Frozen by Fear

“COME ON!” I shouted over my shoulder as I sprinted towards the tree line. Behind me, Maisy stood frozen in the meadow. That’s what living in a city can do to you. Make you forget nature’s beauty and only think of the wilderness as an unbounded, constant threat.

Truth is, Maisy probably had a thousand more chances to get hurt with each step she took in New York City. But she liked to brag how she could go anywhere and everywhere when she was back home. Here, though, in a mountain meadow, she couldn’t move without holding my hand. I rolled my eyes and shook my head. I had to help her get over herself.

So I put my head down and put more distance between us. Soon enough, I entered the forest, and twenty feet in, I ducked behind a pine tree and checked on my friend.

My plan was working.  Back in the meadow, Maisy had finally taken a few tentative steps, as if she were walking barefoot over broken glass.

“Come on, Maisy!” I yelled, hoping to spur her on. I covered my mouth to stifle a laugh as she stumbled forward. And then I froze, stunned by an ominous sound from near my feet.

A sickening clatter, like someone was shaking a dry gourd filled with seeds.

I had disturbed a rattlesnake. And I only had Maisy to help me.

(Feel free to write the rest of this story! Please consider crediting me for the prompt and include a link to this page. Hopefully, other writers will find inspiration, too. Good luck and thank you!!)

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