Post by kestrel on Aug 28, 2008 17:34:21 GMT -5
' OPEN '
I dare you, to be real
To touch a flickering flame
Her paws ached with a weariness that she had never experienced before - a weariness that the young kitten would not have thought possible. Rather than whimpering at the pain, succumbing to it or fearing it, Kestrel forced herself to plod forwards, the fire seeming only to push her determination forward. With every pang of exhaustion, or pain, a flicker entered her eyes. Pride. How could she not be when she had pushed herself so far? There was nothing in life to be gained by sitting back at the sidelines and watching those more experienced play the game. She sniffed, the soft sound seeming piercing in contrast to the seemingly silent evening around her. To give in and curl up would be to admit defeat. Her temper flared angrily, flashing across her eyes. She was no loser. Not one to give up. If pain was part of the deal than she would gladly accept it with a mindset that transcended her age.
Her vivid green eyes were fixated on the small swinging gate past the large orange objects - it had been her goal, her focus, since she had set out. And she had been watching it - watching it grow in size as she got nearer and nearer with a smug sort of satisfaction. It was beyond her now to feel any inkling of fear or doubt. She would not question herself. Her breathing grew heavier and she somehow forced her tired paws to run, carrying her through the patch of pumpkins with a speed that she would not have thought herself capable of reaching. She did not pause or slow to question this, knowing very well that once she did she would not be able to force herself to continue moving. A flash of anger. That was not true. There was nothing that she could not accomplish. It would simply be much harder and why not take the route that lay in front of her when there was no point to prove. She'd proved enough by reaching this far. Besides, stopping was surely against the contract, no matter whether she planned on re-starting, if only for the challenge it would bring to herself.
She continued to run. The still air, which she had found previously to be devoid of sound, was now a thing of the past. Her heart thumped unevenly in her chest for a moment before reaching an even, but accelerated, pace. Blood pounded through her and her ears were filled with unceasing roaring. Buzzing. Some corner of her mind had the thought to flick her ear in an attempt to discourage the sound away but it was of little priority to her. Not when she was so close to reaching her goal. With a triumphant cry, Kestrel flung herself at the lower beam of the grate - not much higher than the grass or herself. Her back paws grazed against it as she flew over, landing in the grass just past it. Her paws firmed themselves into the ground and she felt a fleet of pleasure that she had not fallen over or crumpled to the ground. A smirk was clearly visible now - the solid clue to her success. She gave a sudden laugh, riding the thrill of success.
Instinctively, her head swung around, her gaze focusing on the mountains which rose up into the sky. Her brothers and sisters were there. Her mother too. She grinned a smug little smile at the distance between them. It was so far. Gazing out this morning at the little farm below it had seemed so far away - unreachable. But she had achieved the impossible and her tail curled with happiness. She'd thought it looked so far away. But standing here and looking back, it seemed ever farther. Now that she'd traversed the distance, felt the sun beating on her and covered the the terrain inch by inch, she knew it. It was no longer the unknown for her which seemed to expand it in her mind - open up the distance. And that only made her fierce pride swell even more.
The realization that she would not be able to return tonight - no, she corrected, that she wouldn't, for she would if she set her mind to it - was something that had crossed her mind as she'd been trekking across the fields. It was nearing nightfall now and though Kestrel could have pushed herself to cover the great distance again, she would sleep and conserve her strength. Comfort was something she enjoyed and she would not rough it back like some dirty mongrel. A disgusted choke rose in her throat and her tiny nose wrinkled. Releasing her steady hold on the grass, she took a step forward, stretching out her leg muscles and arching her back as she moved forward. The barn looked nice and warm but something drew her to turn around. The moon was more pronounced in the sky now, it's soft beams drifting down and transforming the pumpkin patch from a mere field of vegetables to something surreal. An atmosphere that seemed to suggest magic hung in the air, waiting to happen.
A smile edged it's way onto Kestrel's face. This was made it worth it. This tangible mood, the soft currents in the wind as it buffeted the individual hairs of her pelts, the heaviness of the night that draped itself onto everything - all of it made her excitement peak. The mood seemed to suggest the unexpected. Nothing was impossible. It seemed as if the world was meshed to another one - hints of a grander place than this leaking through. Kestrel swore to herself that she would find that place. If it could transform the simplicity of the farmer's yard to a scene from a fairy tale, prickle the hairs on her pelt as if the supernatural lay just around the corner, then who knew what hidden secrets it possessed. Of one thing she was sure then - there was somewhere else out there, much better than here. She'd been walking forwards without realizing it - something that would have normally annoyed her but instead seemed to simply earn her a moment of surprise, followed by a continuation as she strode forwards again, in control this time. She always was.
Slipping through the fence, Kestrel darted over to the largest pumpkin in sight. The best deserved the best, did it not, she though with a smirk. Leaping up fluidly, she reach it's top with a grin. There would be no embarrassing scrabbling of claws against it's polished orange surface. Tonight was not for amateurs. The very atmosphere that clung to the field could not be disturbed not by anything. Kestrel swore silently that she would not be that anything and that if anyone else was she would hunt them down mercilessly. Her eyes narrowed dangerously. Tonight was most definitely one of those moments in which she seemed much older than her actual age. Intelligence and a set mind and personality could do that. From her perch - no, her throne - Kestrel's eyes swept over the patch. She lifted her head as she watched, her front paws leaving the pumpkin beneath her. She spun gracefully and quickly then, her back paws completing a neat, tight semi-circle on the pumpkin as her front paws dropped back down into a steady position. She faced the barn now, eyes narrowed with suspicion which she was certain could not be false. She'd heard something, even with her sense being weakened by her kitten youth. Kestrel hissed quietly, the sound sliding into the night.
