Run for your Bite-Sized Life
There's a distinct shortage of tree above you; you got here from above, and now you wish you'd kept those wings a little bit longer. As it is, there's nowhere to go but down. You're sprinting before you even finish the thought - good reflexes are one of the few advantages of being a rodent - and you try not to think about the drop beneath you as you race headfirst toward the ground. You search frantically for shelter of any kind. The eagle flaps its wings above you. Your ears pick up the rush of air as it goes into a dive -
There! A hole in the trunk! You dart inside and squeeze as far from the opening as you can. The eagle pulls up short outside, screeching and flapping at the hole. You catch glimpses of two angry eyes and a set of very sharp talons. After a few seconds, the eagle gives up and flies away. You're safe - at least for now.
Unfortunately, being a squirrel means that every predator larger than a shrew is going to want to eat you. You decide to stay in the hole for a while.
You curl up to rest and calm your quivering herbivorous nerves. Running for your life is tiring work. You've had a rough day, and it's likely to keep being rough until you turn back into a human - or, at least, something less edible. The changes only seem to happen when you touch trees. Maybe you'd turn into something better on the ground...
You wake up a few hours later. The opening of the hole is dark, and you can hear night breezes blowing through the leaves outside. The tree sways gently back and forth. You're quite warm in here, curled up in a fluffy tail almost as large as your body; it's no wonder you fell asleep.
Of course, now you have to decide whether to spend the night here. The forest isn't safe for a squirrel at night. (It wasn't safe in the day either, but at least you could see what was trying to eat you.) On the other hand, there's a good chance this hole is inhabited, and the longer you stay, the more likely it is that the owner will come back and find you...
Written by Chrysalis on 11 May 2009