Monday 12 March 2012

Mag 108 Refuge


   
Image copyright Uzengia Aleksander Nedic

Refuge

It was dry in here, deep in the heart of the brambles, a safe place to hide.  He couldn’t tell how long he’d been here but the noise of his pursuers had long since died away. 

He had no idea why he had been targeted.  He was simply going about his business, not bothering anyone, when they’d spotted him and decided to give chase.  There were so many of them and they made a deafening noise.  He’d had to keep a cool head and engage all his cunning to give them the slip.  Being smaller and slighter had enabled him to squeeze through openings they couldn’t navigate.  He reckoned that had gained him valuable seconds and enabled him to outrun them.  He was lucky to have remembered this bolt hole.  He sighed and dozed off.

He heard the girl before he saw her and stared bleary-eyed through the brush.  Had she been sent to find him?  He studied her.  She looked harmless enough but experience had taught him it was impossible to judge people by appearances.  She hadn’t spotted him yet and if he remained stock still she might never notice him.  He just wanted to be left alone.  Couldn’t anyone understand that? 

The girl moved forward, searching the ground, then cried out as thorns grabbed her legs.  He shrank back into the shadows as she struggled to free herself.  Disentangled at last, the scratches on her legs bleeding, she turned and tramped away.  He listened as her footsteps faded and all was silent again, save for the distant calls of birds and tiny insects tracing their busy paths across dead leaves.  A beetle scurried across the packed earth.  He watched it lazily then tucked his nose under the white tip of his tail and slept once more.

Click here to read more responses to Tess Kincaid's prompt. Thank you, Tess J

17 comments:

  1. What an interesting take on the prompt...
    with that foxy little twist at the end.

    Great one.

    =)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh my, how I loved the ending! And really, they do just want to be left alone.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I really liked this...especially the ending...thanks for sharing this

    ReplyDelete
  4. the hunters can't have had very good hounds with them.
    I'm glad he escaped.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Your Magpie prose is well done ~ most entertaining!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great story. I love the surprise ending.

    ReplyDelete
  7. smiles...i def loved the ending of this...was thinking something a bit more sinister so the smile i am left with is warm...

    ReplyDelete
  8. Love it and it fits the prompt so perfectly.

    I'm not overly fond of these creatures (lost too mnay chooks to them) but I can never understand the pleasure derived from hunting them.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Lovely...makes me want to curl up and take a nap too...

    ReplyDelete
  10. What a fun response to this prompt. I love the Point of View and the surprise ending!

    ReplyDelete
  11. The ending was not quite what I was expecting, a nice little surprise. I'm glad the little fellow escaped the hounds.

    ReplyDelete
  12. here I thought it was a little boy and not a small creature. nice ending. though I do wonder about the girl. I think I would have added something about why she is there.

    hope you have a sweet day.

    visiting from magpie tales

    ReplyDelete
  13. An excellent tale well told.

    Anna :o]

    ReplyDelete
  14. One thing is sure it wasn't a human ! They don't have the possibility to tuck their nose under their tail and usually the tail is not white either.

    ReplyDelete



Thank you for visiting. I love to read your comments and really appreciate you taking the time to respond to posts.

I will always try to repay your visit whenever possible.