Fireball: A Fox Tale

Part 3: The Hunters

The man's voice startled Nora.

"I'm sorry, sir..." she began.

"Look, I really don't need one of you PETA types getting in the way right now. I've got to make a living just like everybody else."

He pointed his rifle at the fox, but the creature scurried to hide behind Nora. She could feel his body quivering against her.

Why aren't you running away? she thought. But then she got an idea.

"Yes, I get where you're coming from. Really, I do. But I'm not a part of PETA."

"Okaaayy, but you're still in my way," he said, as he tried to figure out a way to target the fox without hitting the woman in front of it.

Nora bit her lip and looked back down at the fox. "But you wouldn't dare kill an old lady's pet, would you?"

The hunter lowered his weapon and raised an eyebrow. "This one's yours, Ma'am?" he asked, pointing to the creature behind her.

"Yes," she said. "I'm awfully sorry to trouble you like this, sir. He just ran off and...and I was so worried..."

"Now, now. Don't you start cryin' or anything. But you might want to keep him contained," he advised her. As he started to turn away, he added, "You know, we could have avoided this whole embarrassing situation if he had a collar on. I honestly thought you were trying to protect a wild critter," he said with a laugh. "Still, be careful! Those foxes are bound to get themselves into trouble."

"Right..." Nora mumbled to herself. "Well, good day, sir!" she called out to him.

The man nodded in response. He whistled for his dog and the two strode away out of sight.

Nora looked back down at the fox. He stared back at her.

"Well, aren't you going to go back home?" she asked him. "You're safe now."

But then his paw, bloody from where the trap's teeth had sunk into his skin, caught her attention. Sure, this fox could eventually heal on its own. Animals in the wild survive injuries all the time. And yet... Maybe it was Oreo's spirit calling to her or it was something else, but for whatever reason, she wanted to help this miserable creature. With decades of veterinarian work behind her, Nora knew she was fully qualified to patch him up. Ever so gingerly, she lifted up the fox and carried him home.

🐾🐾🐾

His parents had tried to keep the young fox away from the humans and what had he done? Disobeyed them. Yet again.

The first time had cost them their lives. They had yipped at him to come back to the den, but he had to satisfy his curiosity. What were those sounds? Those smells? He ran out into the clearing and then he saw them. They looked so strange! Two legs and no fur except for the tuft he could see on the top of their heads. And what were those black sticks they were carrying? They didn't look at all like the sticks he had seen in the woods.

But then he heard rustling in the tall, yellow grasses behind him. Mother! Cautiously, she inched toward her pup. If she could just get to him before... BOOOOOOMMM! Her body fell with a thud. He waited for her to get up. She had to get up. Surely she had only tripped. But no such luck. He ran to his mother's side, urging her to get back on her paws. No movement, not even a breath. He looked back at the two-legged creatures with their strange sticks. Had they done this? Did those sticks have the power to kill? But how? He had never seen any other animal hunt in such a way.

BOOOOOOOOMMM! His heart racing, he looked behind him again. His father had rushed out of the den at the sound of the loud death stick, only to meet the same fate as his mother.

He should have died, too, but the men had only kicked him aside as they collected his parents' limp bodies.

Humans kill. Humans are bad. That was what he took away from that day. But this human was different. As the woman had worked to free him from the trap, he saw something in her eyes that he hadn't seen in those of the hunters: love. And right now, that was what he needed most in the world.

To be continued...

A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for reading! If you liked Part 3, please don't forget to vote. Also if you have any comments or questions, I would love to talk to you all! :)

Do you agree with how Nora handled the situation?