She was walking along the trail in the eve of the day. It was a bright sunny autumn day. One of few that had a nice enough temperature to walk freely without being bundled up from the cold. Some areas have an autumn but here there's pretty much just winter and summer, not much spring to mention either.
As she walked and enjoyed the stroll she heard a sound coming just off the trail. 'Humm, now what on earth could that be?' she wondered.
Stopping and turning her head smoothly, like a feline, twitching her ears, listening closely she tried to determine the sound. She held her breath and stared into the woods towards the direction the sound was coming from.
Curiosity got the best of her. The sound was so faint she wasn't sure if it was real or not. So she stepped off the trail to investigate. Taking several strides into the woods the sounds of her feet were so loud she was afraid it would disturb the creature making the ominous sound she heard earlier so she stopped in her tracks.
Didn't move a muscle, barely taking a breath she continued listening for it.
There to her left, she heard it again. She turned and took more soft steps getting closer.
A large ancient tree, split by years of growth and lightening strikes lay split in half just up ahead. The dead half laying through the tangle of overgrown vines and broken limbs crossing a small deep creek, while the live half stood as a silent sentinel to the ages gone by.
She stopped once again and verified that the sound she was tracking was actually coming from behind the large dead portion of the tree and not somewhere else close by. She didn't want to accidentally disturb the creature, or be taken by surprise and be something's dinner.
She took a step then stopped, took another step, stopped until she was at the split tree. It was so huge she had to slowly take several small steps to get around the base to get to the other side.
It was just as she thought, the sound was coming from there. To her amazement it was a man. He was softly snoring as he leaned against the tree sound asleep. He had a rifle laying across his legs and he was decked out in hunter's clothing.
She wondered just how many deers got away that day.
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Shorts for the WeekEnd WriteIns
RandomI don't know just yet but I'll clue you in shortly. When she woke up in an alley to find a tomcat in her face she started to wonder if she was in Kansas anymore.
