Not one bit.
Besides...
Wildlife encounters are probably like bee encounters.
Don't bother them...
They won't bother you.
Right? Isn’t that how this works?
I mean, I think so.
Hopefully.
Another rustle.
It is much closer this time.
I stop again.
The little hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
My pulse begins to thump in my ears.
“Hello?”
Immediately I cringe.
Good job, Elsie.
If it was a serial killer, now he knows you're polite.
The forest answers only with silence.
Then I hear it.
A low growl rolls through the trees.
Deep.
Powerful.
Close enough that I feel it more than hear it.
Every muscle in my body locks.
“Oh, shit.”
Something tells me that isn’t a deer.
And any magic I'd been hoping to find tonight?
I don’t think it’s waiting beyond those trees.
I need to get home. Like now.
Three