The Strike Of Fear

• Amber Gillam, Grade 6, Avoca Beach Public School
• Short Story
• 2015

Excellence Award in the 'The Write Track 2015' competition

The trees throbbed in a rhythmic beat, unexpectedly the same pattern as her heartbeat. Peppa sat up straight, curiously staring into the blankness of the snowy evergreen. She had a thin, goldy pelt, so she didn’t blend in very well with her surroundings. Her stance lost tension as she slowly turned to walk back to her warm nest. She heard a sudden rustling noise coming from a shrub about 5 metres away. Peppa turned to see a red squirrel tunnelling in the snow. It was strange to see them burrowing, since it didn’t usually snow in Turkey. Peppa’s heart skipped a beat. The squirrel was totally unaware of her presence, so this would be the perfect time for a winter hunt. Seeing it was her second week of hunting course, it would be a delight for the trainers to see what she could have caught in her spare time. Peppa was racing with adrenaline, her lungs filled up with air expanding her chest like a balloon. Blood was pounding in her ears and she could here her thoughts telling her to pierce her opponent to the ground. She slowly placed her left paw into the snowy blanket, expecting the squirrel to flee, but it kept digging. She began to place the other front paw into the snow. Until the squirrel froze, realising her appearance. It scampered away, into the thickness of the forest. Peppa knew what she had to do, and did it. Her stick-like legs pushed her through the trees and made her even weaker each second. She had not trained for this. She sprinted as fast as she could, but it wasn’t fast enough. Finally she saw the squirrel freeze, its eyes staring up, out into a darker point of the forest. For a mere minute Peppa too just sat there, terrified of what lied beyond. Out of her peripherals, Peppa could vaguely spot a ghostly figure from behind an old oak tree. Her heart began to race faster than ever before. Could this be a horrific disaster or a change of life for the better...?