A Hollow in the Roots

Crouching low behind a tangle of gnarled roots... *khhh*... I paused to watch the fireflies drift through the dark thicket. A soft scrape against wood caught my ear. Slowly, without rustling a single twig, I leaned forward and extended one claw toward a rounded, smooth river stone wedged inside the root pocket. *Click.* I pushed it gently aside. The damp cavity behind it smelled of rich earth and decaying bark. I slipped in backward, tucking my legs beneath me until my frayed fibers meshed completely with the hanging moss. Safe. The forest settled into its nocturnal hum.