Looking For a Place To Hide

A gentle midnight echo, resounds through the upper trees in the woods in a tinkling way. It is barely heard among the reeds where I reside hidden, with the rest of the scurrying things. I precariously wander, listening to the earth noises, lest I be squashed by a heavy leather boot of the giants. I hear a closer sound, the stealthy approach of a predator who sneaks, barely parting grass, with paws licked clean from his last kill. Miniature creatures are scattering in terror. I have smelled this one before, the Eliminator. My heart gulps as I look frantically for an apt place to hide, a rock crevice, or a tiny ground indentation. An almost imperceptible hissing sound arises from the dew-filled grass close to my right, so I veer to the left, but casually, softly, hopefully silently. I pass a childhood friend, a vole, who stands frozen in terror, waiting for the large toothed Eliminator’s mouth to clamp down, or the striped wood snake to rise up. I give my statue-like friend my best side- eye glance, indicating which way I plan to go, still he does not move. Too frightened I guess. I picture a green bull snake grabbing him up, carrying him off to certain death. I give him one last frantic wave before I bolt. A new midnight echo sounds far above me. I hear it for the first time, probably due to my hyper-vigilance. More frightened by what lurks in the grass, I pause before I jump down a crevice into the unknown, hoping I will see another sunrise in the meadow.