Gingerheart's Storm

Prologue

It was all too surreal now, one thing right after another, dragging them deeper. A cat sat in the bright moonlight, their head hung low and their eyes wandering. They kept tapping their paw, looking from the horizon to the stars in the sky, upon the clouds that neared in the distance, at the many imperfections in their bumpy surfaces, but it wasn't enough.

It never was enough to distract this cat from their thoughts, they kept coming back, lingering in the back of their mind and haunting them like a ghost. They wanted to scream and cry, tell the thoughts to go away and for all they lost to come back, but it was no use.

The moon hung heavy in the sky, and oh how much the cat wanted to curse at it, to tell it to stop shining so brightly and to go away. They believed the moon was taunting them, hanging all the things they wanted so much right out of reach. As much as they hated rain, they wanted the clouds to devour the moon and send cascades of water down onto the dry earth beneath their paws.

It wasn't enough to satisfy them even thinking about that. What good would a couple of clouds covering the moon do to help them? They sat, staring at it instead with a hard gaze, believing maybe the stars around it would surround it and turn it around so it wouldn't be shining brightly on him anymore, that the moon would be as sad as they were with no light to guide them.

To say that all these explanations were an exaggeration of the cat's thoughts would be how it was. They wanted it all back, and maybe if they shut their eyes, they would. They listened closely to the sounds around them, a silent hum escaping from their lips.

Rustling leaves, trickling water, sounds of calm, near-silent things. These things were driving the cat crazy.

A whistle in the wind, a gentle rumble of a growl deep in their throat as they opened their eyes and stared off into the distance; almost as though longing for something.

The sound of the grass, distant pawsteps growing further and further, a choke deep in the cat's throat. They began to slowly try to follow the pawsteps, but to no avail, as they stopped in their tracks.

Many cats would give anything to have a nice silent day alone with nothing to think about, but when the one thing you fear is being forgotten, being left behind, being alone. The calm silence becomes suffocating.

Enough for even the toughest warrior to break down and cry, for no one around to hear.