Jesco

“Dum da duh…. dum dum dum… da duh da duh…”.

Jesco was apparently alone in the forest - quite a nice one also - which meant he was completely himself… he would be the first to admit that maybe he was too much himself at the moment. He could hardly resist the splendour of the afternoon; sun shinning, a light breeze, birdsong. Jess hummed along with them though his voice was a far cry from melodious. But as there was no one around to see him or hear him, Jesco continued on his way, wandering aimlessly this way and that to examine a certain plant or hop over a peeking root. It was enough to convince a stranger that he was slightly crazy. And he wasn’t… not really, he was just Jesco.

“Dum da duh… na nuh… dum d-”.

Now there is a time for a casual stroll through the woods on a pretty day: this was NOT it. Nope, not at all. Eyes captivated by the interesting patterns that a snaking root made through the earth, Jess came round a tree trunk and…

A nervous chuckle bubbled from Jesco’s mouth as the three large brutes turned their yellow stares upon him. Too late, the small male cut his foolish, awkward laugh, but a toothy grin refused to let him escape embarrassment. For a moment that lasted way too long, Jesco smiled stupidly at the three wolves - who where noticeably much larger than he. They didn’t smile back. Really, if he wasn’t imagining it, they looked rather mean. Not quite sure what to do with himself, Jesco rocked from side to side and fumbled out another higher pitched laugh that came way to close to being a giggle. Yeah… time to go.

Nodding absurdly, his dainty lips mouthed something like an apology while his brain puzzled itself on where his voice had gone exactly, Jesco turned on his heel and made off in the other direction. At first he forced himself to maintain his leisurely walk - if they saw that he was doing nothing interesting, they would just forget about him right? Wrong.

“Huh?”. Popping his head up as apparently the small guy was incapable of being smooth, Jesco froze like a rabbit when he heard the footsteps. “Nope nope… not good”. A side effect of being a lonesome fellow - still talking to oneself when being followed by three big guys was not the smartest thing. Maybe he realized this… or maybe it was the sound of quickening steps that sent a nervous noise out of his lips.

Jesco flattened his ears and picked up the pace to a nervous and twitching gait. He wasn’t so much concerned with appearing tough and keeping his pride as he was getting out of the situation. Whatever was going through their minds, Jess didn’t want any quarrel with those boys.

Then the jeers started. Hey lady, where ya off to so fast? The voice was raspy and shallow and sent noticeable shivers down Jesco’s narrow shoulders. By now his ears were pressed so tightly to his skull that they made his head throb slightly, though it didn’t help to block out the sneers and taunts from behind. Yeah… didn’t think you could walk in and leave without introducing yourself did you? Another, deeper voice chided, quickly followed by Haha, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say he’s scared!. The third voice was filled with a sickening glee that sent poor Jesco into a very ungraceful sprint.
“No, no I just have somewhere I have to be. Nothing personal - not at all”. To make matters worse, between gasps and stutters, the boy’s voice came out high and unsteady. Oh ya? Where’s that amigo, huh?. Jesco squinted his eyes shut for a moment, trying to escape this awful missap. He couldn’t imagine where he really should go. It didn’t seem like these brutes where going to give up without a little of their fun. So Jesco ran on, all the while those pursuing footsteps seemed to get closer.

Keep going keep going… CRAP TREE. Close one… log! You can jump it, come on come on! Jesco flung himself over the road stop, legs splaying out sideways as an extra precaution, though it made him land and nearly bash his chin against the ground.

Then… no you’re kidding - border line… BORDER LINE!!! Jesco dung in his claws and came to a full stop. Well not quite, first he tripped over his legs, ploughed face first into the dirt and flipped over to come to a stop backwards in time to see the three males - brown, black and grey - charging full kilt towards him.

He was doomed. Yup, this was it. Ridiculously torn between respecting the border and not getting eaten, Jess flattened himself against the ground and muttered feebly, searching for words to get himself out of this one.