A piercing pain along her gut, the heavy heat bearing down on her flailing form from above. The sun seemed to track her, its gaze following her with an unmatched intensity, more visceral than even the hounds had been in their frenzied chase. She was alone now, no longer pursued by hellhounds or their masters. Moving slower now, no longer able to keep up the frantic pace of her escape, reduced to a crawling mound on the asphalt. The earth began to tremble, but she did not recognize the sign in her shocked state. 

***

“Get out!“, Jessie’s mom screamed. She was a pharmacist at the town’s only drug store. Most days she came home at around 6:00 in the evening, tired and itching for a fight. Most days Jessie knew not to give her one.. 

She had just settled in on the back porch, nestled between the dogs, as she grumbled to herself about the things she hadn’t had the chance to say. It wasn’t often that she went out of her way to match her mother’s mood, but the day had been long. 

The spring heat brought forth a sweet pubescent stench that lingered in each class, so that each time you entered a room you were struck again by that hazy force. Then he sat next to her. 

It was the third period of the day and her shirt was clinging to her in a way that only further distracted her from what was already a boring lesson. How was anyone meant to concentrate in this heat? Up in front of the class, Mr. Hendricks was droning on about logarithms, and just as Jessie was starting to regain her focus she felt something brush her arm. And there he was, muddy red hair and chapped lips quirked in an uneven smirk. Matthew Evans. 

He had started out at their school earlier that year, transferring in from the town over, and Jessie could guess why. Within the first few weeks word got out that he had shown the other boys a creep shot of a teacher from his old school. It was only a rumour, but sitting next to him now, Jessie could tell that it was true. 

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The way his eyes casually scanned her body as she turned to face him, the heat of his body as he leaned in closer and whispered “You’re cute.” before turning back to the front of the classroom.

The moment hung in her mind all day, managing to stay in the forefront throughout all the noise and bustle of the school day. She left early, and headed straight home to wash off the sweat in a cold shower. 

Now as she sat on the porch, watching the last rays of sunlight bath the overgrown garden grass in a warm glow, she could almost put the day to rest. Then she spotted something move out the corner of her eye, it was a muddy red that sent her heart pounding, and it had just moved to the left side of the house.

Just as she wondered if she had been mistaken, the wind blew in and the dogs burst forth from beside her. They had been calm until the moment before, but now their hackles were raised and they were growling as they approached the side of the house. Jessie grabbed the shovel she used to pick up the dog’s shit when it got too close to the porch and followed behind their tensed forms. 

For the first time that day, her mind was still, but her heart was racing and her throat was tight. She wanted to scream for her mom, but she was already mad at her, what if this was nothing? Her hands felt cold and powerless as she gripped the shovel and rounded the corner, where the dogs were barking at something just out of sight. Bracing herself, she rounded the corner and saw that muddy red hair. She swung. 

The emotions of the day burst forth in that moment, the disgust and discomfort at having been so openly ogled. The fear of being seen when she thought she was alone, of never being safe from his prying eyes. The moments that followed were a blur, as Jessie’s swing hit something from one of the dogs’ mouths and sent it careening over the fence and into the neighbour’s yard. The feeling of the contact made her stomach drop, and the yelp of her dog triggered the tears that became sobs. 

***

Mrs.Fox gave birth to her cubs late that winter, but her mate had not come back after the first few days of foraging and so, on the tenth day, she set out. She hid her cubs, still blind and deaf, as well as she could and hoped their warbles would not attract the attention of a predator. It was out of desperation that she acted so soon, fearing not only for her own life, but that of her cubs who were still so weak. 

This desperation drove her to forage at a time that she knew not to be safe, but the heat brought forth inviting scents on the wind, and so just as the sun was setting she set out for food, eating what she could from the remains of another beast’s kill before moving on to the edge of the town, where she knew fewer homes were, she set her sites on the nearest home, hoping to retrieve more food from her cache. With any luck, she would be home and with her cubs before the sunrise.