A Chance Missed (Beow)

Summer walked into the forest. It had been awhile since she last stepped foot in here. The war had taken a lot out of everyone. Even if she didn’t hav a major part in it, she still had a part. The village was running low on food so she had volunteered to go and hunt. With her trusty bow and arrows on her back she had walked out of the village. Fireworm had followed her as far as the dragon could, but the forest did get dense very quickly. So after half an hour of walking the Nightmare had to stop in a clearing and wait for Summer to return to her.

As she continued walking, she stayed as quiet as physically possible. Each step she made tried to be super delicate. But when a twig snapped under her foot she couldn’t help but curse softly and flinch. She didn’t want to walk too far into the forest and then have to drag the deer back to Fireworm by herself. As she walked she looked to the trees for a place where she could sit comfortably, watch the ground below for animals, and be hidden from anything’s sight. When she walked for another ten minutes, she came across the perfect tree. Grasping a hold of the bark and lumps hanging off of it, she started to hoist herself up. Little by little until she got to the branch that looked comfortable at which she made a nice spot for herself. She sat down, her back against the tree with her legs dangling, straddling, the branch.

Her hands reached behind her as she grabbed the bow to pull it in front of her. Her hands ran along the smooth wood remembering the day her mother and father carved it for her. It had done her well. The arrows stayed on her back but she grabbed one and notched it into place on the bow. She let the sting loose and waited. It seemed like hours had passed by, but since she had no need to get down, from falling asleep, bathroom, or boredom, in reality only a couple minutes had passed. She had been about to lean against the tree and close her eyes when she heard a noise. A deer came walking into her view. The coat looked healthy; as it bent its head down to eat some of the dew ridden grass, Summer pulled the bow string taunt.

She breathed softly before releasing it. Right before she did though, she heard a snap. Startled the deer ran into the cover of the bushes. Summer cursed again and slowly let go of the string until the arrow and bow rested in her lap. She saw a boy about her age walk into view. ”Really!? I was just about to get my first deer of the day until you startled it off!” She hopped down from the tree putting the arrow back and the bow across her back. She walked up to the boy and glared him in the eyes, even though she had to look up since he was about 4 inches taller than she, waiting what he had to say.