Flash Fiction Friday – The Hunter and The Hunted

The cool night struck my energized body with force, electrifying my hair follicles. The full moon cast long dappled shadows across the trodden path. A pungent scent of vermin and nervous perspiration mixed with death filled the heavy night air. A great horned owl hooted swooping in front of me, its wings leaving a rippled current in its wake. The north wind rattled branches of ancient oak trees while its leaves trembled like old hands. My heart beat wildly in my chest and I began to lope. My mouth salivated as I imagined the taste. It was a perfect night for hunting.

She knew she should have listened to her mother and taken the bus. It was farther home this way than she remembered. “Did I go the wrong way at the last fork in the road? Hadn’t I always veered to the right? Why doesn’t anything look familiar?” Her heart began pounding in her ears as a chill went down her spine. “It is getting so dark and…. Wait! What was that?” She heard branches snapping behind her. She whipped her head around to see, but there was nothing but a blackness that engulfed the path as if it was being devoured by darkness.

Photo by Madison Woods