Post by themascura on Nov 2, 2011 2:05:31 GMT -5
The bark scraped the soft skin on her nose's tip, stinging and invading her senses with the scent of dirt. Blue gray twilight hung heavy on her shoulders, pressing cold air against her face and hands. The tree limb beneath her twitched like a spring every time she shifted her weight. Hundreds of tiny twigs shivered in the winter air. If she could just get a little further out...
She stared at the ground while she inched, watching the thin yellow blades of grass succumb to gravity and find their graves against the dirt that had birthed them. A handful of dried, brown leaves scattered against the brick wall of the building beside her. She swallowed and shifted again, hugging the tree limb that lunged into the sky beside her. A moment later she took another step out, surrendering the safety of the crooked branch. Pink hung over the mountains expectantly. The sun wasn't quite ready to set.
"It will be dark soon." She said to herself. Her words fogged in the air in front of her eyes. She spread her arms like a tightrope walker, imagining pink silk fanned around her waist and pristine white hugging her legs. It would be harder to find her way safely out of the tree in the dark. She needed to take that picture quickly. A black cat skittered suddenly from a pile of red, dying juniper branches. It paused in the grass and turned to watch her, perched high in the tree.
Her heart froze in her chest. She took a step back, away from oblivion. The cat continued to stare at her. He opened his mouth and meowed silently. Her heart began to pound again without warning. Cold sweat formed beneath her jacket and sweater. The cat had to be feral... not only was the Radcliff house in the middle of the woods, miles from the other houses in Greenfield, it was abandoned as well. If it were a feral cat, though, why wasn't it running away at the sight of a human? She opened her mouth.
The wind kicked up without warning. The tree branch bellow her began tossing violently. Little branches flailed with sudden life, clawing at her face and hair. Her hands splayed, reaching for a rescue line.
Her reaching hand encountered fur, cold as ice. The cat's mouth split in a red line. A woman screamed. The sound erupted like dust out of a coffin, spinning from the cat's mouth. The fur slid from her fingers. Her eyes slid back to the ground. The cat was gone.
She tumbled out of the tree. Her body cracked against the ground. Pain crashed across her skin and sliced through her every bone and sinew, lancing through her body like shards of glass.
The pain washed away a moment later. Lying on the side, with blackness leaching her vision away she recognized for one brief, wonderful moment how beautiful the colors of the world were. Somewhere in the distance, a cat screamed.
(This is the intro, with more to come as I finish it. )
She stared at the ground while she inched, watching the thin yellow blades of grass succumb to gravity and find their graves against the dirt that had birthed them. A handful of dried, brown leaves scattered against the brick wall of the building beside her. She swallowed and shifted again, hugging the tree limb that lunged into the sky beside her. A moment later she took another step out, surrendering the safety of the crooked branch. Pink hung over the mountains expectantly. The sun wasn't quite ready to set.
"It will be dark soon." She said to herself. Her words fogged in the air in front of her eyes. She spread her arms like a tightrope walker, imagining pink silk fanned around her waist and pristine white hugging her legs. It would be harder to find her way safely out of the tree in the dark. She needed to take that picture quickly. A black cat skittered suddenly from a pile of red, dying juniper branches. It paused in the grass and turned to watch her, perched high in the tree.
Her heart froze in her chest. She took a step back, away from oblivion. The cat continued to stare at her. He opened his mouth and meowed silently. Her heart began to pound again without warning. Cold sweat formed beneath her jacket and sweater. The cat had to be feral... not only was the Radcliff house in the middle of the woods, miles from the other houses in Greenfield, it was abandoned as well. If it were a feral cat, though, why wasn't it running away at the sight of a human? She opened her mouth.
The wind kicked up without warning. The tree branch bellow her began tossing violently. Little branches flailed with sudden life, clawing at her face and hair. Her hands splayed, reaching for a rescue line.
Her reaching hand encountered fur, cold as ice. The cat's mouth split in a red line. A woman screamed. The sound erupted like dust out of a coffin, spinning from the cat's mouth. The fur slid from her fingers. Her eyes slid back to the ground. The cat was gone.
She tumbled out of the tree. Her body cracked against the ground. Pain crashed across her skin and sliced through her every bone and sinew, lancing through her body like shards of glass.
The pain washed away a moment later. Lying on the side, with blackness leaching her vision away she recognized for one brief, wonderful moment how beautiful the colors of the world were. Somewhere in the distance, a cat screamed.
(This is the intro, with more to come as I finish it. )