I'll Be Home With You

The Beginning

There once was a young fox who roamed the wild forests and went on great adventures. She explored more than any other fox for she was wiser, still... she was not happy. There was always something missing and she would turn her tiny head towards the other foxes, confused to what it was.

One day, the clever fox had figured it out.

Her eyes dilated as she caught a glimpse of how the foxes were paired up: with friends, family, partners... and the clever fox then became envious as she noticed that there wasn't a single fox in her clan alone like her.

The envious fox dreadfully maneuvered to the giant lake that she could never touch. Perhaps it was because she felt as though she didn't deserve the pleasure instead of the reason being why everyone else wouldn't grasp its pure water: it was outside the border of her clan's territory.

She slowly reached her tiny paw to a grassy spot outside the line and a rush of adrenaline had smacked her right in the face as if it was the wake up call she desperately needed. She drew another little paw over the line and paused when she heard a terrible call from behind her.

A growl had erupted from the leader of her fox clan as he stood behind her. She quivered in fear as he inched towards her.

"What do you think you're doing, Roxi?!" he stared at her with those dark piercing eyes as if he could control her.

"I'm leaving," she replied calmly, tilting her tiny chin up to keep from backing down and obeying this horrid fox.

He laughed loudly but immediately his smile flipped over, "You're not leaving."

He lunged at her and bit her neck before dragging her back from the border. He threw her in the center of the community. All the foxes just stared at her expressionless as blood dripped down her slender neck.

"Fellow foxes! Here's a little glimpse of what happens to those who try to break this wondrous clan!" he announced to everyone with a slight grin on his evil face.

He leaned close and whispered in her ear, "You want to leave?" he paused, "You've got your wish, poor ugly fox."

Her body went numb and everything around her started to become blurry as the leader, Lemont had called over his little minions to teach Roxi the lesson. Even as they were tearing at her flesh she couldn't help but feel satisfied deep down inside. She would be free if they just ended it, she darkly thought.

They dragged her broken body to the edge of the border where they had just been not even an hour ago. They tossed whatever was left of Roxi into the lake and her senses lit up from the freezing cold water.

But she didn't struggle, maybe for the first time in her entire life. She couldn't wait for the warmth to come and take her so she could finally be "home."

Cover credit goes to @sulkytae c: