Prompt Drabble #3

Prompt: "I'm going into the woods to scream for a while. Anybody wanna come with?"

“Hey!” She called over her shoulder, “I’m going into the woods to scream for a while. Anyone wanna come with?” Most of the others just looked amused at her antics, but there were a few who seemed to know what her joking tone was covering. She smirked to herself as she shut the door behind her. It’s their own fault if they get creeped out. I invited them to join me. She thought while walking down the path to the darker portion of the forest.

When she reached a spot that felt open enough to hold her true form she stopped for a moment to enjoy the atmosphere of the forest at night. Breathing deeply she let go of the enchantment holding her human shape in place and slowly dropped to all fours in the clearing. Whipping her tail sharply she stretched her front paws out in front of her, extending her three-inch-long claws into the dirt and pulling against the cramp that had been growing in her back. It had been a while since she had kept her human form for that many hours consecutively.

After stretching as well as she could with moving she started sniffing the air. Her long black whiskers twitching on her golden brown nose, she flicked her ears back and forth hoping to hear the sound of small woodland creatures starting their night of foraging. Although her trek along the path hadn’t been at all silent she could already hear the animals beginning to creep along it. Turning around silently, she crouched down in the typical cat fashion, except of course on a much larger scale.

Walking lightly across the clearing, she began to take note of which sounds were closest and which were coming from an animal that she was interested in eating tonight. Taking a deep breath, she let loose a scream that sounded an awful lot like a woman in pain. Let the forest know there is a predator out this night. She heard a doe startle in the woods to her left. Taking a running leap she made her way to the top of the nearest tree. Making her way through the foliage, from tree top to tree top she began humming in her head. “It’s the, eye of the tiger, it’s the thrill of the fight” The joke was not lost on her that this was the song stuck in her head when she decided to go hunting.

When she reached a spot that seemed far enough ahead of the deer she was stalking she made her way silently down to the lowest branch that would hold her. Positioning herself in the perfect place for an ambush, she settled down to wait for her prey to approach. The doe was picking her way slowly through the underbrush, stopping occasionally to snack on the rich green foliage. As it reached the spot directly under the huge brown cat, she screamed the scream of a mountain lion making its final move and dropped down on the doe’s back. Grabbing its neck as she landed she slid to the side and heard the sickening CRACK  of its neck breaking from her weight pulling it down.

Satisfied that her prey was in the bag, so to speak, she stood up and shook herself from head to toe. Hunting in this form wasn’t her favorite pastime, but sometimes the cat wants what the cat wants. Bending down and grabbing the deer’s neck she started back towards the clearing where she had changed. It would be a safe enough place to settle down and eat her midnight snack since it was fairly close to the house. One of my least favorite parts, she thought to herself, is dragging my dinner all through the woods before I have a chance to eat it. When she reached to clearing, she drug the deer to the center and situated herself in a position she could be alert in while also enjoying the fresh and warm meal set before her.

Once she was finished eating, she sat up and looked down at the more than half-eaten carcass in front of her. I’ll clean that up tomorrow I guess. She sat for a while longer, cleaning the blood and bits of flesh from under her claws and making sure there was no residue dripping off her muzzle. Sighing, she stood and began the spell to activate the enchantment she had so recently rid herself of. Although she knew she was safest in her human form, it was not her favorite one. Making sure her clothes were still in order, she slowly made her way back to the house where the rest of the book club was waiting for her.