Mother Fox

What if you died and instead of going to heaven, you became a fox in your own garden? This profound, intimate exploration of life, death, and what might lie beyond follows Iris, a recently deceased mother of seven who finds herself transformed into a fox the day after her death.

From her new vantage point in the hedge at the bottom of her garden, Iris observes her grieving family preparing for her funeral while reflecting on her own life journey. We witness her memories unfold—raising seven unique children after being widowed young when her beloved husband Len died suddenly of a brain aneurysm, her eldest daughter Sandra moving to America, family gatherings with fish fingers and chips, and the collection of ceramic birds that became tokens of love throughout her life.

The narrative gracefully weaves between past and present as Iris experiences the surreal sensation of attending her own funeral. With heart-breaking poignancy and unexpected humour, she watches her sons struggle to carry her coffin, listens to eulogies, and observes as her family divides her possessions. Most remarkably, her son-in-law John somehow recognizes her fox-self in the garden, suggesting the bonds between souls transcend physical form.

Through Iris's evolving understanding of her situation, we're invited to consider whether death might be not an ending but a transformation—a transitional state where we temporarily inhabit animal forms before moving on to whatever comes next. The story culminates in a breath-taking moment of expanded consciousness where Iris experiences profound unity with everyone she has ever loved.

What makes us who we are? Do our connections to loved ones survive death? This haunting, beautiful meditation on mortality suggests that perhaps, as in Iris's favourite song "Don't Cry for Me Argentina," the truth is we never really leave each other at all.

This story is available in the anthology Voice Within: A Storybook by Storytellers Edition II.

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