The Hunt

Chicken and gravy

The sun was setting behind some distant hill obscured from my vision by the line of trees. With it quickly disappears the warmth i've grown accustomed to all day. The crickets start chirping away as the birds fall silent, and all of a sudden night is upon me and the other. I crawl under a bush just off to my right. Covering myself in the warmth of dead leaves, I realise this is incredibly stupid. what about wolves? okay maybe not wolves- but bears, who knows with bears. In different conditions, maybe I would climb a tree and remain out of sight from predators and the men hunting me alike. But with the stress of the days events and my long escape into the forest, I feel myself slipping further and further into unconsciousness.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

*Flash back*

Aahna has wondered off on her own once again. The foster family searches desperately for the small child. unsuspecting that at that very moment, that same girl was out-yet again, in the woods. The child lets out a gurgling laugh, tottering around, picking the flowers from various weeds, murmuring to herself how 'pretty' they are.

A set of glowing eyes emerges from the bush, followed by a snuffy wet nose, razor teeth and grey fur. The she-wolf stalks towards the unsuspecting girl with merciless grace, the first sign of meat in nearly a week. not much of a meal, but who was she to complain? she pauses, lifting her nose in the air searching for the infants scent. Realisation dawns and with a yelp, the wolf finds the girl is one of her own. A mere cub as it were. The wolf pads over to the small cub-child, nuzzling it. One of her own cubs having died just that winter to the cold, the she wolf felt a sense of protection overcome her. With a burst of descisiveness, the mother takes the human child up gently in her jaws, and heads towards her den. She will raise this cub-baby as her own.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

I bolt upright, eyes wide covered in a cold sweat, banging my head on one of the many low hanging branches that make up the bush that has sheltered me last night. The morning light is just now creeping into the forest. My stomach growls and I swear the forest falls silent for a moment. With a groan I realise I have no food. Man I could go for some chicken and gravy right now' 'she' moans . For breakfast? Really? I say. She growls at that. grow up I simply say as I drag my self out into the open. Hey don't talk to me about sense, who's the one who decided to sleep under a bush with a bunch of psychos after us?! she cries. I shake my head trying to get her to stop. It works, and she stops arguing and goes back to sleep. For now. I think bitterly.

I roll across the grass-to lazy to walk- to put a little distance between the edge of the clearing and me. Then I stretch my legs and arms out, bunching the muscles, I arch my back and involuntarily make a little sound in the back of my throat not caring in the slightest I close my eyes and relax, sinking back into the soft dewy grass.

The sound of somebody stepping on a twig has me leaping to my feet. I whirl around, trying to find who it is. and then, my eyes land on him 'dammit!' She and I curse simultaneously.
He sits underneath a pine tree, back resting against the trunk, one leg propped up,
smirking at me.