Sparrow

This a piece that I wrote for my online writing class. It's a prologue/introducing character/introducing the setting thing. Yup...hope you enjoy :)

Sparrow stretched out on the ground and closed her bright green eyes, trying to relax. She heard a twig snap behind her and shot up quickly, her body tensing, ready to run. She surveyed the dense forest around her, searching for the source of the sound. It was middle October, and many of the leaves had fallen from the tall trees around her, making it easier to see -- and be seen.

After scanning her area with a practiced eye, Sparrow caught sight of a squirrel holding an acorn a yard or so away from her. It cocked its head at her, as though puzzled as to how she got so close to him without him realizing it. After a short pause, the squirrel went on with his business of finding a place to store his provisions, and Sparrow breathed a sigh of relief and tugged her gray jacket more tightly around her settling down silently on the forest floor.

She lay on her back, looking at the October sky, her bright orange hair spread out around her head, almost matching the leaves she used as a pillow. The sky was the clearest and brightest blue of any other time of the year, and she smiled as she watched the puffy white clouds drift by over her head. She wore a different smile at this moment than she usually did; one of contentment, rather than triumph or spite.

Her tranquility was short-lived, however.

A short while later, after Sparrow had allowed herself to fall into a light sleep she was abruptly awakened by familiar sounds. Unwelcome sounds. Large footsteps marched through the forest, snapping branches and crunching leaves. The ominous men that made the sounds didn’t try to keep their tones quiet as their gruff voices called out words that Sparrow didn’t care to make sense of.

The now-familiar feeling of fear welled up in Sparrow’s stomach. She hated the feeling more than anything else, and tried to push it away as she jumped up from her position on the forest floor and sprinted as fast as she could in the opposite direction of the voices.

She expertly dodged tree branches and jumped over logs and ditches without once slowing down. The forest walls became a blur of brown, orange and green and she continued, aware all the while that she was being followed closely by her pursuers.

She began to grow tired as she reached the edge of the forest. She slowed slightly as she pushed through the undergrowth. She had come to a meadow; there was no place to hide here. Sparrow slowed to a full stop, completely out of energy. Her slight body was shaking with exertion as she inwardly cursed herself for running in a blind panic without even a plan of where to go.

Behind her, the sounds of her hunters drew nearer, and she didn’t try to run. There was no escaping them now, and she would face them bravely. She turned around and watched as out of the forest came two large, dark-haired men. One of them was holding a cage, and the other reached forward swiftly and grabbed Sparrow’s thin arm. She tried wriggling free in a last ditch attempt to escape her captors, but the men just laughed at her attempts.

“Here’s a birdcage for the little sparrow!” One of them joked as he shoved her inside in the cage, designed for a large dog. Her tattered blue jeans caught on the rusty metal, and she just managed to tug herself free as the other man laughed locked her inside. The two men lifted her cage easily and began the long trek back the way they had come.

Sparrow didn’t cry as the trapped feeling began to close in on her again. All she felt was raw disappointment and rage and she watched what she thought was her last safe-haven disappearing slowly before her eyes.