“Sometimes I must leave the only home I’ve ever known...” •I have had a crush in my best friend for months now. Well, my boy best friend. I decided to tell him today under my favorite willow tree. My heart was pounding as I walked beside him. My paws started to sweat and I was thinking of turning back. No, I’m telling him. No matter how stressed I am, I just want to be with him, for years, or maybe even the rest of my life. We sat down and as his silver fur pressed against mine, a jolt of shock shivered up my spine and I started to blush. He noticed. “Ummm… Is there something you would like to tell me?” His blue eyes stared into mine and I blushed harder. “Oh uhh…no…” I looked away. Silence was still. Even the trees didn’t blow and the grass didn’t sway. Finally he spoke. “Oh I forgot to tell you. Someone else is coming that I’d like you to meet.” “Oh, is it a friend of yours?” I asked. “Well, maybe more than a friend….” He paused. “Wait…w-what do you-“ footsteps trotted towards us. “Hey guys!” She yipped. I stared at her. She bumped my shoulder in a playful manner. I just chuckled. But then, she kissed him. She touched noses with Silver. Pain bursted into my chest. My breathing became heavier. “Is something wrong? Do you need me to take you back?” He asked. “No……no I’m fine…. I need to go…” I stood up. My legs were shaking. “Oh, okay. See you Rory.” “Bye……” it started as a trot, then a canter, and then a sprint. I held in my tears as they could still hear and see me. Trees brushed past me and bugs and branches whipped behind me. My paws pounding the dry dirt and gravel and small stalks of grass. My ears where ringing and my chest was acing. I felt as though I would burst. Then I stopped. I stared into the woods. I dropped and curled up. I sobbed. “He doesn’t need me…” I whispered. The pain searing deeper and deeper at every thought of him. “He doesn’t need me.” I stood up. Maybe I could leave this reached pack. The pack that doesn’t need me. I trotted and soon I froze in my place. This is where they found me. Under this very redwood standing big and great and bold. And the claw marks. The claw mark that mark the border. The path I never knew was here. “They don’t need me and they never will….” I thought. I looked through the forest and the open meadow before me. I looked back. I would be leaving the only home I’ve ever known. I looked ahead. The only thing I had to cross was this oak. I made my decision. I lifted my paw and took a step over the border.
•Art: me •app: procreate •characters: me
