Story 25/52
-----
the cat in the woods
it's somewhere in this patch of the woods. it's here. It has to be. this is where she buried it and oh my god, she can't have lost it, not now, not when the flames are coming. she needs to find it. mushrooms, plants, small insects. there are bones from the carcasses of small rodents and her finger lingers on the bone for an instant, waits for the soul of the mouse or rabbit to patch itself onto her finger and moves on. one more soul, one more creature. she has almost enough.
her feet are cold against the tree trunk she is standing on. she can hear the men in the back, shouting, asking the women to take the children, take the animals they can. the fire is coming to take the village and there's not much they can do. but she does need to find it. she needs it desperately.
if she doesn't find it, she won't be able to carry the souls of the dead.
she considers dropping the soul of the small animal to leave more space for the humans, but she knows she won't be able to. all souls are alike, she was told. humans or animals, they are equal. neither has predominance.
a small rat makes its way through the wood and stops, stares at her. she hisses. the rat isn't impressed, but the tiny paws come together and she knows it's one of her own. she's probably looking for souls to save, as well. they share a look and the rat moves on.
'take them for me, would you?' she whispers, and she swears she can see the faintest nod. she can go back to searching for the vial. it's somewhere in here.
------
I hope you like this. I really, really, really hope you like this, because today I finally feel like I'm telling stories again. this photo feels like a new beginning, like coming home, like doing what I love. I'm actually happy about it. And all I had to do was to get out of the house and shoot. i realized this week that I hadn't taken my stuff and gone into the woods to shoot in almost a year and a half. I forced myself to do it on wednesday, because it was sunny and warm and I wanted to try out my 1.4 in the wild — and this came out. I am so very happy about it. I hope you are too.
And let's hope I'm able to keep up doing this, and not slacking like I have been until now.
Thank you so much for your immense support, dear friends. You guys are amazing.
I am less than fifty followers away from 2,000, on my facebook page! Don't forget to like it and to tell your friends, I am doing a print giveaway as soon as I reach 2k!
-----
-----
I will keep asking: do not blog my photos without credit AND linking back; do not use weheartit.com to bookmark my photos and please please PLEASE don't instagram my work. Thanks to those of you who respect these requests.
