Lone Fox

Black Path

I have finally gone to sleep. But not for long. I woke up covered in snow. I stand up and try to shake the snow off. A lot comes off but there is still some on me.

I look around. It is morning now. I lift my nose to see if any food is near.

"Rabbit." I say quietly. I look around. I see the ears over a rock. I crouch down and walk quietly toward it.

There is a loud sound behind me. The rabbit's ears twitch. I freeze. I dare myself to turn around, afraid of losing the rabbit. I start to turn my head. The rabbit starts running. I swing my head back around and chase it.

The rabbit jumps over rocks that I can just step over. It turns and I nearly go sliding on the snow. I start to gain on it. I hear something in front of me, but I don't slow down. The rabbit does though.

I stretch me neck forward and nip it on its tail. It speeds up again. I look ahead of the rabbit. Something flies by it faster then I can tell. The rabbit keeps running, now I am starting to slow down.

I am a few lengths away from the rabbit now. Something else flies by. I stop. I close my eyes at what I see. The fast object has just hit the rabbit.

Once the object is to far to see, I walk toward what would have been MY kill. The rabbit lay limp on a black path. I sniff at the black stuff. It smells awful. I scrunch my nose at the smell. This thing seems to go on for what seems like forever.

I take a bite of the rabbit's leg (which is in a weird shape). It tastes awful. I spit it out.

"What was that thing?" I ask to myself. "It ruined my meal."

I look around. I have no idea where I am. I wonder if this path will lead somewhere with food.

I look around one more time. I decide that since I don't know which way to go, I will go the opposite way of whatever way the next fast object is going.

I waited for about 10 minutes, before I even hear the sound of one of the objects.

"There you are." I say standing up, when I see the lights.

I step back. The object flies by me. It goes from my left to my right. I wait for a while to make sure it doesn't come back.

I turn to my left and start walking, the snow crunching under my feet. I look down at my feet. I have left two paw prints in the snow.

I lift my head up and look at the sky. There are a few clouds but not much. I started walking again.

"Where are you going?" I jump at a

voice behind me. I turn around as fast as I could.

"Who are you?" I say my teeth showing.

"My question first." they say. THEY are a small cat. I have only seen one before. This one is orange and black, with a little white.

"I am looking for food. My names Ivy. Now my question." I say.

"I'm Raven."she says. "Nice to meet you, Ivy."

"Where are your parents?" I ask.

"My parents are...um...dead."she says looking down. "They were killed by the two legged creatures. Same way that rabbit was."

"Oh." I say, regretting asking that question. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine" she lifts her head.

We stand in silence for a while.

"I have to go. I haven't had food since my parents kicked me out."

"Ok. Maybe I will see you again." she says looking hopeful.

"Maybe." I say, doubting I will see her again.

She turns and walks away. I watch her leave until she turns and runs in the woods.

I turn around. I sigh and walk.

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I need to sleep. I have walked for two days. Stopping only once to get food.

I don't want to leave the black path but I won't sleep on it. It is to cold and hard.

There were snow flurries last night, my feet were cold and I wanted to stop and rest. But I walked through it.

I turn into the woods. I walk a few steps and lift my nose, making sure I can still smell the path.

I don't have to walk far before I find a actual fox den.I stick my nose in and sniff. There is a faint smell of fox, but it hasn't been here for a while.

I crawl inside after marking the outside as mine. It is tall enough I can stand fully up. I look for a curve to lay my back on as I sleep.

Once I find one I lay down. The soil in here is really warm. It doesn't take long for me to fall asleep.

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I wake up as warm as when I went to sleep. I stand up and yawn.

I walk out of the den to see green. A lot of the snow that was here yesterday, is gone now.

There are a few paw prints a little ways away. They look weird. I have never seen them before. They are bigger than mine. They are heading in the direction of the black path.

I follow them since I will be going that way anyways. When I get to the path, I see more markings in the snow. They are partly on the path, partly off. I have never seen these ones either.

I turn and start walking. Hoping I am going the same way I was going before.

I think about my family. And how they had abandoned me. I think about how Shade didn't do anything to stop my parents from kicking me out.

I feel a sorry for myself. I want to cry. But instead I just keep walking.