The Drabble Challenge

A DRAGONFLY'S WORK

THE PROMPT ;;
❛On the way home, a stranger follows your character, but they pretend not to notice. The stranger watches your character enter their house, and then leaves. Your character turns the tables and starts to follow the stranger.

GENRE ;;
Romance

AUTHOR ;;
iforgot58047

TRIGGER WARNINGS ;;
Mild profanity and mentions of homophobia

+

Ruth blew gently at the dragonfly as it took sanctuary upon the sun kissed canvas that was her bare shoulder, rousing the insect to take flight once again. Her eyes followed the blurring frame of the miniature beast, her legs never halting in their forward movement. The flora brushed lovingly against her hips and wisped around her ankles with the swaying caress of the wind. Through her unceasing movement, she journeyed in hopes of filling the lacuna in the heart she held firmly within her hand and that she had long since unstitched from her sleeve.

With a single, carefree motion she twirled around and flittered her gaze amongst the small group of people trudging behind her. She took note of the solemn gazes that returned her bright, mischievous look. The fall of a heavy sigh from the lips of her nearest companion rattled through the meadows brisk, morning air and brushed past her ear, tangling into the interwoven lengths of russet hair that decorated the crown of her head.

With an exaggerated skip, Ruth hurried over to the exasperated younger. She raked her fingers through his tangled mop of hair and slung her arm freely over his shoulder. A gruff exhale was the boys only reply to her playful actions.

"Come on, Jay. Lighten up," she ordered, a serious look shadowing her features as she nudged him with her elbow.

Annoyance painted his face in a splattering array of colors before dispersing as rapidly as it had appeared. The boy nodded, his frame folding inward on itself briefly before he threw back his shoulders and allowed an easy smile to grace his lips. She returned his grin readily.

Encircling his wrist in the confines of her hand, Ruth took off at a sprint, dragging Jay behind her in a flurry of limbs and excitement. They rushed past the edge of the meadow in a hurry, the once gentle grasses now whipping at their exposed skin. They flew into the waiting arms of the forest, pausing briefly to signal to their trailing companions.

Upon the furious arrival of the remainder of their group, Ruth turned and moved to venture deeper into the shaded enclosure of the woods. The cacophonous calls of wildlife were strewn throughout the overhead canopy and laid to rest on the damp, muddied floor. She brushed her hand against the jagged surface of the nearest tree and swung her body around the circumference of its trunk. A small giggle bubbled from the depths of her gut at the silliness of her own nature.

With a slight stumble, she released the branch from her grasp and continued to pad into the depths of the forest, hardly more than a beckoning hand thrown over her shoulder as a signal to the others. Leaves stuck insistently to the skin of her calves, various creeping limbs of overgrowth scraping into the sides of her otherwise smooth skin. Moments later, the sure footed girl found herself moving down a worn path, her joyous manner transforming into a carefully blank disposition with each vaguely familiar step.

The rhythmic thuds of footfall sounding behind her assured her of the remaining presence of her companions as she moved forward, though she could not keep from glancing over her shoulder; she could not keep from counting their heads as they bobbed with each step. The group shivered, the beaming sunlight and blanketing warmth of the meadow long gone as the dawn of a new morning faded into dusk under the thick veil of leaves.