A Little Thing Called Destiny

Further and Further from Normal

As Anna entered the woods she felt complete relief. All the sadness from The afternoon washed away. She could hear the gentle whispers of the forest that most people missed. She could hear all of the animals moving through the forest. But this was not her secret. As she moved animals of all shapes and sizes moved to follow her. As she moved on she thought of the reason why this was her secret.

It was her eighth birthday. She had just finished opening all of her gifts. She and her friends needed to burn off some sugar, so they went into the woods. Anna had always loved to be in the woods. When she was there she did not feel like anything else really mattered. She waited for the animals to surround her like they usually did, but when they did come her friends went from being delighted at the sight of little rabbits and squirrels coming towards them. Which soon turned to unease as foxes came along as well and then outright terror as a bear came lumbering toward them from a distance. The animals were confused as to why Anna would bring along the lowly evil hairless beings with her. What would she have to do with them. She heard this all through the animals thoughts. Animal thoughts were different from human thoughts, humans used words which animals didn't know and therefore couldn't use. Their thoughts were a tangle of pictures and emotions that mixed together to distort reality. In the minds of the animals the two girls were the ugliest thing they had ever seen and Anna the best most beautiful thing ever created. She didn't understand the animals high regard towards her. But one thing she knew was that she had to get out of there and play it off as a fluke. She squealed like the other girls and immediately felt the animals confusion she spoke to them with her mind and told them not to follow her. Then she ran with the other girls from the forest with tears in her eyes. Nothing would ever be the same.

She was right at that time things never were the same. In some ways they were better and in others they were worse. She had tried to stay away from the woods completely but after 2 days she began to feel like she couldn't move or breathe. The air seemed stale without the rich smell of earth. All of the girls decided not to tell their parents about the woods. Anna moved towns soon after so her friends never got to be around after that so none of them could become suspicious. The realization that she was special made Anna's confidence skyrocket. Everyone though they were special and different from everyone else and Anna truly was. The animals worshipped her almost like a person worships a god, not that she believed in that but that was the regard the animals had for her. She could see it tinting their every thought. When she spoke to them aloud in words they had no recognition of the words all that would register in their heads was the sound of her voice. But when she spoke to them in her mind they would always respond with enthusiasm. A little rabbit for example would be happy to the bursting point at her saying a single word to them. She somehow got the feeling that If she told her them to do something they would listen to her order. It was great to have power and she never used it except to tell the animals to stay away from her when she was with other people.

A rustle from the bushes brought her back to the present. This mind was not one she knew. Something was off with the animals thoughts, she couldn't quite access them. She got slight wisps of thought. What she got only told her that the strange animal saw her from behind a bush. Wanting to look this animal in the face she sent " come out and come to me." This was the first time she had had to tell any animal to come to her whether they'd met or not. With each second that passed the animal was taking another step away from normal. An animal had never resisted her orders even if they didn't like or understand them. When that black panther reached her and looked up into her eyes it made the hair on her arms stand on end with fear or surprise or maybe even excitement. She had just realized how big this black panther was. She had seen a black panther before in the zoo, the great beast had pushed itself right against the cage. So she knew around what size they were supposed to be, especially because they were her favourite animal. This panther was breathtakingly beautiful,even more so than a regular panther. Its size didn't scare Anna because she knew this animal could do her no harm despite the fact that it was strange. She tried once more to see its thoughts but she still got nothing and when she stopped the panther turned tail and ran out of sight and despite wanting to she didn't call after it.

Author's note: Hi there this is my first story outside of school that has ever made it past the first paragraph so if my story stinks don't judge and bash my story (not that it's happened as of yet). However I do appreciate some constructive criticism every now and again.