i never knew daylight could be so violent

Eleanor Calyx

Summer was ending. Eleanor could feel autumn snaking through the trees, a breath of crisp wind brushing past her cheeks. That meant her break was soon to end too and before long she would return to her studies at the college. As eager as she was to resume the life she'd carved out for herself there, there was a sense of foreboding that she couldn't shake, like a burr entangled in her pelt. Once she left that meant her uncle would be left alone with the intruder he'd welcomed into their home, blind as he was to the insidious intent behind Mutt's dark brown eyes. She played the part they both expected of her, but no amount of smiles would ever make her false feelings real.

A sigh deflated tight lungs, anxiety making it difficult to breathe. Coming to the Redwood usually soothed whatever was troubling her mind, as it was a place her father often took her when she was upset, but lately she felt further away from her parents' memories than ever before and found no solace among the scarlet leaves and swollen trunks. They were just reminders of what she'd already lost... and what she stood to lose.

The student turned to go back the way she came when the sound of crunching leaves interrupted her. Immediately on edge, heart leaping into her chest, Eleanor shifted so her hindquarters met the comforting stability of two trees clustered next to one another, so only the front half of her body was exposed to attack. Her guard crumbled as a squirrel skidded through the tapestry of reds and golds underfoot, diving underneath and resurfacing with an acorn. "Just a squirrel," she comforted herself, watching it flee up a tree trunk.

It was.

Until it wasn't.

@Ryker

THE LAST CALYX