Coyote. Dingo. Hound. Vermin. Hyena. Mutt. Pup. He'd heard it all. What he was, though, was a wolf. A full grown, five year old wolf. He craved nothing more than to be recognized as such. It would be an indication of respect, something he hadn't gotten ever since the nuclear reactor accident that had left every animal in the United States with the ability to possess rational thought and verbal skills. Animals saw it as the dawning of a new age for them, and expected to be integrated into the world of human society easily. Humans loved animals before they had the ability to hold intelligent conversation, so now they would cherish them even more. This held true for the majority of the population. There were, however, pockets of humans who saw the reactor accident as a horrifying event that produced nothing but freaks of nature. These people looked upon the animals with fright, ridicule, and even hatred.
This particular animal was, as I said, a wolf. He assumed the name Jasper once he understood the concept of monikers, and he was part of a militant faction of the oppressed race of animals. As with any abject and exploited group of a population, a portion of the animals decided that fighting back by whatever means necessary was their duty in order to show that it was simply fur, feathers, trunks, snouts, claws, large incisors, or any combination of these, that separated them from their human counterparts.
An association known as the Atmospheric Conditions, a rag tag group of radical animals fed up with the behavior of disdainful humans, came into being in New York City. Jasper started the group through grassroot efforts, for he felt such intense hatred for the oppressive humans that he needed an outlet for his rage.
Through months of perseverance, the group developed a poison that they planned to covertly slip into the drinks before the start of a meeting of the New York chapter of animal haters. The poison was slipped into the drinks being served that night, and that night became the legendary Slaughtering, as it has infamously been known ever since.
Jasper the wolf became legendary for actually slipping into the party against the protestations of his animal comrades. Being the militant leader he was, he simply wanted to see, firsthand, the efforts of the Atmospheric Conditions pay off. It is purported that, as he watched from the shadows while the humans who took a drink that night dropped silently to the ground, he crept out for a moment, a few seconds really, in order to implore a young man to “Drink, drink.” And then, quick as he came, he was off into the night.
Artwork used by permission of the artist, Lisa Rae Winant. "Drinkies", 12x16 oil on panel
