The Red One

 Her heart pounded so hard she feared the thud, thud, thud, would give her hiding spot away.  Had she run far enough?  Had she run too far? Would it find her?  With great effort, she tried to control her breathing, tried to slow her heart, tried to quiet the thud, thud, thud.

She had been preparing for a meal when it burst out into the open.  Their eyes locked and for a moment her limbs, her heart, the world froze in time.  She needed to run, there was no fighting it.  Her legs first began to tremble, then her lungs swelled as she drew in a deep breath.  With all the hope in her world, she made a break for it.  Maybe it wouldn't chase.  Oh God, it's chasing.  It's chasing me!  She turned sharp around a bush, its limbs reaching out to hold her in place.  She broke free.

She hopped over a fallen log and immediately hugged her body tight against it hoping that she might go unnoticed as it passed by.  She burrowed her body further and further under the log.  Trying to cover herself with debris from the forest floor without moving or making a sound.  She should have kept running.

A twig snapped and she heard it panting from the chase.  It was searching with its eyes, with its ears, with its nose.

"Be the log, be the dirt, be the shadow." Thud! Thud! Thud!

Then there was a sharp strong pressure on her neck.  Oh God, it found me! I'm...

"Oh, aren't you a fine little bunny for grannies stew?", it skipped away as it shoved her corpse into the small basket it carried with it.