Forest War – Friends

Something was hunting the rabbit. He perked up, ears into the wind, listening intently to everything: the rushing of water from the far-off river, the wind whistling through the branches, and the rustling of leaves. Something was disturbing those leaves, something light but determined. The rabbit could hear it, jumping from branch to branch, the light thud of the bark echoing inside his ears, faint and impossible to hear for anyone else. The rabbit crouched low, trying to use his brown fur to hide himself against the bark. To no avail. Whatever it was, it had its eyes fixated on him. He waited for the right moment, and he bolted. Long and powerful leaps propelled him forward, each hop eating the terrain with ease. Still, the thing gave chase. From branch to branch, the maddening sound of the thing jumping filled him with terror. Still, no one could overtake a rabbit on a straight line, and no matter how much that thing tired, it could not reach him, but it could match the rabbit in endurance. The rabbit jumped over a stream, through some twisted branches. He almost ran towards his burrow, but he remembered the first lesson his father had taught him: never run towards the burrow. Instead, he pivoted and returned towards the stream. He heard the thing miss its landing and fall to the ground. Now was his chance. He ran and ran, then stopped by the stream. He perked his ears one more time and noticed that nothing was following him. Relieved, he drank from the clear water of the stream until he heard the thing once more. That startled him and made him fall into the water. He splashed in it until he saw a shape on the shoreline. It went away, and he felt a branch reach him. He bit it and was pulled onto the shore. He took a moment to regain his breath and try to calm his scared heart. Then he looked at the shape. It was a squirrel, all brown and looking sheepish. “Sorry I scared you; I thought we were playing,” said the squirrel. “Well, you should have told me; I thought you were a predator or something,” answered the rabbit back. “My name is Oliver, and I am sorry; I will tell you next time.” “My name is Jasper, and it would do me good to keep my ears peeled… thank you,” and with that, they shook hands. Unbeknownst to them, a friendship had been born.