Library: The plague: Book I

It was a beautiful morning in the forest. One could see the rising sun glittering on the distant snowy mountains, hear the swallows singing high above one's head, the green leaves rustling in the gentle morning wind. It was also a good day for Agnus, the forest's official fox who happened to be also the sheriff for the time being. After the death of the wise owl Mündrich, the forest had been in a state of chaos for some time until Agnus himself had gathered the lasting decent habitants of the forest and managed to evict the troublemakers, mostly consisting of Ivyl and her wolven cohorts. Agnus was padding along his usual morning route as he heard the familiar high pitched voice shouting something behind. Agnus stopped and turned around just to see his good friend Mortimer the rabbit running towards him. Agnus watched in awe as Mortimer approached, jumping from hummock to another, avoiding the huge roots and finally reaching him. "Have you heard the news, Agnus, have you?" asked the rabbit and nearly stumbled on a particularly big root. The fox stared at the rabbit, curious look in its eyes. The rabbit continued, "every animal in the eastern part of the forest is fleeing, they say RABBIT plague has infiltrated the forest!" "Oh, nonsense!", said the fox, flashing a convincing smile. "It's real this time! I've seen dead squirrels hitting the ground, badgers with huge tumours, decaying in the depths of the forest, we must RUN!", replied the worried rabbit. "You sure about this, Mo?", Agnus asked and continued, "Because if what you say is true, we must indeed leave the forest at once and embark on a long journey to find a new home, for once the plague has spread, no living thing will set foot on this soil for years." Agnus watched the nervous rabbit, chewing its own ear, and added "But before we can leave, you must find the rest of our friends and tell them we'll be keeping an emergency meeting tonight after sunset by the old oak." Mortimer nodded, glad to have such an important task appointed to him and ran as fast as he could directly to Mündrich's tree which was now overtaken by Bastion the squirrel. From there he headed to Hannibal the hedgehog's pile of dead leaves and from there to the tree where Caleb the crow and Manny the magpie lived. All the animals were terrified and agreed that they must indeed leave the cozy forest for good and promised to come to the meeting. Agnus sat down. He felt as if a huge millstone had been hung on his chest. This was something quite different from his regular duties. Each and every one of his dear friends waiting for advice, for an encouraging speech tonight. He sighed heavily, preened his whiskers for a minute and finally decided to head for the oak for much had to be taken care of before the gathering. The bright first quarter moon was rising against the blood red horizon, fooling around with the dark shadows of the forest. Hannibal crept forward, stopping every now and then to listen. The hedgehog was sure it was followed by some sharp-teethed hedgehog-eating wolf which would jump out of the shadows any second now and sink its fangs deep into his flesh. Relieved it wasn't this particular second, Hannibal kept creeping onwards until he could see the warm glow of a big campfire set by the old oak. Both the crow and the magpie were sitting on a thick branch and greeted the hedgehog, who apparently was late as all the other animals were already sitting by the fire and Agnus was standing on a big rock in front of them. Hannibal sat down next to Bastion the squirrel, stretching its little feet closer the warming flames. Agnus coughed and said, "You all know why we are here. I've done some checking up on this matter and Mortimer is right. The plague has indeed entered the forest and it's no longer safe here. The eastern quadrant's already abandoned and the plague's spreading like fire, catching up on the fleeing animals. We've got two nights and days, at most, until it reaches us." Bastion curled its tail around its body and pressed against the hedgehog. Manny dropped one of her tail feathers out of sheer fear and Mortimer's tail was poking out of a near by bush. Agnus continued, "I've studied the late Mündrich's maps for hours today and according to them there is a big fertile forest somewhere behind the northern mountains. Old Mündrich's scribblings leave much to hope for and the maps are vague as the morning mist but I'm confident we can make it there." Agnus cringed as he let the word confident out of his muzzle but kept his chin up and flashed the convincing smile for which he was known forest wide. "We will leave at dawn. Take only what's necessary for this journey will be far from easy." Agnus looked at his worried friends, sighed and continued, "The mountains are treacherous not to mention the bad-tempered mountain-goats just waiting to ram unsuspecting travellers down to certain death. But now dear friends, go and pack, eat well and try to get some sleep. At dawn, we will head for our new home." Agnus climbed down the rock and the other animals stood up, except for the rabbit who had to be dragged from the bush. Nobody said anything, only worried looks were exchanged as they split up, hearts filled with doubt and fear.

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Library: The plague: Book I