Florence woke up dazed. She had spent most of last night in a panic after coming face to face with herself. Florence shook herself off and walked to the watering hole and cleaned herself off. Suddenly her mother called her. Florence jumped. "Florence! Are you almost ready to go?" Florence shook the water off of herself and ran to school. She skidded to a stop once she got there and slowly walked to her seat. She already knew the day would be boring. The teacher walked up to the front of the room, "Class, today we'll be practicing hunting." the whole class groaned. The day passed by slowly and Florence hated every minute of it. She sighed and sat down outside of her cave. The only good part of her life was when she was with River, Florence smacked herself in the head for getting butterflies at the very mention of her name. "What am I going to do..?" She asked herself. But she knew the answer and she was just ignoring it. Deep down Florence knew that tigers were not evil creatures. Florence shook her head coming to her senses. What did she care about what those old, pruney grandmas thought? Florence raced up the hill. And Through the tunnel, she screamed, "RIVER! RIVER!" she called. Suddenly she heard scuttling from the raspberry bush just like before... "Florence!" she jumped out of her entrance. River ran up to her and then stopped. "Florence..why did you leave last night?" "Well, I...I had forgotten I had to do something.." she fibbed. River raised her eyebrows in disbelief. "And it's something so sappy that I can't tell you." Florence joked. "Bah! You big sap!" River husked and shoved her in the arm, laughing. Florence looked up at the sun and the first star was peeking from behind a cloud. River looked at Florence before Florence could look down. They both flashed a goofy smile and ran up to their favourite hill. The moon was high in the sky and they both looked in awe at the beautiful starry sky. Suddenly Florence looked down and at River, they both blushed. They both leaned in, bodies taking control, minds stuck in the starry sky. Florence could feel her paw moving towards River, River's was doing the same. Their noses were almost touching. Their lips closer than they had ever been. Florence's eyes could see the night sky in River's. Florence could feel the love illuminating from River her own love joined hers. Florence felt the feeling of safety wash over her like the cool water in the creek she used to play in. River's gaze felt like the soft sand. Florence's heartbeat synced with River's. Florence wanted to be closer to that love. She wanted to share it. She wanted to be it. Florence kissed River. In a single heartbeat, it was over, yet it felt like the whole world had changed. "I-I have to go!" Florence stuttered. She ran through the tunnel. "Florence! Wait!" River called after her. The only sound left was the crickets chirping and the sound of River's own breath. River touched her own lips and smiled looking down at the place where Florence had sat.
