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New 1 Sep, 2024

Nose to Tail

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Long listed for the Write about Walking Together competition 2024


The causeway is narrow. Slush refreezes under our feet. Prints of claws cover hooves and paws. We are nose to tail. Our heads hang, our ears droop or point back, depending on anatomy. None are perky.

The sky emptied of birds shortly after daybreak. The air is wide enough for all the flying things.

We can’t see the far side, but we know the only way out is through. If our brains don’t think like that, we know at least that we mustn’t go back, or into the water.

We move at the pace of the slowest thing. The slowest thing we cannot step over or scurry under. Swimmers pass: dogs, deer, otters. The insects which hitched a ride are biting those of us who are carrying them. I’d be eating too, if I could.

I haven’t seen any reptiles. Has anyone seen the reptiles? We have to hope the humans are bringing them, warm in boxes of hay.

Ahead, there’s a fracas. Someone has slipped and strong, sharp-toothed pack animals are leaning in to pull them out by the scruff of the neck. The stopping ripples back down the line. Furry creatures rest. We take the chance to groom, scratch and nibble, lick ourselves. Grazers search the ice. A pair of foxes rub necks and I remember warm-blooded closeness in my own body, and shiver.

Now we move, ponderous, limited.

On the other side, we will chase and be chased again. For now, we are walking together.


  • Read other pieces in the Write about Walking Together competition long list
  • Itching to write something yourself? Submit a piece to our Shorelines project, and invite your friends to read it aloud. Join one of our creative writing workshops or keep up to date with all our competitions by signing up to our ‘Walking Writers’ newsletter here or to our curated newsletter that covers all things about walking art here.

APA style reference

Walker, P. (2024). Nose to Tail. walk · listen · create. https://walklistencreate.org/2024/09/01/nose-to-tail/

Writing Competition 2024 Walking Together Long list

Collection · 27 items
walking writing
flash fiction
Sound Walk September
walking
Walking Together
longlist
creative writing

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Walking Together

Shani Cadwallender gives her view on "Walking Together" the theme to this year's writing competition.


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way-losing

A journey which will include walking as an essential component, the object of is to become lost.

Added by Bill Aitchison

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