#accepting death

For discount Tuesday, I went to see “The Sheep Detectives”. Hugh Jackman plays a sheep herder who loves his sheep dearly (he’s named them all). Each night he reads a book to them - often murder mysteries. Until one day, the sheep find him dead! They suspect murder and are determined to solve the crime!

The sheep can understand each other AND understand human speech - but they can’t talk to humans (they just sound like “baaah”).

The movie is charming, for the most part. But there’s a running gag that sheep are stupid. So it takes a while for the sheep to figure out clues - which slows down the plot… the movie runs 109 minutes, and I think it would have been better with the plot a little tighter (say, 95 to 100 minutes).

Hugh Jackman dies early on, but he appears throughout as a vision to the sheep. I was surprised by how old Jackman looked (crow’s feet and under-eye bags). Apparently, after production, he had some plastic surgery done for his next movie “Song Sung Blue”. But I looked at some photos online and he still looks old.

Another actor in the movie has also had a transformation - Nicholas Galitzine. He was in the gay romcom “Red, White & Royal Blue” (2023). He was later cast in “Masters of the Universe” which will be released June 5. He bulked up quite a bit to play “He-Man” but it must have been after making “ The Sheep Detectives” because he has quite a normal physique.

As the movie progressed, I recognized a couple of the voices playing the sheep - Bryan Cranston and Jackman’s X-Men buddy Patrick Stewart. Julia Louis-Dreyfus voices the main sheep but I didn’t know it was her until the credits.

About midway into the movie, I had a fleeting thought… wouldn’t it be interesting if so-and-so was the murdered. To my surprise - I was right!

There’s one thing I should point out… although you might think this movie is for children… the main element of the story is accepting the death of a loved one. It’s hammered away especially at the end.

hunger- febuwhump 2026 prompt list @febuwhump

warnings⚠️: this plate of whump contains- animal death, starvation, death wish, acceptance of death, friends beyond the graves.

--- Will you eat me?

a saber tooth tiger and a leopard that are trapped in an abandoned zoo together freely roaming the enclosure but are slowly wasting away due to starvation

feel the ribs in our body bruise the inside of our carcass. To lay and be feasted by magots and rot back into the earth is mercy. Any death is mercy compared to this.

I lay my bones in the grass but it makes no difference then laying on the stones as my body hurts all the same. I lay and watch my friend as they do similar and rest. A friend is still friend even if they look at you like you food.

I hold no grudge to them as i too find myself staring all the same. My teeth ache almost as much as the acids in my organs do. We both wallow in pain and agony till our body holds no more water to spare for tears.

and as i feel my soul out grow this shrunken frame almost free of my prison i look back over to my friend who is turned away morning our deaths as i ask, "will you eat me? after i pass will you consume my bones?"

and the replied, "as an animal i wish too, but as a friend i wish not. If i can i would lay beside you till i die but I give easy to temptations so even if i do please know it is not a want of mine."

I hummed a final purr of a sound before i felt myself grow colder by the minute the last thing i hear of my friend being "rest now the bones of this body so not to carry it beyond the graves of death. wait for me at the doors and i will accompany thee soon. farewell my friend."

I set out.

They are just foothills to a mountain range. all lesser parts of a grander whole.  /  I set my eyes upon them, ponder the weather, and set myself a goal.

As I walk, I take in the breeze, welcoming the land as it begins to roll.  /  The gentle topography provides rhythm for some meditative evaluation of the soul.

And I walk.

Over the hours, however, these bumps feel more monumental, though I wish not to aggrandize.  /  No, I do not want to waste my energies, for I hardly worship them as shrines.

Though my knees are prone to give, my feet work just fine.  /  But it’s not that these hills are insurmountable, it’s just that I’m running out of time.

I continue as far as I can.

My journey has an end date, though I will never be able to write it down.  /  Still, I keep a journal, to document the colours of each bird I see, each small town.

My favourite ocean is the Arctic Ocean I can walk upon its frozen surface like a God

A victorious Nike upon a concrete, barren and white

But it is slowly falling victim to warmer winds And I will be lost and trapped far from shore

As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting a warm golden glow over the tranquil waters, an elderly woman named Sarah sat in a small boat, gently rocking with the rhythm of the waves. She had accepted that her time on this Earth was coming to an end, and a sense of peace washed over her.

With every stroke of the oar, Sarah felt the weight of a lifetime's worth of worries and regrets lift from her shoulders. The gentle breeze ruffled her silver hair, and the soothing lullaby of the ocean whispered in her ears.

As she sailed further into the horizon, a serene smile graced Sarah's face. She had finally found a sense of true freedom, unburdened by the cares of the world. The fear of death had given way to a profound acceptance, and in that moment, she embraced the unknown with open arms.

it was shocking. we’ve known each other for a year and a half now and there was a point at the beginning of our friendship where we talked to each other a lot, go out for drinks all the time, all of that. but then, he got busy. i got busy. and im not the type of person to reach out and catch up. and i think he was, too. so i didnt really think much of it.

in that span of time of knowing each other, i think we havent talked for like 70% of it. and out of all the days he had to make conversation with me, he had to do it the day before he died.

whats eating me up, is he had to comment on how i look so i didnt take it well (obviously) and i had this inner anger for him built up. what i havent realized is that he has always been like that. he joked all the time and talked to everyone that way. i think he did that for me as an icebreaker but since its something about my appearance, ofcourse i had to be serious about it! we havent talked for a long time and the first time that we did, it had to be a comment about how i look? and so the conversation was short and that was it.

early morning the next day, he got into an accident and died. seeing pictures of the accident on social media, his body sprawled and lifeless. and bloody. it was disturbing to say the least. i was shaking when i heard the news. because … why? he was an unstoppable force. he always went out with friends and somehow always went home fine. he was loud but he was careful. and as far as i knew, he had never been in a major accident. and when he did, it had to take his life???

it was eerie. i was just starting to think about getting back at him for making me feel bad about how i feel. i had to make him feel bad too, was what i was telling myself. now, i couldnt even think about that. i feel so sorry for his family. he used to talk a lot about his little sister and how much he loved her. we didnt know each other well, but he sure lets everyone know about that one.

and im sure i did not have a huge impact on his life, but since knowing his death, i thought if i had taken his joke as a joke, would things happen differently? if i had also made a conversation and ask about how he’s been, would he have been in a different state of mind, different train of thoughts resulting = him not being in that last moment of his death?

i wonder if he ever thought about his death, that it would be that sudden and tragic. i wonder if he ever was scared of it? or was he always accepting of his fate, whatever it will be. i wonder how he felt when that car hit him. i wonder if he ever felt pain. i wonder if his life flashed before his eyes. i wonder what his last thoughts were. i wonder if he realized he lived a great life, he always made sure he had a good time.

in another universe, i know you are still out there enjoying and having a good time. making plans with friends, loving the new music you discovered, showing of how good u were at singing, being the energy ball that u are, being the comfort of everyone around you.