garrattj

Five-Minute fiction - 23:43-23:48

Thanus dropped from the limb of the tree and sprinted across the open ground. He heard the catcalls and felt the whistle of sticks and stones as they landed in his wake. He spared a glance over his shoulder and saw the three other boys in pursuit. They were much larger than him, the eldest being more than two-years his senior. They slowed their pace only to throw more missiles, but even those dips in speed were not enough for Thanus to open the gap.

The edge of the forest loomed closer. The soft fertile ground of the fields giving way to the treacherous wild land that separated the fields from the forest. Here and there roots protruded from the ground some so thick they appeared as human limbs half exposed. The trees of the forest were immense. The one he had taken refuge in was an insignificant speck to the larger sentinels that dominated the woods.

Another glance caught the three boys slowing their pace as they neared the edge of the wood. Their footsteps faltering in the face of the impending