Wolf watched closely as Lamb wandered further from the flock and closer to him. When the time was right he pounced. After dining he licked the smeared blood from his muzzle and wondered at the curious difference in flavor between Lamb and Ram.
Wolf had eaten both. He preferred Lamb.
Ram was tough and slightly sour. Lamb was sweet and tender. Wolf only ate Ram when Lamb wasn’t to be had.
Besides being sour and tough Ram also made a big fuss about being eaten with all that snorting and ramming about with his horns.
Only a stupid Wolf would choose to eat Ram.
Wolf had first eaten Ram when he ran with
the Pack. It was a crazy time. All too often the Pack would lose their minds to silly savagery, killing a whole flock
of Sheep, then eating only a few.
What wasteful foolishness.
It was one of the reasons Wolf left to be Lone Wolf.
The other reason was that he didn’t like waiting
to eat.
At every kill Alpha-Wolf, Jarel, and his greedy bitch, Kinzik, would stuff themselves to bloating while the rest of the Pack could only drool and wait their miserable turn.
Wolf never regretted leaving the pack. He might not eat as often, but he did eat freely and fully; no more scraps of pieces-parts.
Still, Wolf wondered philosophically. If both Ram and Lamb were Sheep, why didn’t they taste the same?
It wasn’t like that with Squirrel, Bird, Rabbit, Chipmunk,
or Deer.
Wait a minute! Maybe it was like that with Deer.
Even though Wolf had never actually tasted Stag, Wolf assumed Stag would taste as bad as Ram because Stag put up the same bothersome fuss as Ram.
Yes, that must be it.
Fightsomeness must make those meals tough
and sour
But then, what about the smaller meals?
Wolf pondered this mystery. He didn’t actually know the flavors of Bird, Chipmunk, and Such. He always ate them in one or two gulps, no time to savor anything.
Wolf made a memo to himself - next time chew slowly and learn - there’s more to life than digestion.
Wolf thereafter practiced the wisdom he discovered.
Slow down and taste the meat.