Hunting is hard

She was going to do it this time. Definately. For sure.

She knew what to do, her Da showed her how a dozen dozen times.

First, find a place to hide until food passes by. Ness found a good worn trail in the woods and hunkered down naked in the dead leaves. Her natural patterns breaking up her shape and making her invisible.

Second, wait for something suitable to pass by. Four days passed by before Ness found something to strike at. In that time she saw travelers and critters pass by her snout. She shunned anything that looked too tough and scary. Even thinking about snapping up the cute tiny things made her stomach turn uncomfortably. The target she decided on was a deer. A fat, tender looking thing in foreign clothes. Its cart was parked because the draft beast had a rock in one of its hooves.

Her body tensed as she recalled the third step in hunting: strike and kill. Ness took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly to center herself. The deer’s back faced her hiding spot. It gasped in surprise at the force of her strike and her sharp teeth sinking into the loose skin on the back of its neck. Her torso and abdomen loop around the mammal’s soft body and squeezes. She hesitates for a moment when it cries out and struggles against her coils. Ness averts her eyes from the poor creature’s gaze and tightened her hug. She gave apologies muffled in fur until its heart stopped.

The last step in hunting was to eat the food. Ness yawned, dislocating her jaws. She closed her mouth around the deer’s head and walked it down her gullet. It was tiring work and she strained to swallow past its plump belly. Once finally finished Ness felt dizzy and heavy. A good yawn set her jaws back together.

She couldn’t wait to show her Da her success!