Change in Life

Chapter 7. Dreams Come True

It was around about four in the morning when it happened. Blake's feeling began to grow and got stronger by the second. The animal that was following him was near and making a bee-line for him. Snapping out of his stupor, he woke, sat up in his bed and looked around as the churning of his energy overwhelmed him.

'How can that be?' he whispered, almost as quietly as a thought.

He quickly got up and ran to his window. And there it was. He saw, in the darkness of the night, hidden in the shadow of the chicken hutch...

A fox! 

He couldn't believe it. The animal that had been following him was a fox. Their eyes met in the darkness and his spirit danced, along with that of the fox's. The knowledge this simple eye contact brought was extraordinary. The feeling inside had been his spirit!

His joy was short lived as he noticed the fox diverting gazes from him to gleefully eyeing the chicken hutch. Soon it began digging under the chain-link fencing wire wall as its stomach growled furiously.

Blake whispered in horror, 'Oh no!'

He knew  if the chickens made one sound at this time of night, his father would come out with his gun and kill the fox in cold blood. His fear came true as the chickens clucked in panic at seeing the intruder. With a quick chase around the hutch which looked more like a person deciding what to take from the buffet, the fox quickly grabbed one of the chickens by the neck and went back under the fence in a fluid motion. Despite the situation, Blake was impressed. They really were as graceful as he thought. 

After looking at Blake one more time with drops of chicken blood dripping from its mouth the fox starting running. A commotion broke out down stairs and the front door swung opened. Blake held his breath as his father came out with his gun and spotted the fox. With the motion of a well trained professional, his father brought the barrel up in a swift arch.

Crack!

Fortunately, for the fox and Blake, he missed. It was already too far in front. The battle wasn't over yet. It was just beginning. Even though the fox was out of site and clearly won this fight, his father was still determined to get it.

'I swear, I'm gonna kill every single one of them!' he yelled. Jumping into the Land Rover, his father pursued the fox into the fields.

Blake could no longer see them as they receded over the hill, and within minutes he could no longer hear his father's car. Still at his window in utter stillness, Blake looked out in the darkness in suspense.

A minutes had past - it might as well have been an hour by how it felt - and Blake still didn't hear a thing. Then suddenly, a sharp rumble echoed over the hills, barely heard. Blake jarred his head back and fell to his knees as he felt a tremendous impact pain in his side. His eyes started to water and he wanted to scream as he felt his insides tear.

He had been shot!

He looked down at where the impact was expecting to find his guts spilling out. To his surprise there was no sign of any blood, nor any bruising to suggest anything had happened at all. There was just the tremendous pain. At that moment, he knew for sure that not only did the fox and he have the same bond, but also that his father had just successfully shot it.

Blake was still on the ground gasping for breath as he heard his father's car pull up in the driveway a couple of minutes later. Over his rapid breathing and cringed exasperation of pain, he listened very carefully. His mother had come outside and was waiting on the veranda. He could hear his parents talking quietly.

'Did you get it?' asked his mother with anticipation.

'Yeah, I got her!' said his father, quite proud of the shot he managed to pull off in the early morning have just being rudely woken.