Imaginary
A Redwall Fanfiction by LadyRiverwolf
She wheeled her bicycle to a stop outside the nature reserve, standing it against the battered wire fence. Unstrapping a walking pole from her bike frame, she set off along the mud-bespattered path, stepping through the creaky wooden gate and onto a grassy trail. She crept along as quietly as she could, leaving all thoughts of school and exams and her worry-ridden life snagged on the wire fence behind. She admired the dappled rays of liquid gold that spattered the footpath, and listened to the small sounds of a dying day. Caught up in the rustles of small mammals and trilling birdsong, she was oblivious to the creaking of a second gate. The walking pole was no longer cold metal, but supple yew wood, strung with a cord treated with beeswax, her backpack a quiver of arrows. Spreading out her scarlet, brushy tail for balance and clutching her strung bow, she stalked through Mossflower woods, listening to the rustle of the vermin foebeasts as they blundered wildly through the forest. She stalked them with the practised ease and grace of a warrior squirrel. As she grew closer to her quarry, their voices echoing in her ears, a sound snapped through her consciousness, one that did not belong to Mossflower. She yelped as she snagged her footpaw on a piece of gorse, and fell heavily on her walking pole, face down on the muddy entrance path, her backpack on the grass on the wayside. Her mobile hummed merrily from her jeans pocket. Pulling it out, she stared at the screen:
Supper's on the table, and you have
homework, remember.
Mum x
With a heavy sigh, she pulled her bike from the fence and stared at the heavy tarmac road which dominated the landscape. It was always the same: just as she closed in for the kill. With a last longing glance at the wooded reserve, she adjusted her bag and headed for home.