She was running as fast as she could! There was an instinctual fear that kept her running despite her desperate urge to take a break. Something was chasing her but she couldn’t see what it was. She was sure that it was getting closer though!
Despite knowing that the thing chasing her was getting closer, she dared not slow down long enough to see what it was. Surely it would catch her if she were to slow down like that! There was nothing for it, she would have to keep running and running. There wasn’t even time to climb a tree.
Suddenly she was falling into a hole that was in front of her and she somehow hadn’t noticed! Oh gods, she was going to die here!
Suddenly, her eyes shot open as she caught herself from falling off of the branch she was sleeping on. Her blood was hammering in her ears and her breath was coming in ragged fits. She blinked a few more times before the reality of her situation dawned on her. She had been having a nightmare, admittedly, a very realistic one!
She took a moment to collect herself before climbing down the tree. She had to do her business in the morning but she hated doing things in a tree. She couldn’t rightly say why but it felt wrong somehow. With that buried under a nearby tree, she turned to climb back up the tree she had been in.
Suddenly, there was a chill of memory and recognition as she stared in the general direction off to her right. There was a small patch of bushes near the base of a small copse of trees. Her blood was suddenly hammering in her ears again as she recognized the scene as the very place her nightmare had started. She was near that spot when something had jumped at her and she had to begin running for her life. That was the very spot!
Thoroughly freaked out, she began darting her eyes about while frantically turning her head in every direction. She wanted to bolt away but she was rooted in place shivering with fear. After a few moments of nothing jumping at her, she made up her mind to get away from the place of her nightmares and walk for a bit before she got herself something to eat and drink.
After walking for a few minutes, she calmed down a bit and began heading for her nearby stream. Breakfast was a small cluster of some dark purplish berries. Snack was a cluster of acorns and lunch was…
She woke from her sleep with a scream! There was the sudden realization that she was safe in a tree but it was quickly followed by the remembrance of the dream and the terror of being eaten. This one had started at the stream she was staying close to. She decided to leave the area and follow the stream.
After walking at a quick pace for a few hours, she stopped and climbed a tree to find some food. Very soon after, she was walking again. The entire day was spent walking until she was exhausted by the time evening rolled a sky full of colors and she decided to settle in for the night. Here she found a new type of nuts in the tree and the taste was so vastly different that she could barely believe it.
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The nuts she found were a bit smaller and their shells were harder and a bit tougher. That didn’t deter her and when she finally popped the first bite of the meat of the nut into her mouth, she thought she was going to fall out of the tree from just how awesome the flavor was. It was like nothing she could ever remember tasting.
The next morning was a dreary overcast of drizzling rain. She didn’t leave the cover of leaves for much and tried to squeeze in under the larger limbs as much as possible. She also discovered that as the rain changed direction, that she could go around the tree to be more out of the rain. It was a miserable cold day and she spent most of it shivering despite her fur being oily and a little resistant to the rain.
The little that she did eat was in the same tree she was in and only during the slightly warmer breaks in the rain. She spent the rest of the day shivering and wishing the rain would stop. The next day couldn’t come soon enough!
Unfortunately, the next day was more of the same and was only slightly warmer than the previous. She made her mind up to try to find a better spot with a bit more cover than the tree she was in. She almost slipped when her cold arms didn’t respond the way she wanted them to.
Upon reaching the ground, she began following the stream again. She noticed that the stream was faster than before and was a muddy brown color now. She wondered if it was safe to drink before shaking her head in wonder at her idiocy. There was water falling out of the sky and she was worried if she could drink from a stream?
The walking helped her to warm up a little but she had less chance of avoiding the occasional cold breezes that would blow by. She didn’t really want to eat but reminded herself that even though she wasn’t hungry, it would get colder and she would feel less like eating then.
She decided to take a break and get some nuts or berries in her before it got too cold. She was halfway up a nearby tree when she heard the noises coming from further up the stream. She froze against the side of the tree!
Cautiously, she peeked around the edge of the tree she was on but there was nothing to see. The noises came again and she ducked back. After a bit, she edged around the tree again. The noises came again and she flinched but didn’t move away.
After the noises came several more times, she became a bit more accustomed to them and didn’t flinch every time. She hadn’t seen any sign of whatever was making the noises and decided that it was more important to focus on eating before it got colder. Lunch was a small cluster of the strange new nuts she had discovered the other day.
As she was foraging, she discovered a small nook under an overhanging pair of branches that was surprisingly dry. After two day's rain, it was still dry! She wedged herself into the nook and despite it being a little tight, she wasn’t getting rained on anymore. Overall, a win! After cleaning and grooming herself for a bit, she drifted off to sleep.
Sleep was a bit fitful and she woke up a few times during the night. Several times the crashing of thunder would jolt her awake. Finally, she awoke to find the sun peeking over the horizon and sending errant rays of light all the way to where she was sleeping.
Suddenly, she was wide awake! There was a bunch of grunting and tapping noises and they were coming from the trees not far from her. She peeked nervously around the edge of the tree, afraid of what she would see.