Huntress

Trifecta: Week Sixty-Three

This week's word is:

PATH
1: a trodden way
2: a track specially constructed for a particular use
3a : course, route
  b : a way of life, conduct, or thought

Please remember:

• Your response must be between 33 and 333 words.

• You must use the 3rd definition of the given word in your post.

• The word itself needs to be included in your response.

• You may not use a variation of the word; it needs to be exactly as stated above. 

• Only one entry per writer.
• Trifecta is open to everyone.  Please join us.

The forest floor was thick with decaying leaves, the gnarled trees that shed them yearly loomed over an often followed animal trail. She trotted south along the track for several hours, stopping regularly to verify that she still had the scent. 

She came to a fork in the trail, one leg still pointing south, the other veering to the east. 

East, she could make out the first blush of sunrise. Her ears sorted the clicks of beetles scuttling in the deadfall and squirrels scurrying in the canopy.  The forest's daytime crew, roused by the morning clamor of robins. 

South, darkness retained its grip. Yet, no night thing scuttled.  An unnatural hush crowded the bedimmed trail. Trees bent, limbs stretching down, as if to block the way. 

She cast a envious glance to the east, then chased the scent into the shadowed silence. Her path had been chosen for her long ago.