband stroked her stomach: Henry, Catherine, Leroy, Lee.
Sit and Stay.
He fed her cravings: dog food, cat food, worms, bamboo.
When the baby was born, she felt pleased. He dropped from her like an anvil, dense and singular. Dark hair curled down his back. He didn’t suck at her breast so much as gnaw.
He lifted his head right away, arching away from her. She stroked his naked cheek until he turned and bit her finger.
Her husband couldn’t swaddle him tight enough. The baby’s legs kicked free, bicycling air. Gymnast, her husband said. Escape artist. Strong man.
Animal, she thought. Beloved.
She taught the baby to roll over. To speak for his food. By twelve months he’d learned to wait at his bowl in the morning. By eighteen, he could climb the refrigerator. Evenings, she stroked him in her lap, his limbs tucked under, his soft snores vibrating her belly.
Of course she worried when, by twenty-four months, the sounds he made for food hadn’t turned into words – the yips and snaps failed mamas and papas. Of course she listened when they told her to read to him, sing to him. Once upon a time, she said. ABC, she said. He bared his teeth.
No, she said. Down.
Her husband was served the notice at work. An error, it said; a birth record filed wrong. Wrong name. Wrong species. In bold, a date and address for returning the baby.
We could petition, she said.
Her husband wept. No use, he said.
Their child eyed them, cobbling understanding from pitch and gesture. His mouth groped, tongue pushing teeth, teeth pushing lips. Maaa, he said. His intelligent eyes fixed on her.
We’ll go, then, she said. Tonight, we’ll go.
A gritty haze covered the city. She ran the wipers, and her child quivered, strapped into the back seat. His nose pressed to the window. To the raccoons and turkey vultures scavenging the ditches. At the rest stop, he took off. Bolted straight for the highway. She braced herself, but instead of collision, a flock of birds lifted, broken, into the sky. Her boy beneath them, leaping and gnashing. She called him, and he came loping back.
Good boy, she said. She took him into her arms: her child, her son. From deep in her throat came a guttural sound.
She licked back the hair from his forehead. Nipped at his face. Nosed him back into the car.
Without her husband, there would be no more babies. No more names. No need for her language at all.
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Carol Guess is the author of fourteen books of poetry and prose and is Professor of English at Western Washington University.
Kelly Magee is the author of Body Language, winner of the Katherine Anne Porter Prize. She teaches at Western Washington University.
FLOCK MEMBERS, READ ON FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN YOUR OWN COPY OF THIS BOOK!
…NOT A FLOCK MEMBER YET? Join us, for the animals!…
#PRIVATE#
Hi Flock!
Want to win a copy of this book? Just send me an email (anne [at] ourhenhouse [dot] org) by midnight ET on 10/2. Be sure to include your postal address, especially if you’ve moved recently.
Peace,
Anne
