/authors/a.s.h/ Recent content in A.S.H on Utopia Stories Library Hugo en-us /stories/71376/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 /stories/71376/ <p><em><strong>Author's Note:</strong> A strange little tale. First piece I&rsquo;ve ever posted anywhere. Hope you enjoy.</em></p> <p><strong>Chapter 1</strong></p> <p>It had been too simple. She had watched the scholar have his home built in her woods almost half a year ago, fists clenched in envy. The scholar&rsquo;s property was immense, high walls of stone and sprawling gardens of loam and lush that made her quiver. She had tried to put it out of her head. Finally, she gave in. She could eat from such a garden without such things drawing notice surely? Why should she not? It was her forest she smouldered and her tail tensed like a briar at the thought of some stranger eating rich fowl by a crackling fireplace as she huddled under a fir and gnawed on pinecones mournfully. It had been too simple. A single green-eyed jump from the overhanging willow into the stranger&rsquo;s gardens under the veil of moonlight. She picked herself up and stood suddenly weary. The walls startled her as they flickered and danced with bright shapes all around her like a constellation of fiery snowflakes. She covered her eyes with her arms just before the shapes flared like exploding stars in her eyes. She felt fine gravel greet her as she fell like a bird stunned by a thunderstorm.</p>