Jade Hears

One-Minute Writer Fiction Friday prompt:

Write a brief bit of fiction. Focus especially on the sense of sound, trying to help the reader "hear" what your character(s) hear.




JADE HEARS

Crunch, crunch, crunch ... Jade lay perfectly still, almost as if a statue. She had come upon the beautiful meadow while hiking from the mountains, heading toward the nearest town. She was very tired from her journey and had decided to take a nap in the cool green grass.

Of course, letting down her guard to rest meant that her glamour was not working, but in this case, it didn't matter. Her luminous, pale green skin blended in with the grass of the meadow, making her virtually invisible.

Crunch, crunch, crunch ... Jade slowly raised up on her thin elbows and looked in the direction of the strange noise. There, almost 20 yards from where she lay was a tiny creature eating some green clover. Searching the vast database in her brain, she decided this must be what the Earthlings called a rabbit - "Any of various long-eared, short-tailed, burrowing mammals of the family Leporidae."

As if the rabbit could hear her thinking, it stopped chewing and stood perfectly still with the exception of the pink twitching nose. After a few minutes of immobility, the rabbit suddenly bolted into the neighboring woods.

Jade sighed, then lay back down in the cool grass. Trying to empty her mind, she became to earnestly listen to the other noises surrounding her.

Buzz, buzz, buzz ... a honeybee collecting pollen - "Any of several social bees of the genus Apis that produce honey."

Caw ca, Caw ca, Caw ca ... a raven flying overhead - "A large bird, Corvus corax, having black plumage and a croaking cry."

Trickle, trickle, trickle ... she knew this sound instinctively - there must be a creek or small waterfall nearby. This was good, now she knew there was a convenient place to get fresh water.

Swish, swish, swish ... the rapidly flipping tail of a red fox - "A fox of the genus Vulpes, characteristically having reddish fur."

Coo coo, Coo coo, Coo coo ... the lonely call of the mourning dove - "A grayish-brown, swift-flying wild dove, Zenaidura macroura, of North America, noted for its mournful call."

Rooooaaaaarrrr ... Jade sat up again, startled. This noise was not an animal! Looking overhead, she saw streaks of white flying through the sky, too high to be any type of Earth bird. Riffling through the database again, she realized this was an airplane - "Any of various winged vehicles capable of flight, generally heavier than air and driven by jet engines or propellers." Although she has learned about these "unnatural birds," Jade had no desire to see one of these face-to-face.

Finally feeling refreshed, Jade stood up and began the last leg of her journey toward the nearest town. She knew this was the beginning of the next 10 years of her life.