It was early morning and the sun shone through the trees, trailing sun beams in their wake. Nightfall winced. It was the rainy season in the swamp, and when it was not raining, the sky was often overcast. How odd then, that it was so sunny today. Normally the buck avoided the sunlight. He had learned when he was young, that the images he often saw in the sun were not seen by anyone else. A "gift", his mother had said. To tell the truth, it was more of a curse. His mother might have appreciated her visions, but those came to her in her sleep. Her ghosts did not haunt her in the daylight.
He lowered his head to pick up the small thrush he'd downed earlier and prayed that nothing would appear to him today. Just one day of peace. One day, was it so much to ask? And there he saw her, flirting in the sunlight, a specter of blue.
While she didn't usually hunt in broad daylight, her quarry was so small and quick that catching it at night would be nearly impossible. The black skinks scuttled back and forth over the roots, and she darted hither and thither, trying to crush their skulls with her hooves. They were small, but these particular skinks had a unique, savory taste that she just hadn't been able to find in any other variety, and they made a nice treat between more substantial kills.
