I don’t think I’ve ever posted anything about this guy before. Introducing Gailen, another of my little characters and a troublemaker in his own way.
The night was seeping in, overtaking the glimpses of sky through the canopy above. Where before the leaves were vibrant green, now they were banners of black. They rustled in the night breeze and masked the bat wings in motion among them. The moon was like a grey-white eye trying to peer through the black branches to the underbrush far below. Nocturnal movements shied away from it, lest an owl spot them in the foliage. Their wings would be softer and quieter than the hanging moss and their talons sharper than a hawthorn.
One small pair of eyes watched from the curled roots of a tree, knowing the owls weren’t the worst creatures to be found out there.
Gailen moved the leaf he’d pulled aside to check his surroundings. It rasped against the others, all crisp and long dead and easy to stack in place. He had lined a crawl space under the roots with them. The cold ground couldn’t steal his warmth there, and the tree could shield him from almost all that would come for him.
Almost. He had to hope his insulation would keep him hidden from the tree. From the ones it would tell.
Writerly Things 