[May 9] [Original] Cunning and Yellow
Title:Cunning and Yellow
Day/Theme: 9. Dark they were, and golden-eyed.
Series: Original
Character/Pairing: Josh, Beth
Rating: PG
There were foxes everywhere. It was weird and worrisome. Foxes were supposed to be shy, but these were keeping them company on the walk up the hill. Rustling around them like leaves, ember-colored eyes gleaming in the last bit of sunlight lingering over the trees, red and gray and brown foxes watched them from every side.
Beth had taken his arm when she had first noticed them, and Josh was unnerved enough not to shrug her off. They had both been anxious to get out of the house that night. Josh had decided to go see the Biker and Beth had jumped at the chance to go to and visit her new friend in the same boarding house. The sun had been setting and anything seemed better than hiding in their rooms until morning.
Their mother was on the war path, Their father was in some happy farmer land where all he had to worry about was the next rain. The other brothers were acting possessed. Aaron, the older brother was a silent, shrugging zombie, only paying any attention to that puppy he had found. Matt, the usually aloof younger brother had finally discovered his hormones where the new girl at the boarding house was concerned and had been unbearable since.
The unnatural tension in the house had given way to the unnatural tension in the world. The foxes didn’t try to stop them, but kept in a circle around them the whole way, always moving, scurrying. It made Josh’s skin prickle and he could tell Beth was frightened too. The smell of fox musk was strong and unpleasant, and the faint chatter of the creatures bickering as they circled made it seem more sinister.
“Anything in your books about foxes?” he asked, voice sounding out of place on the hillside. He could see the boarding house lights through the trees and kept his pace steady. He had a hideous feeling that if he ran, that circle of sharp, quick bodies would close around them.
“No,” she whispered. “What do you think they want?”
“Hey,” he said, as if it had just occurred to him, as if he hadn’t been trying to find a way to ask her about this. “Remember the summer you got followed by that dog?”
“Yeah…” she looked at him strangely.
“The Biker saw one of those once,” he went on. “On the road.”
“Really?” she looked away from the wall of yellow eyes around them to squint at him with interest. “Did it… was he scared?”
“It’s the only thing he remembers before his accident,” Josh said, knowing exactly what would reel her in. Sure enough, her own dark eyes went wide.
“Really??” she asked again.
“Yeah. He’s seen all kinds of things. You should get him to tell you some of his ghost stories some time.” Josh couldn’t imagine the Biker holding story time for his little sister, but he had wanted to talk to her about the Dog, and Josh knew it might take a little wooing. “Want to meet him?”
“I told Mom I was going to see Whitney first,” Beth said. “She said not to go anywhere else.”
“What are you, four?” Josh asked, not waiting for an answer. “You’re not running off to the Vegas Grease Rally with him. Just stick your head in and say hi. I won’t tell Mom. He might like having somebody not assume the worst about him for a change.”
That hit exactly where it was supposed to. Beth, as absorbed in stories and fairy tale as she was, had a very teenage girl-shaped soft spot for the misunderstood outcast. Her cautious expression melted in sympathy.
“If you don’t think he’ll mind…” she began and then a fox darted a little too close to her feet. She yipped and broke into a nervous jog, pulling him along. They were almost to the fence.
“I keep trying to tell you people he’s not a bad guy,” Josh pretended to complain, grinning inwardly. They climbed the fence, crossing from pasture to lawn. The foxes didn’t follow, but their bright eyes still glittered in the dusk.
Day/Theme: 9. Dark they were, and golden-eyed.
Series: Original
Character/Pairing: Josh, Beth
Rating: PG
There were foxes everywhere. It was weird and worrisome. Foxes were supposed to be shy, but these were keeping them company on the walk up the hill. Rustling around them like leaves, ember-colored eyes gleaming in the last bit of sunlight lingering over the trees, red and gray and brown foxes watched them from every side.
Beth had taken his arm when she had first noticed them, and Josh was unnerved enough not to shrug her off. They had both been anxious to get out of the house that night. Josh had decided to go see the Biker and Beth had jumped at the chance to go to and visit her new friend in the same boarding house. The sun had been setting and anything seemed better than hiding in their rooms until morning.
Their mother was on the war path, Their father was in some happy farmer land where all he had to worry about was the next rain. The other brothers were acting possessed. Aaron, the older brother was a silent, shrugging zombie, only paying any attention to that puppy he had found. Matt, the usually aloof younger brother had finally discovered his hormones where the new girl at the boarding house was concerned and had been unbearable since.
The unnatural tension in the house had given way to the unnatural tension in the world. The foxes didn’t try to stop them, but kept in a circle around them the whole way, always moving, scurrying. It made Josh’s skin prickle and he could tell Beth was frightened too. The smell of fox musk was strong and unpleasant, and the faint chatter of the creatures bickering as they circled made it seem more sinister.
“Anything in your books about foxes?” he asked, voice sounding out of place on the hillside. He could see the boarding house lights through the trees and kept his pace steady. He had a hideous feeling that if he ran, that circle of sharp, quick bodies would close around them.
“No,” she whispered. “What do you think they want?”
“Hey,” he said, as if it had just occurred to him, as if he hadn’t been trying to find a way to ask her about this. “Remember the summer you got followed by that dog?”
“Yeah…” she looked at him strangely.
“The Biker saw one of those once,” he went on. “On the road.”
“Really?” she looked away from the wall of yellow eyes around them to squint at him with interest. “Did it… was he scared?”
“It’s the only thing he remembers before his accident,” Josh said, knowing exactly what would reel her in. Sure enough, her own dark eyes went wide.
“Really??” she asked again.
“Yeah. He’s seen all kinds of things. You should get him to tell you some of his ghost stories some time.” Josh couldn’t imagine the Biker holding story time for his little sister, but he had wanted to talk to her about the Dog, and Josh knew it might take a little wooing. “Want to meet him?”
“I told Mom I was going to see Whitney first,” Beth said. “She said not to go anywhere else.”
“What are you, four?” Josh asked, not waiting for an answer. “You’re not running off to the Vegas Grease Rally with him. Just stick your head in and say hi. I won’t tell Mom. He might like having somebody not assume the worst about him for a change.”
That hit exactly where it was supposed to. Beth, as absorbed in stories and fairy tale as she was, had a very teenage girl-shaped soft spot for the misunderstood outcast. Her cautious expression melted in sympathy.
“If you don’t think he’ll mind…” she began and then a fox darted a little too close to her feet. She yipped and broke into a nervous jog, pulling him along. They were almost to the fence.
“I keep trying to tell you people he’s not a bad guy,” Josh pretended to complain, grinning inwardly. They climbed the fence, crossing from pasture to lawn. The foxes didn’t follow, but their bright eyes still glittered in the dusk.