Chapter 5, I think. This chapter not my best work, I admit, so point out any errors or misconceptions you may get.
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There was a boy in her woods. To be fair, they weren't hers, but the fact that this loser dared intrude upon her solitude was enough to make her pretty mad. Well, maybe he'd go away on his own.
This quarry was a great place to stay. Cat had woken up at noon and bathed in one of the deeper pools, scrubbing until the feeling of clean had actually reached her brain, then eaten one of her candy bars while the sun dried herself and her clothes off. She had gotten dressed again and was thinking about fishing, just to see if she would catch anything, when the boy showed up. She'd climbed a tree to hide, and watched him through the foilage like a panther studying potential prey.
To be accurate, he wasn't really a boy, probably pretty close to her own age, but there was something about his appearance that suggested a sort of ageless innocence. He was maybe six foot, six foot two at the most, skinny, brown hair buzzed to his scalp, wearing jeans and a down coat that fit him the same way her clothes fit her, like they'd been made for someone fatter. He seemed to be wearing mittens, which was kinda weird, but she'd seen weirder. His cheekbones were high and his nose was slightly hooked. He had a backpack from which he was taking a candy bar- Snickers, which were Cat's favorite- while he looked around the quarry.
Hurriedly she tried to think if there was anything she'd left out in the open, not because she was worried about being seen, but because she didn't want to beat him up for knowing she was around: she abhorred killing, but in a predetorial way, knew it sometimes was nessicary for survival.
The boy, having found a slight indention in the quarry wall- Cat had noticed it before, but it was too shallow for shelter- set his backpack down and removed his coat, underneath which he was wearing a plain undershirt that had probably been white at one point but had settled into the dull grey of old, and then did something that made Cat's jaw drop off her face. He threw himself, hands first, into the wall and when the dust and particles of dirt had cleared, he wasn't there anymore- and neither was the wall. Instead, there was a round hole about the width of a medium-sized concrete pipe, the kind they used for creekbeds and such, to which Cat couldn't see the end of.
What the hell had just happened? Curiosity overcoming caution, she moved over a couple of trees, jumping the gaps as silently as possible. Yes, there was a hole there, moving horizontally as far as her eyes could see, just low enough from the surface that the dirt above remained undisturbed. A flash of movement made her draw back just in time, for the boy emerged from the hole and dusted his hands off- she was close enough to tell that they weren't mittens, they were his hands, though he seemed to only have two oposeable digits, like a claw.
Realization struck like lightning as she understood that this boy could only be one thing: a mutant, just like her. The thought gave her a slight comfort, a feeling of kinship with what she could now recognize as a runaway, and she felt a little better about sharing the woods with him. But she wouldn't reveal herself to him, at least not now. Maybe later, if he was still here.
He pulled his belongings into the mouth of his self-made cave, not far in, because she could still see them. Figuring she might as well make the most of it, she waited until he was asleep, and then traded one of his Snickers for one of her Fast Breaks.
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Review!
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There was a boy in her woods. To be fair, they weren't hers, but the fact that this loser dared intrude upon her solitude was enough to make her pretty mad. Well, maybe he'd go away on his own.
This quarry was a great place to stay. Cat had woken up at noon and bathed in one of the deeper pools, scrubbing until the feeling of clean had actually reached her brain, then eaten one of her candy bars while the sun dried herself and her clothes off. She had gotten dressed again and was thinking about fishing, just to see if she would catch anything, when the boy showed up. She'd climbed a tree to hide, and watched him through the foilage like a panther studying potential prey.
To be accurate, he wasn't really a boy, probably pretty close to her own age, but there was something about his appearance that suggested a sort of ageless innocence. He was maybe six foot, six foot two at the most, skinny, brown hair buzzed to his scalp, wearing jeans and a down coat that fit him the same way her clothes fit her, like they'd been made for someone fatter. He seemed to be wearing mittens, which was kinda weird, but she'd seen weirder. His cheekbones were high and his nose was slightly hooked. He had a backpack from which he was taking a candy bar- Snickers, which were Cat's favorite- while he looked around the quarry.
Hurriedly she tried to think if there was anything she'd left out in the open, not because she was worried about being seen, but because she didn't want to beat him up for knowing she was around: she abhorred killing, but in a predetorial way, knew it sometimes was nessicary for survival.
The boy, having found a slight indention in the quarry wall- Cat had noticed it before, but it was too shallow for shelter- set his backpack down and removed his coat, underneath which he was wearing a plain undershirt that had probably been white at one point but had settled into the dull grey of old, and then did something that made Cat's jaw drop off her face. He threw himself, hands first, into the wall and when the dust and particles of dirt had cleared, he wasn't there anymore- and neither was the wall. Instead, there was a round hole about the width of a medium-sized concrete pipe, the kind they used for creekbeds and such, to which Cat couldn't see the end of.
What the hell had just happened? Curiosity overcoming caution, she moved over a couple of trees, jumping the gaps as silently as possible. Yes, there was a hole there, moving horizontally as far as her eyes could see, just low enough from the surface that the dirt above remained undisturbed. A flash of movement made her draw back just in time, for the boy emerged from the hole and dusted his hands off- she was close enough to tell that they weren't mittens, they were his hands, though he seemed to only have two oposeable digits, like a claw.
Realization struck like lightning as she understood that this boy could only be one thing: a mutant, just like her. The thought gave her a slight comfort, a feeling of kinship with what she could now recognize as a runaway, and she felt a little better about sharing the woods with him. But she wouldn't reveal herself to him, at least not now. Maybe later, if he was still here.
He pulled his belongings into the mouth of his self-made cave, not far in, because she could still see them. Figuring she might as well make the most of it, she waited until he was asleep, and then traded one of his Snickers for one of her Fast Breaks.
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Review!