Fox

Chapter 1 - In the Woods

I shivered as I curled up into myself. I was huddled under a willow tree, the branches protecting me from the wind and rain. My mother had chased me out of the house with a knife. I had taken shelter under the large willow in the centre of the forest that my house backed on to. I hoped to return home tomorrow, when she would have forgotten what happened and return to ignoring me. It was a vicious cycle, but one I couldn't see a way out of. So, instead of trying, I escaped from the house when everything got too much, and dreamed of a future without running and hiding what I could do from my mother.

I shivered more. If I changed, maybe I would be warmer... I thought to myself. I closed my eyes. Slowly, painfully, I felt my body change shape. Staying in my human clothes to keep in as much warmth as possible, I tucked my tail over my nose and prepared to go to sleep.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang. I jumped to stand on my paws, then crumpled forwards as the pain from my wounded shoulder hit me once more. I howled quietly at the pain, trying to stay undetected.

"Hey, did you hear that?" A voice called from in front of my tree.

"No?" Another voice responded slowly. I tensed, trying to stay small and quiet so I could remain hidden. By tensing though, I aggravated the wounds on my sides. I let out a short whimper. I was too late, though. They had heard me.

"There! It came from near the willow!" The first voice said again. I cringed back into the tree as I heard their footsteps coming closer to me. A figure appeared through the branches and started looking around with a torch. When he noticed me, curled up at the tree trunk, he let out a successful shout. "I found it, lads!" He called back to his friends. I stood on shaky legs, preparing to flee. He smirked as my legs shook and I swayed from the blood loss. "It won't be an interesting chase, but at least it'll be a quick one," he told me. I shook my head rapidly, trying to change back, but I couldn't. I'd used up the last of my energy shifting into this form. My legs collapsed at the thought. I would die as a fox, and no one would miss me.

The other men arrived together, snickering when they saw me. "I think we'd be doing it a favour if we killed it, guys," one said to the others. I let out a feeble growl, but couldn't make my muscles move when they started walking towards me. That made them snigger even more.

"Look Ted, it's given up!" The first man said. I whimpered, pushing myself up against the tree even more. Maybe if I push back hard enough, I'll become one with the tree, I thought to myself. The men kept advancing on me, and I noticed that they had spread out so there was no way for me to escape from them. When one of them stopped in front of me, I barked feebly, then closed my eyes in fear of what was coming. I felt the air shift in front of me and flinched involuntarily.

Abruptly, there was a loud noise from behind me, followed almost instantly by a loud bout of swearing. I recoiled more, trying to get away from both threats. I heard more noises and opened my eyes to see what was happening in front of me.

Where before there had been only 10 men surrounding me, there was now nearly 20. I whimpered quietly, knowing I would be crying if I was human. The new guys were in a small semicircle in front of me, facing towards the others. I quickly scanned them, but couldn't recognise anything.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" One of the new guys yelled. I squeaked in fear and another one turned to face me. He had blonde, curly hair that bounced all over his head and a kind face.

He crouched down and began to slowly ease his way towards me, hand held up the entire time. I pushed myself further and further back into the tree trunk, shivering intensely. He stopped moving, keeping his hands raised. I saw his mouth moving, and as I came back down from my panic attack I began to hear the words he was saying.