Through that morning, into the afternoon, Rose continued her journey to the ocean. But, as the sun approached the western horizon, Rose whispered, “Stop.” Everything stopped. She turned her head, side to side, and listened. “Something’s wrong.” The rabbit in her lap looked up at her, and twitched its nose. “What do you think?”
The rabbit didn’t answer. The wolves closed ranks to protect Rose, and her rabbit and bird friends. She looked up at a hawk that circled above, “I hear someone. I think you should go find them.” The hawk flew toward the north.
Rose stood up on her crescent moon shaped bolder, and whispered, “Hear.”
At first, there was no sound, then faint sounds of twigs breaking, and the swish of small brush being moved. The sound grew until it was obviously the sound of someone running. Rose whispered, “Heart?” The sound of a furiously beating heart faintly echoed around her. She whispered, “Running?”
She heard the hawk scream from the north, and knew. Someone was lost in the forest. Lost, and running, and scared. But who? How did they get so far from anywhere?
She flicked her wings, and took to the air. Tiny Rose flew toward the sound, faster than any hawk could fly. She flew through the trees, without touching them, between branches, between trunks, in a torturous course only a master of flight could have matched.
She found a woman running through the forest. A woman who was lost, and desperately afraid.
249 Words
@mysoulstears
It’s Week 509 of #ThursThreads, hosted by Siobhan Muir. Please go read all the stories in this week’s #ThursThreads. They are always fun to read. And there are some great writers who show up every week.
My Soul's Tears 