The Whisper of the Storm

A loud banging on Petunia’s door awoke her from her slumber. She stretched her little furry legs and rolled upright, shaking the little bits of dirt from her smooth, silky light brown fur. She hopped on over to her tiny wooden door in her burrow and opened it slowly, cautious of who was on the other side of it. Her seafoam green eyes peered outside and there stood her friend Dixie, a human with wild blue eyes and blonde hair tumbling down to her waist. Dixie wasn’t like any of her friends. She was a little different. When she was just about 7, her and her father went on a camping trip during the summer while her mom was away in Tampa for work. Wildlife was all around her, and she always felt a special connection to it, like that thousand year old instinct that stuck with you even if you tried to shake it. On that camping trip, she met a little bunny when she came back from taking a short walk. The bunny snuck it’s way inside her tent that she accidentally left open, and was rummaging through her little pack which was stacked high to the brim with snacks she insisted on bringing along. She was calm and took a seat on the blankets that spread across the interior of the tent and opened up a little packet of some graham crackers. She held one out to the small creature and it graciously accepted. She giggled as the bunny quickly ate it and the only remains were little crumbs glued to the sides of her mouth. 

    “Thank you, that was quite delectable,” The bunny suddenly spoke as it sat back on its hind legs.    

    “You talk,” Noticed Dixie, who gawked at the sight of the bunny moving its mouth back and forth. 

    “Why yes, of course I can talk,” Replied the bunny, a little confused. 

    “How can I hear you?” Questioned Dixie, tilting her head in bewilderment. 

    “Well, I guess just the same as I hear you,” The little fuzzy creature replied. 

    Truth was that that bunny was Petunia, and even 5 years from then she was still her friend. Everyone at Dixie’s school had turned their backs on her and her friends abandoned her because they all thought that she was crazy when she talked to a dog or said a greeting to a nearby bird flying home from grabbing a meal. They all stayed away from her, and Dixie had no option but to retreat to her forest friends where she was always welcome in their hearts. Over the years Dixie and Petunia had spent day and night together taking walks in the forest, visiting some of Petunia’s friends, and the thing that the little bunny was most fond of - Dixie’s tea parties where they were seated at a little plastic pink table in her backyard and ate cookies and drank milk which was supposed to be the tea. Unfortunately Dixie seemed to mature out of that stage quite quickly, but she still enjoyed taking little trips to visit her forest friends that had become almost like her family. 

    “Hello, dear!” Petunia greeted Dixie with a little smile as her cheeks rose with happiness. 

    “Morning Petunia!” Dixie replied. “Ready?”

    “Ready as I’ll ever be!”

    Petunia hopped on outside into the fresh early spring morning. Leafs of the most vibrant and beautiful shades of all different greens decorated the trees in a blanket of beauty. Squirrels ran around playing chase and the wind blew gently leveling the temperature to being just right. Petunia and Dixie started along on their journey and into the depths of the forest. Trees surrounded every area visible, and you could not see anything else but them as far as the eye could see. Bushes rustled with the breeze, and the birds chirped cheerfully as they flew all around the trees, taking a rest on a branch before fluttering their wings and flying away. Finally they came to a little opening that made you feel as if you were in the most beautiful dream. Soft tufts of grass were laid out and animals surrounded the area ranging from small field mice to deer and even a friendly bear wanting to join in on the festivities. Birds of all shapes and sizes were sprinkled across the trees as they chirped their greeting to one another. But to Dixie, who was not the usual outsider, chatter was heard all around as the animals talked to one another. The animals liked to spend time with Dixie, and had organized a little fun gathering to hang out with one another. All the chattering stopped and all heads turned to the main event. The animals all crowded over Petunia and Dixie, saying their greeting and doing their best to give her a hug. The deer wrapped one of their hoofs around her while the birds landed on her head and the mice sat on her sneakers. She gave out a little snicker as all the animals surrounded her with smiles. 

    “How are you dear?” Asked a little hedgehog who was sitting with her baby. 

    “I’m good!” Replied Dixie with a warm smile. 

    “What have you been up to? We missed you!” Cried out a baby squirrel as he came running over to her. 

    “Just school and spending my days with Petunia,” She responded. 

    “Well,” said Petunia as she hopped on up to Dixie’s side, “Let the festivities begin!” 

    Everyone turned and spread out across the large area where tables had been set up with some berries and cheese. Dixie ran over to one of the tables and switched on a dusty radio. Party music sprayed out of the crudded speakers, and everyone started to dance around. Others went over to the food and started to try some that they hadn’t ever had. Dixie took a piece of cheese and handed it to a badger, who stuffed it in her mouth wildly. Her eyes went wide, and sat there with a big grin on her face. 

    “That was so delicious!! I’ve never had anything that good in my life!” 

    Dixie gave a slight chuckle seeing the little badger’s reaction. “That’s something called cheese.” 

    “Ooh, cheese. Well I would love some more of it!” Asked the badger politely. 

    “Of course!” Dixie took a few more small slices and knelt down as she handed them to the badger who immediately started stuffing them in her mouth. 

    Dixie started dancing with some of the animals as they moved their hoofs and walked around her. BANG. A gunshot echoed so close to them that Dixie dropped to the ground, covering her ears and keeping her head down. BANG. Another gunshot echoed out, this time closer. All the animals screamed in terror and some of the little ones started to cry. They all ran away in a blur, not stopping or turning around. They all heard the shouting of humans yelling to hurry up and shoot again. Petunia hopped over to Dixie and told her to run. The two of them took off straight into the woods, mindless of where they were going. More shots rang off in the distance, pumping their legs even more in a rush to not be next. Petunia tripped over a root, flinging herself onto her back. Without thinking, Dixie reached down and picked up Petunia and kept on running until they were out of range from the loud, distressed noises of gunfire. 

    “Do you think anyone got hurt?” Asked Dixie in a small voice as her eyes became watery. 

    “I’m not sure. But I can’t hear any more gunfire,” Replied Petunia, panting heavily from the rough journey. 

    “Um… where are we exactly?” Questioned Dixie as they both looked around at never-ending trees laid underneath dark, gray clouds that covered the sky. 

    “I’m not quite sure, but we need to get home fast. Those clouds are turning grayer by the second, and it’ll be impossible to find our way home after it starts to rain,” Replied Petunia with a sense of determination in her voice. 

    Without another word the two friends set off on their very journey they each dreamed of having, but not as nice and pleasant as they hoped. They came across puddles of mud surrounded by moss tufts and crabgrass sprouting everywhere, tunneling the old, fluffy grass into the depths of its palms. After walking several minutes and seeing no landmarks that looked familiar, they started on another direction in hope that they could make it back to Petunia’s burrow. That eventually led to a dead end and they started to argue back and forth about how to get home. 

    “Ok, we’re just walking in circles!” Shouted Dixie in frustration.

    “Well that kind of attitude isn’t helping!” Fired Petunia. 

    Suddenly an idea came to Petunia as Dixie kept yelling at her. 

    “Hey,” She said, trying to snap Dixie out of her rant. “Hey! Look. See the moss on those trees? That moss grows on the north side of them, meaning that that way is north!” Petunia said in realization. 

    “You live on the east side of the forest, so we have to go this way!” Dixie pointed down a long, winding path filled with rocks and roots. 

    “Let’s go,” Shouted Petunia as she started hopping down the path. 

    The two friends ran throughout the forest, panting desperately as they kept pounding up the mossy dirt. Suddenly Dixie stopped in her track, putting her finger up to her forehead. 

    “What’re you doing?” Asked Petunia. “We still have a ways to go!” She started to lose her patience with Dixie.

    “Oh no,” came an unsettling voice. “It’s starting to rain.”

    Petunia had a long look on her face, but turned around and kept running down the path faster than ever, Dixie hot on her heels. Drops of water pelted their fur and skin as the path became dangerously slippery. Dixie slid on the moss but saved herself from hitting a tree. 

    “I think we’re almost there!” Shouted Petunia as she tried to get Dixie’s attention over the loud pelting of the rain on the trees thick, sturdy trunks. Suddenly Petunia halted to a stop as she doubled over backwards. Dixie followed Petunia’s lead as they stopped in the middle of the path as the rain kept going as it wet their fur and hair and left their eyesight blurry. What lay ahead of them nearly made their hearts stop. Cars flew past them at tremendous speeds as puddles were splashed to the side. 

    “What!?” Screeched Dixie. 

    “We must have been going the wrong way the entire time!” Shouted Petunia as she quivered with coldness and fear. 

    “So where are we even?” Asked Dixie who wasn’t much better.

    “I don’t know.”