Harwood English Review Online

Chapter Seventeen

XVII.

“ I’m hungry,”

“ Sally we need to find James, he might be hurt,” said Will

“ But-“

“ No buts, we’ve got to find James.”

“ Hey will what’s that?” said Ketzel.

“ I don’t know……….. shhhh,” said Will.

It was a deer, standing in a thicket of brush. The animal was beautiful, the most beautiful thing those three could have seen. They were all tired and hungry, and this meant food. Food meant energy. Energy was the ability to find James.

“ I’m going to shoot it with my bow,” said Will.

“ Don’t its just a little deer, it never did anything to you,” said Sally.

“ Sally this is food, you said you were hungry, I’m just trying to supply us.”

“ Will, I’ll take Sally a little ways away to find some berries,”

“ Thank you Ketzel.”

As Sally and Ketzel went off, Will got his bow out and was getting prepared to shoot the deer. Then the deer began to walk off, back through the thicket and out of sight.

So Will began to follow the deer. He slowly and silently crept through the woods, keeping a good distance between himself and the deer.

Then the deer walked into an opening where there was a small stream. The deer lowered its head and began to take a drink. Will was about to take aim, when a sound in the brush took his attention.

Then suddenly the deer bounded off. Will began to run in a full sprint after it.

The deer was bounding down a hill by now. There was at least 60 yards between Will and the deer. The deer was pulling away. Then Will tripped.

The deer was gone. All hope for food and nourishment, gone. So Will sadly hung his head and turned around to go and find the others.

“Stupid deer,” Will kept on repeating to himself.

He slowly trudged through the wet and soggy forest. All time seemed to slow down and take longer than normal. As if to taunt Will, to make him bask in his own failure for longer. To feel worse about how he could have got food.

He kept on walking for what seemed like an eternity. The only sounds were the air blowing through the forest, and the silent thuds of his feet on the mossy forest floor. The world seemed empty and lonely.

Then he walked back to where he thought his friends would be. But they weren’t there.

“ KETZEL, SALLY!!” Will shouted.

But there were no answers.

“ I must be lost, how long could I have run for?” Will muttered to himself.

Then suddenly there was a rustling in the bushes. Will pulled out his bow.

He notched and arrow and took aim, ready for an attack. The bushes were about fifty yards away from where he was standing. Then suddenly, the deer jumped out from the other side of the brush. It stood there stock still, not moving and inch. Looking intently ahead. Will heard the girls approaching from behind him, unaware.

Will took aim. He brought the feathers of the arrow up to his cheek. He released the arrow. The arrow seemed to be suspended in mid air for an eternity. He thought that his shot would not miss. He was wrong.

--B.L.