⤐ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝.
"I need you to listen to me. When we're out there together, if I say run, run. If I tell you to leave me, then damn it, you le...
'That it never comes again is what makes life sweet.' -Emily Dickinson
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THE bald man's thin mouth pulled into a menacing grin as he ran his hands over his sun-kissed skull. Zeppelin reached for the backpack tied tight to the branch just below her, her arms straining with tension, but they just weren't long enough.
"Why don't you come on down? Get to know us." He whistled a long, dull note, no doubt calling his friends back to him. They returned within seconds and whistled up at the girl in the tree, vultures circling their prey.
"I knew I smelled a woman!" One laughed.
"Fuck you," Zepp snarled, spitting down at the men.
"Don't threaten me with a good time, sugar." The scarred man retorted. He seemed to be the leader of the small group, the others hovering just behind him and glancing at his face every few moments. "You know if you don't come down.. we'll have to come uuppp" he taunted mockingly.
Zepp reached above her head to grab a small branch, snapping it off and tightening her grip. "I'd like to see you try." These wolves expected a trembling doe, an easy target.
Instead they caught a bobcat in their snare.
She untied her rope slowly, intently, and perched on the branch, holding it to steady herself. One of the men grabbed his pistol and aimed it towards her. "Why don't we just shoot her down, Donny?"
The leader turned to the man and placed his hand on the gun, lowering it. "Jim, my friend, the fun is in the chase." He turned back to Zepp and sighed, resting his hands on his hips. "Alright boys, first one to get her, gets to have her first," he sneered. Almost instantly, the man named Jim started to climb.
She was much smaller and more nimble. While she made it up the tree with ease, he struggled to keep his grip on the small knots at the base of the trunk. He fell after a few moments of hanging, and Zepp felt the corners of her mouth turn up slightly.
The men laughed at their fallen friend, and then the next one began to try. While he made it up farther, again his large frame was too heavy and unsure of itself to make it up to her. He slipped off a knot and tumbled to the ground, coughing and sputtering.
Her mouth was stretched in a full on grin now.
"Looks like I don't have anything to worry about after all," she jeered and flipped them off.
"We'll see 'bout that," Donny replied. His expression dropped from amused to devilish in a matter of seconds. He began the ascent up the tree.
