✨️❗️NOVEL STORYTIME❗️✨️
Hi everyone! Welcome back to another Tuesday Novel Storytime, this time featuring an excerpt from chapter 6 of my novel Dog Down. Let me know what you think, and thanks for reading!
CW: animals in danger, talk of zombies
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After a few seconds, Indigo was almost certain whatever it was had been a trick of the mind, but before long, she noticed something much smaller than a human moving through the hedges along the house closest to them. Indigo knew this was no strange human, the strange humans were much bigger than whatever this was, but she was confused as to why this creature was stalking its way towards them.
The shape stopped just short of the edge of the hedge, a little too far away for Indigo to call out to, but she could see a pair of eyes staring at her through the foliage.
A cat? Indigo voiced to herself, confused as to why a cat was interested in them. Indigo herself didn’t know much about them, only that they were often allowed to roam freely in a way her kind were not, tended to act aloof, and that they generally did not like her kind much at all.
“Come,” Rosa beckoned, drawing Indigo’s attention back to the two young humans as they resumed their backtracking. When she looked back at the hedge, the eyes were gone.
Indigo didn’t know what to make of it and decided to just ignore it as she trailed behind the young humans.
They spent about an hour or so walking, the children casually speaking about the weather or what they might eat for dinner. Indigo, however, grew worried as she had no idea by sight or smell or sign where they were headed. She wondered if Rosa and Juan even knew where they were headed. They didn’t seem to be following a large piece of paper the way Mira did.
As they walked down the sidewalk, movement caught Indigo’s attention again. She turned her head towards the houses, where she glimpsed the shape of a small animal darting over the wall separating them. It vanished into the shadows though, but Indigo was certain she’d seen pointed ears and a long tail.
During the first water break of the day Indigo drank very little, focusing on the houses around them for signs of… anything. She even huffed in frustration, and while the noise was subtle it was enough for Rosa to notice this time. The older child glanced in the same direction as Indigo. “What is it, girl?” she asked, leaning down to pet Indigo between the ears with worry in her voice. Indigo realized she was probably setting the young humans on edge and decided to relax a bit, turning away from the houses to lean her head upwards into Rosa’s touch. That seemed to do the trick, the girl’s shoulders going slack with relief, and it wasn’t long before they were on their way again, traversing down the street in no particular direction.
When they rounded the next bend, however, there sat a large black cat, right in the middle of the sidewalk about ten feet from them. Indigo halted, glancing back to see that Rosa and Juan had as well.
“What’s wrong?” Juan voiced to the elder, who shrugged out of the corner of Indigo’s eye.
Rosa looked to where Indigo was looking, and tilted her head curiously before saying, “There’s a cat.”
The cat, tail swishing behind it, was otherwise still. Indigo watched it closely, her own tail growing still, as she considered whether this animal was friend or foe. It was hard to believe it could be foe when they all seemed to be at the mercy of the strange humans, but Indigo had never talked to a cat before and had no idea what to expect. And as the children tried to figure out what was going on Indigo took a cautious step towards the cat.
The cat took a step towards Indigo...
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