Maggie Kaplan

One Night in the Woods

The only sound in the forest besides the pounding of Artemis’ feet through the underbrush was the pounding of her heart in her chest. The light of the moon was her only companion as she hurdled overgrown bushes and dodged unruly branches and tried to keep her panting breaths quiet. Her feet had gone numb some time ago but she couldn’t afford to stop now. To stop would be to allow herself to be caught, and to be caught was to die.