Flower's Story

Chapter 5

No escape, no escape, no escape. Those words wouldn't stop and there was nothing I could do about it. I wanted them to go away. To leave me forever. But they wouldn't leave. And I hated how true they sounded. I never thought I would ever be picked up by a human in all my years of living. Actually I never thought I would ever be picked up by a person, even after death. But here I am, being held by a human.

Until it let go. It let go. Now was my chance to get Echo and leave. but my legs wouldn't move. they held their ground and left me frozen in place. Just let me move! my brain yelled. Let. Me. Go.

Finally my four shaking lags decided to run, and to the house I ran. I ran through the small hole in the house, Up the long, seemingly endless stairs, and into mine and Echo's room. I searched frantically for Echo until I found her, curled up in a ball in the back corner. She was really upset and didn't even look up.

"Echo, we have to go. Now." I walked a few steps closer to the dark mass of fur.

"I'm not leaving," Echo said, her voice shaking.

"But we have to!" I yelped. "There are people here to take our home. They tried to take me away but I fought back. I cant fight them off forever, Echo. We have to leave or we may die."

"Then so what if I die! It's better than being stuck without a mother or father and stuck in a house with you!" Those words hurt. They hurt really bad, like a cat scratching at your heart till it bled. But she was just mad that's all. She didn't mean it at all. But new words started replaying in my head. She hates you now. Echo will never love you again. You will never be a good parent, or a good sister for that matter. Over and over they played, running circles around my head. They rang in my ear so loud that I thought they were bleeding.

"But Echo-" How was I supposed to reply. How was I supposed to fix this. So much damage had been done to this little fox for me to make it worse. What have you done?

I still had to get her out. I don't care if she hates me. As long as Echo is safe then I'll be fine. I can live with her hating me. Right?

"No! I'm not going to listen to you!" Echo looked around and I watched her eyes stop on a window that I was sure she couldn't reach. Then she looked back at me with eyes full of anger.

"Don't do it Echo. Come on I just want to save you."

"Save me? No. No! How about this instead." She jumped up and darted for the window. I didn't realize it until just now that there were boxes right below the window. Without thinking I ran after Echo and grabbed her tail with my teeth before she jumped. She squirmed for a minute then looked back, growled, and kicked me in the snout which made me let go. It only took a few seconds for my ears to pick up on a thud followed by a yip. 

"Echo!" I yelped as a jumped on the boxes and looked out the window. There on the ground in the grass lay my limp sister. Her breathing was shallow and she looked unconscious. That wasn't good. I had to check on her so I jumped down into a bush. Afterwards I climbs out of the bush. On closer inspection I realized Echo's leg was broken. Her dark fur even dirtier from the ground. 

I was just about to grab her by the scruff when I heard a crunch from the corner of the building. I backed in the bush again quickly and waited. It was a good minute before I seen the same human that picked me up. My thoughts screamed inside my head as the human got closer and kneeled beside Echo. She brushed a hand lightly along Echo's side. I couldn't help but let out a small growl that couldn't be  heard by anyone but me. Moments later the voice of the other scarier human pierced my ears. 

"Amy let's go! I really need help here!"

"I... But... I'm coming mom!" The smaller human sighed and slowly got up, looking down sadly at Echo before walking gloomily back to where she came from. I felt a wave of guilt, fear, and sadness come off of her. But that's weird... Humans only care about fur coats, mounted heads on walls, and their jobs. They don't care about animal's feelings, right? I stared for a moment thinking about it. Then after some thought I was still confused and decided it was better to just get Echo to safety.

Slowly but surely I walked out into the open and picked her up by the scruff. It was hard to drag Echo to a safe place because her body was limp and heavy. It took quite a while but I managed to get her to a nice safe hole under a tree that seemed abandoned. Must be those rabbits mother brought for dinner one day. Carefully setting my little sister down in the hole I looked around to make sure nobody was watching. Then I heard the front door. The door to my house. I looked up at the sky. It was still daylight. Maybe I could check in that human. I know it's a crazy idea but there's something about her that's just... Different? It was hard to shake the feeling that one person could actually care about us and even help Echo. If there was any hope to help Echo then I'll take that chance.

With a deep sigh I took slow steps back to the house. This was so nerve racking. How was I supposed to do this alone? I can't do this! What am I thinking?! You have to keep going, for your sister. This was the last hope. The last chance to keep my family alive. It's either I take it or leave it. And I'll take it. 

I had to stop for a minute to take a look at the house. It looked the same. But the smell was horrible. Growling and lowering my head, I built the courage to go inside. Closer and closer. As I stuck my head inside the hole of the house the smell got better. It must be from outside then. Carefully I got my body inside followed by my tail. I took a look around until my eyes stopped on one thing. I stood there in fear as I stared up at the tall figure. My heart started to pound and my legs started to shake. And I could've swore my heart skipped a beat as it looked right down at me with glowing white eyes.