Eventide

Part 1

You don’t know the forest until you’re a part of it yourself. The human eye cannot see everything that the animal can. The human flesh cannot feel the intense aura of the life around it. The human nose cannot inhale the fragrance of the fresh, clean air or the real scent of the bright flowers. A human can’t fully understand what it means to be in sync with the natural world around them unless they choose to accept it for the way it is.

Evie, a young black fox, could hardly escape this insane and idiotic hunter. Even as the sun was setting, she could still see the gun in his hands as if it were a glowing beacon of death. Just simply the sight of a weapon such as this one was enough to make her panic. It made her want to run faster, but her energy level was dwindling down rather quickly. She could feel the wind blowing through her black fur begin to lessen as she slowed down. Her little furry feet couldn’t move much faster.

She had to keep an eye out for the sharp traps on the ground. In this forest, hunting was a very popular sport, and every hunter was trying to capture or kill the best animals around whether it was legal or not.

However, Evie was the best animal around.

The hunters called her Eventide because she only comes out as the sun goes down. You can never find her during the day. Before she earned her title, she was just another animal roaming the forest. She was just a lone creature, unknowing of the dangerous world around her.

But then, a day came when, practically out of nowhere, Evie began to step up her game. She ran the quickest, hunted the best, heard and saw things the clearest, and got away the fastest. If she gets caught by a hunter, she always manages to escape. She’s even set a few trapped animals free. No matter how much they tried, Evie was just too swift, sneaky, and smart for them to ever catch her…or kill her.

But that was after she experienced the most frightening thing any child would see as the worst and most painful thing to bear. Evie was just a kit when her mother was caught in the grasp of a horrifying metal cage. It was around autumn, so they both had to scrounge around for food in order to stay warm for the winter; any type of food. However, as the cold days drew shorter and shorter, the amount of things to eat was turning lower and lower. And even more, the hunters were everywhere in the fall. They brought out their worst weapons and used them on bears, rabbits, squirrels, birds, and foxes. No matter where you went, you were always considered a target.

Evie’s mother was desperate to find a descent meal for her only child. Out of the five kits that she had given birth to, only one managed to get the better off the diseases, the lack of food, and harsh weather. Evie was definitely a trooper.

When her mother never returned from the nightly hunt, the young baby fox went out looking for her. Once she had come across her trail and finally located her, lying in the cage weak, exhausted, and injured, Evie sat next to her all through the night until morning. She had to leave when the hunter came to retrieve his trap, but even before then her mother was gone. Evie could easily recall the moment when her mother fell asleep; it was the last time she would ever be by her side. From then on, she had to fend for herself. It was quite a difficult task for a little baby fox. It’s miraculous how she’s survived his long.

Of course, survival means escaping from hunters. The sunlight was disappearing as the seconds ticked by, so Evie was able to hide in the shadows. She found a good place behind a fallen tree where she could rest for a bit. Nevertheless, the hunter did not leave. He was much different from the other humans, Evie noticed. He was much more persistent and had a very bad temper. He yelled out words that sounded very offensive. It hurt Evie’s sensitive ears.

The little black fox was tired from the run. The brush around her and the soft soil was comfortable. It was a good place to take a nap. Evie was leisurely drifting off. In a weird way, the human’s voice in the background was somewhat soothing. Just a quick rest wouldn’t do much harm…

BOOM!

Evie awoke with a start. The darkness had completely engulfed the forest. She had only been asleep for maybe ten minutes. The hunter’s voice was gone, but his presence was still there. Evie didn’t dare move a muscle in case he was close by.

BOOM!

There went another shot. This time Evie was able to tell that it was rather far away, so it was safe enough to pop her head over the fallen tree to see what was happening.

The man was kneeling over something, gun in hand. He was examining the thing on the ground intensely as if it were really important. “Ah, I think I’ve got you,” Evie heard the man say. But then, he put out his open hand, and picked up what he was looking at; it was a dead animal. It looked to be a fox, but Evie wasn’t entirely sure. Something inside of her seemed to break. A sharp pain erupted in the depths of her chest.

Anger, sadness, frustration; all of it was running right through Evie. A lot of humans don’t realize how many things they really have in common with animals. Yet they still treat them as subjects, freaks, or mad beasts. Nobody cares if they get killed. If there’s a man, woman, or child in the street starving, one would probably offer some food or money. But, if there’s an animal lying in the street starving, one would probably just walk on as if they didn’t notice. Some might even belch in disgust.

Evie wanted to run over to the hunter and nip his hand off. But, just as her anger was about to spill over the top, the hunter grew angry and threw the dead fox with all his force into shadows of the woods. “This isn’t the right one.” He looked around through the trees and grabbed his gun aggressively. However, it was clearly too dark for his human eyes to see anything. “Eventide! Where are you?” he yelled. “I will get you one day, Eventide! Even if it takes until my final breath! You can’t run away forever. I’ll warn you, fox, that you’re days have been numbered!” Evie found it weird how this hunter was speaking as if he were talking to another human; not an animal. It almost frightened her, but Evie was confident in her skills. She believed that she could get away from any human being. She was Eventide, the best, toughest, and most prized creature in the forest.

After the hunter finished his closing statement, he finally decided to leave. Evie could at last allow herself a moment of peace. She didn’t have to run anymore; that is, until the next hunter comes looking for the rare Eventide to kill and bring back as first prize for their ‘game’.