Atrani
He didn’t know that she followed him from afar. The echo of his footsteps sing to her, his scent a trail of bread crumbs that she pursues. Father was distracted, his mind a turbulent storm.
But she, little Atrani, revels in the clarity of her mind and the acuteness of her other senses. There is no need for vision, she assures herself, when her world is laid out in a myriad of other different ways.
In, out, in, come her calculative breaths. To the left, to the right, swivel her ears. Grass, branch, water, her sense of touch screams.
It’s difficult to navigate through this unexplored land, but she doesn’t stop. She has fallen far behind him, but his scent is engraved in her mind and has coated her nostrils. The air is no longer pungent with saltiness and she no longer hears the crashing of the waves around her. They’ve left Ischia, she confirms to herself mutedly as she hangs another hesitant turn around a tree. Only hours prior her hooves were being cradled by warm sand, but it has since been replaced by soil and grass. The texture is different; she doesn’t know where she is, only that father is here (or, at least passing through).
Another lungful of air guides her around a boulder, but the air also stabs her with something new, something different. The stench of smoke quivers her nostrils and she instinctively shies her head away, but then she raises herself again with her muzzle lifted. She doesn’t see the volcano – she doesn’t see anything – but she smells it, feels it towering above her like a titan. An inquisitive shiver cartwheels down her back, but she doesn’t move. Her spindly legs are suddenly rooted to the ground – it’s soft, inviting, and reminds her of the meadow – and she doesn’t even utter a sound. Father is in the distance; she can smell him and she can smell the girl that he’s with (the scent rings an alarm in her mind, reminding her of when she was first born when father reeked of her).
Atrani bristles with realization, but otherwise remains quiet and motionless.
dove into her eyes and starved all the fears
picture by haenuli shin- HTML by Call - words: ________
[Image: callwolf_zpsasro4cel.png]