Tall Grass : Saying Goodbye

“Well,” Kirsha mewed uncertainly, “this is where you go back to your clan.”

Kirsha and Icemoon were sitting on a rock under the moonlight of a full moon. Kirsha was leaving the tame and bursting into the wild. Icemoon should go home, she thought.

“Yes,” Icemoon answered coolly. “It is, in fact, time for the gathering!”

He glanced backwards.

“I guess I’d better make up a huge excuse for being late!” he mewed.

His laughing eyes met Kirsha’s. She pushed him away playfully.

“I’ll never forget you,” she whispered.

Eyes glowing, he answered, “Me neither.”

He turned his tail and padded quietly off into the misty distance. Kirsha was alone.

The rabbit’s fuzzy ears pricked. It’s watchful eyes turned toward the rustling grass. The breeze told unwanted tales of a predator. It nervously squeaked a warning. A roaring creature burst out of the danger spot. Claws extended, Kirsha pounced on the suspicious rabbits. A flock of frightened quail rose with a fluttering sound into the warm air. The sun glinted on the trees as Kirsha dragged her catch into her scraggly den. She smiled to herself. Life was good, with the sun warming her to the bone and the field practically full with prey. She glanced up at the quail, which were lazily floating in the comfortable breeze. She sighed. It had been three moons since Icemoon had left, since she had any company.

“Maybe I should go and look for some!” she said out loud.

She shook her head. She was in the wilderness. Any company she was bound to find would almost no doubt be wild. She puffed out her chest. I could fight anything, she thought. Yes, why not today! Kirsha bounded out of her den, scaring a rabbit out of it’s nearby hole. The grass felt wonderful under Kirsha’s claws. She romped around, playfully jumping at a fluttering butterfly. She missed, and it floated away into the sunlit trees. She stopped. Something was in the forest nearby! Something large. Something possibly dangerous.

A low, ominous growling reached Kirsha’s twitching ears. She clawed the ground. Her fur spiked on her bony back. She was ready for a fight.