Out in the Forest

I walked through the forest one day when I was confronted with a dog-like mammal. It had rusty red fur that covered its slender body. The tip of its tail, under its belly to the bottom of its long snout was white as well of the inside of its pointed ears. Black fur grew from the top of its ears. It had small paws that had padded against the leaves on the forest floor.1

Although it was a dangerous and stupid thing to do, I petted its course fur. I and backed away when it growled at me, exposing sharp canine teeth. It barked again and I nearly ran away. Both its growl and its bark were not nearly as scary as the sound of its running footsteps and the snap of a rabbit’s backbone.2

The aroma of blood stunk up the air and replaced the pine scent it had given off at first. I wished at that moment I could run away from it so that I would not become its next meal. The horrid blood scent started to fade a little as it finished up the rabbit. The wind blew and brought back the preferred scent of pine trees. I breathed in deeply, making sure to take it in while I still could.3

I closed my eyes and hoped it would go away and let me be. I opened my eyes again and didn’t see the animal. I sighed and thanked the trees for letting me live. I continued down the unmarked path for awhile until I became lost. I grumbled to myself and kicked a rock. I glanced up and saw that it hit something. Not just something, it was the animal from before. I gasped as it growled and slowly started walking towards me.4

I turned to run, but it was faster and soon caught up to me. Its fur swayed and bounced as it ran. With a single leap, it pinned me down on my shoulders. I shut my eyes and hoped not to die that day. Its lip quivered as the growling grew louder. It stopped to sniff me and bent down for its head to reach my shoulders. I got a mouthful of fur which tasted metallic and bloody from the rabbit earlier. I squirmed from underneath him, trying to get free.5

All my attempts did was make the animal turn around and bite the bottom of my pant leg. I let out a little scream as it started dragging me across the ground. Every time I tried to resist, it let go of my leg, snapped its jaws at me, and continued dragging me. I was just about to cry when it let go and ran away. I looked up and saw it escape into some 6

trees. I turned and saw my house. It had helped me get back home. 7

I ran over to my house as my little sister called out, “Rachel, a doggy brought you back home!”8

I laughed and gave her a hug. I looked back into the forest and whispered, “Thanks.” I knew that somewhere, the fox was out and about.9