The Calm Of The Beast

CAlM OF THE beAST Olivia SUTTON, 2021

Fiction: First Place

The forest was awakening; the sun had just begun to rise in the East. The sky shifted slowly into pastel shades of purple and pink, and faint rays of light projected through the great oak trees onto the forest floor. A little bird perched on a large, twisted branch. It peered down towards a small deer grazing in a patch of dew-covered grass. A squirrel darted toward a thin tree lightly crunching the dried leaves along the way and sprung into a small opening in its center. In high branches birds sang sweet songs to each other. The sun’s light brought a comforting warmth that drove out the chill of night, but a cool breeze lingered in the air. A peculiar creature wandered into the woods that day. She strolled along aimlessly, kicking leaves up with her little feet, and humming to the song of the birds. Her hair was short, but tangled and knotted. The forest called to her like a voice, it compelled her towards it and she took in all of it. As she continued on, the smell of pine nuts and oak made her feel at home. The beauty of creatures enchanted her and the serene, steadiness of the woods brought peace to her heart. She felt one with the forest, as if she belonged to it. After walking for some time, she broke her gaze from the fallen leaves and looked ahead. She was deep in the forest. She gazed out and she saw trees as far as her eyes could reach. She realized she hadn’t the slightest idea of the direction from which she had come. Suddenly, she heard a heavy noise of crunching leaves and the rustle of a bush. She twirled around only to see the uninterrupted expanse of trees behind her. Thinking the noise could have been a rabbit or perhaps a fox, she turned back around. She gasped. She gazed into the dark brown face of a large beast. His black eyes stared intensely into the green of hers, his breath blew hotly against her face. She felt the beast’s drool fall onto her bare feet. She did not scream or cry out. Instead, she shut her eyes tightly and awaited being torn apart, eaten, or swallowed whole. But everything remained still, painfully still. She drew in a shallow breath, trying to remain as frozen as her body would allow, and ever so slowly peeked open her right eye to see if the beast had moved. He had. The beast now sat a couple feet in front of her, watching her closely. It surprised her that she had not heard him move away. Seeing him clearly now, the girl knew this was a bear. He was the most immense creature she had ever laid eyes upon, and his matted fur was rich brown. She lowered her eyes without head movement and found that each of his paws was the size of her head. His claws were the size of small daggers. He looked at her quietly, maybe even with a glint of curiosity in his eyes. She stepped back cautiously, keeping one eye on the beast. It wasn’t until she was lengths away that she turned around and bolted off. She ran as swiftly as she could over the forest floor. She felt her heart pounding in her chest as she gasped for air but she raced on. She did not falter until her legs started to ache unbearably, and her body grew weary. Once she regained her breath and brought her mind back to reality,