Yrsa didn’t need to go for a hunt. She had a few more days’ worth of meat left in the fridge. She wanted an excuse to wander around the desert alone at night with her thoughts. Al, Velda, and now Mr. Papadakis, they all seemed, strange.

  Several times in the last week she got into a vehicle with a stranger. The first time was even to the guy’s house! Yrsa lowered herself into the empty river bed. It twisted through her favorite hunting area providing cover for her. After the last storm there were a few more trees and large boulders littering the floor. Tuning out the sound of her boots she listened to the symphony of the desert.

  In the distance she was picking up the sound of scuffling coming from the west. Standing on the largest boulder nearby she strained to listen. To her surprise there was the sound of distressed goats and what sounded like an angry squirrel. The world’s largest squirrel jeudging from the noise it was making. Not hearing any predators she began to decide if it was a good idea to go investigate.

  There was a loud bang followed by the bellowing of Mr. Papadakis. The squirrel creature made an aggressive noise that the centaur replied with a rifle. discouraged the creature took off in Yrsa’s direction. Waiting for a chance to see the cause of Mr. Papadakis’s problem to stumble into the dry riverbed Yrsa looked up to where the creature would appear.

  In one smooth motion the creature leapt clean over the river bed taking off further into the desert. Seeing the dog sized creature leap over her head caught in the light of the waning moon sparked her most base of instinct.

  The hunt was on.

  Leaping straight off the boulder she bolted after the creature. Managing to stay several feet of Yrsa they barred through the desert at break neck speeds. The world around them faded as her entire world narrowed down to the prey in front of her. With a flick the creature turned 180 degrees to face Yrsa. Startled Yrsa scrabbled to a stop using her to use her claws to help slow her down faster. Seeing an opening the creature charged. Yrsa acted out of instinct protecting her neck by lowering her head.

  Thump.

  The creature had collided with the top of her skull catching on the horns. Standing up she flung the easily twenty pound creature off her. Then there was silence as Yrsa came back down from her hunting high. Realizing what happened she looked around for the mysterious creature.

  “What the?” Yrsa stated aloud to the night. Lying on its side in the sand was a hare the size of a beagle. Dirt brown fur blended into a light cream color on the under belly. Bending down she spotted two horns protruding from the top of its skull like an antelope doe. Reaching up Yrsa felt her own horns to make sure that the ones on the hare’s head went from the attack.

  Breathing a sigh of relief she confirmed that nothing was broken on her end. Her sigh must’ve been louder than she realized as the hare flailed about trying to recover from its injuries. Once fully upright it turned its head towards Yrsa. In the very faint light she could see the hare’s nose bob up and down as it tried to catch her scent. Balancing on its back legs it stretched itself further to see if it could smell anything further.

  She could end its life right here. It would be easy too. One clean swipe to that extended neck and would be the end of it. As the hare kept sniffing the urge to end its life faded. Snuffing out this animal’s life now would leave a bad taste.

  “Ah you’re not worth the effort.” Yrsa waved at the creature hoping to scare it way. The hare sat there unfazed by Yrsa’s ushering. Instead it crept closer completely unafraid. “Exactly what do you think you’re doing?” Yrsa watched as the hare began to run its face on her jeans and boot.

  “Oh no. No. No. No. Un-uh. Whatever you think this is.” She motion widely to the area around the hare. “It’s nothing.” Realizing she was talking to an animal she began to walk away feeling a little embarrassed. Not taking the hint the hare began to follow her keeping pace with her long legs. Hoping the hare would get the hint she began to walk faster and faster until the two of them were once again sprinting through the desert again.

  It managed to keep pace even up until Yrsa got to her RV. Fearing the hare would try to bolt in through the door she climbed on top of the vehicle. Looking back down the ladder she saw the hare trying to scurry up after here. Failing to understand the concept of vertical stairs it fell back into the sand. Frustrated the hare gave a chittering noise of annoyance up at Yrsa.

  “Go home. If you’re still by sun rise I’ll make you into a nice rabbit stew. Do you want that? Huh? Stewie!” Yrsa called down to the now pacing hare. Figuring it will become bored and wander off she crawled towards the middle of the roof.

  Since her grandparents passing she rarely comes up here anymore. She remembers how they would always bring pillows up so they could look at the sky without scratching the paint with their skulls. Despite their efforts little scratches could were all over the roof from their claws. She made her way to the middle of the roof where her grandparents liked to settle down. Right near the roof hatch. She tried to open the hatch breathing a sigh of relief that it wasn't locked.

  As she was about to climb down she noticed the bumper sticker for Selfæta Island, their home town. Grandmother always said to remember where you come from where ever you go. Yrsa had no idea how a sticker helped with that. Maybe the fact said sticker had a picture of one of the many caribou that from the island made her resent it a little.

  Now she was hungry. Seeing the remains of the left over rabbit she decided to polish that off as a sort of passive aggressive act more for herself than anything. Gnawing on bits of leg bone she noticed the clock only read 2:15 am. She groaned at the prospect of being up for the next few hours to make her mail route. Feeling a little music might help her pass the time she retrieved the radio from her room. Sitting at the table she turned it, keeping her boots on so she wouldn’t become too comfortable.

 It was a clear enough night she was hoping to catch Oasis Springs 98.7. The music alright but she really liked the vampire who ran the show. Waiting for the current song to end Yrsa stretch to get some blood back her limbs. Contemplating breaking out the card deck she rolled her neck a few times.

  Startling awake Yrsa sent playing cards in all directions. Despite her best efforts, she had fallen asleep at the table playing Oni’s Grip.

 “W’as goin’ on?” Trying to stand up she looked around to see where the loud scratchy yelling was coming from. Realizing it was her boss calling her over the radio she flew to go answer it.

  “I’m here.” She responded shielding her eyes from the mid-morning sun.

  “Glad to hear it.” Her boss groused back. “Now about this morning’s delivery-“

  “Yes. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” She interrupted flinching as she realized she wasn’t helping her case. There was a pregnant pause before he answered.

  “Yeah you do that. This is something you and I need to talk to in person.” The line went quiet as Yrsa was left staring blankly, her breath caught in her throat. Her mind was racing picking apart every word and influx from their conversation. Skull becoming too heavy she rested it against the windshield with a soft ‘tink’.

  Controlling her breathing she was interrupted by the sound of something heavy dropping on the hood of the RV. Looking up she saw Stewie, the Hare sitting on the hood trying to figure out how to get inside. Groaning she closed her eyes again hoping the Earth would swallow her up.