“Escape from Ackerley” a collaborative story
- This topic has 233 replies, 11 voices, and was last updated 4 years, 5 months ago by .
-
Posts
-
Maybe I should just tell you. :/ Argh, this is so hard!! Hopefully y’all aren’t offended.
I’m not offended. No worries!😉
Beautiful things don't ask for attention
Oh, good! *breathes sigh of relief*
Ferguson stood up in the tall grass to get a better look. What he saw made him scared.
A massive buck with a huge rack of antlers stood over the river that was sure to be polluted by the ash and who knows what else. He drank in large gulps, and to his right was a doe, and hiding behind her a young fawn.
What was this deer doing? Out in the open, with all the scents of wolf, what could they be thinking. Just as he thought this, the buck raised its head in alarm, nostrils flaring.
Might be a little too late buddy. Ferguson thought.
The thought struck him that a drink might be nice, if he could fine some clean water. He’d have to be wary of the wolves though. Their scent was everywhere. And that wasn’t good for most animals.
He slowly walked to the stream, aware of the deer almost directly beside him. If they were aware of him, they didnt show it. Perhaps they didnt deem him much of a threat. He peeked out to see the water flowing slowly down the river. It was for the most part black, and thick, like tar. He felt his heart break, for where would he swim? He tried to find some water, and after a while found a small eddy of clear, cool water that he greedliy drank. He looked up to see the deer were still there, and he decided to make some allies.
With deer? Oh, fat lot of help they’ll be when wolves come. he thought. But then he glanced at the bucks rack and thought otherwise.
He slowly approached them, and in a tentative voice, said the worst thing he could imagine, but a necessary one at the time.
“Wolf! Run!”
“Wolf! Run!”
Ash whirled, antlers lowered. He peered upward directly into the face of… a mink? He barely restrained himself from sending the little creature flying. That would be funny to see. Afterward? Not so much.
“Thanks a lot,” he grunted, arching his neck so he could keep his antlers lowered yet still keep an eye on things taller than a mink. Cedar was at the edge of the woods, motionless, watching him. Ivy was nowhere to be seen.
Get away, Ash thought at Cedar, wishing she could read his mind. I’m facing off with a mink for you, you know.
Not just a mink. Once again that wolfish smell drifted past his nostrils. At least one, and female too. Great.
“Akaya, no!” It was a quiet voice, probably fitting with a hedgehog, otter, or other small creature.
Behind you!
Ash whirled and charged at the gray shape poised to leap onto his back and sink her teeth into his neck. Not today, dog!
———————————-
Tagging whoever acts as Akaya these days… 🙂
That’s me! MWAHAHAHAHA
Farley stared in horror as Akaya crept up on a male deer and readied herself to spring. The deer whirled around and charged Akaya who had already leaped. “Akaya no!” Farley cried as they clashed. Akaya was thrown back and the deer lowered his antlers to charge again. Not quite believing what she was doing, Farley bolted towards Akaya forgetting about poor Faith clinging to her fur for fear life. “Stop! Akaya stop!” She cried, “now isn’t the time!”. Akaya looked at Farley, then at the river which was only a few tail lengths away. A hint of fear passed over her eyes like a small cloud. ” Sorry. ” she mumbled, “just a habit…”. Farley kept running but was now running at the charging deer buck. She saw a doe near the woods and realized why the buck was so protective. Farley bounded at the buck and leaped. She bit down hard on one of his antlers, latched on, and curled her body underneath her dragging the buck’s head down with her. They tumbled apart and Farley landed by the river with Faith still somehow clinging to Farley’s nape. Farley got to her paws slowly only to be knocked back down as the ground trembled violently.
It was worse than the fist time. Farley was thrown to the ground and then knocked about as the earth shook. Cracks broke open, trees crashed to the ground, and she saw the parts of the mountains crumble in the distance. It seemed to Farley that the whole world was falling apart.
Then it stoped. An erie silence followed as the creatures of the forest stood in shock. The only sound was the river. Farley felt panicked. As if there was something worse coming. The river shrank suddenly, leaving mud and a few fish flopping in it. Then is surged forward and wet the tip of Farley’s tail. But it didn’t stop. It gurgled forward and rushed at the forest. “Run!” Farley cried.
Beautiful things don't ask for attention
Happy (one-day-late) Thanksgiving!
Hwæt! Wē Gār-Dena in geār-dagum, pēod-cyninga, prym gefrūnon, hū õā æpelingas ellen fremedon!
Ferguson watched the spectacle with amusement. A wolf charging a deer. A deer charging a wolf. And fox yelling at the wolf, then jumping on the deer, with a hedgehog on its back. He started laughing, but then the earth shook.
Not again!
Then it stopped. An eerie silence followed as the creatures of the forest stood in shock. The only sound was the river. Then it shrank suddenly, leaving mud and a few fish flopping in it, and abruptly surged forward, lapping at Ash’s hooves. But it didn’t stop there. It gurgled forward and rushed at the forest. “Run!” the fox cried, springing away so suddenly that the hedgehog lost her grip, soared through the air, and landed… right on Ash’s head.
He froze, unsure if he should be frightened or angry. But it was just a hedgehog, wasn’t it? Nothing to be afraid of. Just prickles. Plus, it wasn’t her fault. So he shouldn’t be angry. So what should he do?
The fox answered his question as she dashed away, calling again over her shoulder, “Run!”
“Hang on tight, Ms. Hedgehog,” Ash warned, and felt the creature nestle down in between his antlers. Then he crouched and leapt, bounding after the fox as quickly as his long legs would take him. The mink was somewhere behind him, and the wolf was keeping up fairly well. Ash knew that he could outdistance any of these animals in a sprint, but wolves were known for their endurance. That’s how they caught deer. They ran them down.
Something swooped overhead, and Ash nearly sent the hedgehog flying as he skidded to a stop and ducked, gazing upward.
It was some kind of bird. Or bat. Or lizard. Somehow it seemed to be a combination of the last two. And it was attacking him.
Or was it?
Ash didn’t know and he didn’t care. The water was rising too quickly for him to crouch there cowering. Either he would certainly drown, or possibly be eaten by the predators that seemed to surround him. Option two was definitely better.
“You okay up there?” Ash asked the hedgehog. “We’re going to go pretty fast in a second, so get comfortable.”
————————————————————————
@everybody do any of you guys watch The Mandalorian on Disney+?
Just saw the new episode. . . that cliffhanger’s gonna drive me nuts xD
(apologies if that was spoilers for anybody)
_________________________________________________________________________________________
“Run!” Farley shouted.
Instantly, I took to the air. In minutes, I was above the tops of the trees. The forest was beginning to flood again.
Just like the den.
I couldn’t fly forever, but perhaps I had enough energy to fly long enough.
My instincts told me to fly faster than I was, find a place to rest before the water caught up, but I didn’t.
I couldn’t leave the others.
It was strange, the fact that I felt loyalty to them so quickly; I hardly knew them. Perhaps it was because I was lonely, and my pack was gone. Perhaps it was because Akaya and I had been such good friends, and I wasn’t ready to leave her just yet.
I returned my attention downwards, watching my friends run as I flew. The buck we’d run into saw me, and stopped so quickly that Faith nearly flew off of her seat in between his antlers.
“Sorry I startled you,” I signaled quickly, though I wasn’t sure if he understood. To be honest, I couldn’t blame him for his reaction — if there was one thing I knew, it was that I looked pretty strange.
Hwæt! Wē Gār-Dena in geār-dagum, pēod-cyninga, prym gefrūnon, hū õā æpelingas ellen fremedon!
Farley ran faster than she had ever run in her life. Her bushy tail whipped behind her, her ears lay flat in fear, and her eyes where as wide as the moon. She saw the deer fly past her with Faith riding high on her antlers and Akaya was two tail lengths behind her and gaining ground.
her mind was numb and her legs flew underneath her like a hummingbirds wings.
the water was hard on her heels and she was nearing a space in the ground where the ground had split. She would have to jump if she didn’t want to be swept away.
The world seemed to slow as she neared the gap. She saw Akaya catch up and run beside her. She saw the graceful motion of the wolf’s body stretched in full-out sprint. She saw the strained expression on her furry face. Tree paces to go, two, one… they leaped. The edge was flying toward her. She fell nearer…nearer…Farley’s front paws grasped the edge. Her chest slammed into the ground beneath it and the air was knocked from her lungs. Breathless, she fell back and into the ditch.
Water poured in as Farley stumbled to her paws and strained to breath. The water was filling the ditch fast and she could see no easy way to climb out. She started to run down alongside the walls but the water, having no place else to go, followed. The spasm stoped and she was able to breath again. She sucked in a air as the water swept her of her feet and carried her away. It was all she could do to keep her head above the water.
She paddled desperately as the water filled the ditch and ran over the edges. Farley was floating along with a million other debris. A huge log slammed into her and knocked her under the surface. She spun down and lost track of which way was up. Her lungs screamed for air and she kicked blindly, hoping the surface was near.
She broke the surface and clung to a passing log. She gasped for air and sneezed. The slippery log started to roll and she was floundering in the water again. Then, suddenly, she found herself caught in the branches of a huge pine that was mostly. under-water. She scrambled onto a thick branch that was out of the water and curled up into a tight, wet, ball. Her eyes closed.
The plan was for all of them to wash up in one place, right?
Beautiful things don't ask for attention
I just gotta say… that post has to be one of the best you’ve ever done. I was so caught up… man!! And your similes were so good “wide as the moon” “like a hummingbird’s wings”. I’m impressed!! Well done. 😉
- The forum ‘Private: Fantasy Writers’ is closed to new topics and replies.
