21–Foreclosure

[Write a poem or short story about someone who has lost or is about to lose their home.]

Huh, I guess my response to prompt #11 (Dragon) could fit here.

But, of course, I’ll write something completely new for this prompt rather than use something already existing!

……

Oh no! I almost don’t notice in time as a large bird attacks! I duck, dodging sharp talons, and scurry down my tree, fleeing as quickly as possible.

That was close—I almost became another’s meal. I have to be more cautious. Maybe there are more birds around? Should I hide for a while? What if while I’m hiding a competitor takes my tree? I’ll stay on my tree. I want to keep this tre—

The beast is back! It dives again, flashing its talons in an attempt to grab me, but I run away again, not staying on the same tree again.

Sad, I bound across the ground, sticking as closely as I can to the trees in case I need to hide behind one. I see it! The bird is high above me, waiting. It looks like it lost me, because it lands on a branch looking in a direction I’m not in.

I’m not staying around here—that bird is scary.

I move quietly and slowly, eyes on that bird. Eventually, I’m far enough away that it won’t hear me, so I run. I’ll have to find a different tree. Preferably one without large birds.

Dear Readers. Scrapers have recently been devasting our views. At this rate, the site (creativenovels .com) might...let's just hope it doesn't come to that. If you are reading on a scraper site. Please don't.

I don’t know how long I ran for, but I find myself in a clearing that smells nice. I want to eat whatever it is I’m smelling. I make my way forward, following my nose. I soon find a round, orange fruit half-open, its insides falling out. I check my surroundings, making sure there are no predators. Nothing, so I feast.

I grab a fleshy piece of the fruit and sit on my haunches, nibbling. It tastes really good. I eat more.

I’m almost full when I hear loud noises and turn towards a…human nest? I don’t know what it is, but I’ve seen bird nests and humans build their own places to live, so I’ll call it that. From the human nest appears a loud human making rough sounds with each step he takes. He is far away though, so I don’t run yet. I need more of this fruit.

No! The bird is back! I see it flash through leaves as it dives to me, so I duck behind the fruit. Worse! The loud human loudly walked in my direction with a long stick in its hands! I want to flee, but the bird is in the air and the human closing in. Where do I go?!

Wait, the human stopped moving and raised his stick. Since he stopped moving I have time to look at the bird. The bird also fears the human and fell back to the tree, resting on a branch, I think waiting for the human to leave so it can get me.

I turn back to see the human pointing the stick at the bird. Is it challenging the bird? I don’t understand what it’s doi—

Only allowed on Creativenovels.com

The human’s stick exploded! I’ve never heard anything so loud! I run back to the tree line, afraid of the human and its stick, when I see the bird—actually, its corpse—fall from the branch it sat on. What just happened?! Did the exploding stick kill the bird?! I’m scared, but the bird is dead, so I run into the trees, finding a large one to climb.

I hide there afraid for a long time, but my stomach is full. I sleep on a branch and awaken at light rise.

When I awaken, my stomach is not so full—I’m a little hungry. I remember that delicious orange fruit so big that I could sit inside it. I want more. I check my surroundings before making my way down my new tree, stopping every once in a while to listen for birds or humans with exploding sticks. I don’t know which is more scary.

I find the tasty orange fruit again and eat, but the human is outside its nest, sitting down, watching me. I don’t see its exploding stick, so I continue eating. For a long time, I return to the human nest to eat the orange fruit, which sometimes grows bigger or smaller, even changing colors a bit, but is always tasty. However, I notice that every light rise the fruit appears closer to the human nest, sometimes with the human outside watching me! It’s a little scary, but after nearing it many times without any sticks exploding, I am less scared to approach the human. Especially because it gives me tasty food other than the orange fruit!

At some point, I find myself being touched by the human, it using a finger to pat my head and rub my back while I eat. I like it. The human isn’t scary anymore.

A long time passes and I wake up to something strange—breathing is difficult and my eyes sting. I don’t like it. I exit from the home the human built me to see lots of light coming from the trees and the air darker. I’m scared and I want to flee! But my new home is next to the human’s nest and the light and dark air approaches! I don’t know what to do, so I wait next to the human’s nest. Maybe it will help me. I want it to help me. I like the human. It gives me food.

Quickly, the dancing lights and dark air catch up and near the human’s nest, so I have to leave. I watch my new home be destroyed by the lights. I’m sad and scared, but I keep running. The dark air hurts.

You may also like: