{delilah} this one's for you

For weeks, Hatter had been alone, with no one to keep him company save for the usual birds and bugs of the forest. Since he hadn't had any reason to use it (he didn't want to attract any predators), his voice had grown hoarse and scratchy, and his back ached from the weight of his pack. But despite the agonizing pain in the soles of his worn-out feet, and the wave of fatigue that threatened to drag him under, Hatter kept walking, anxious to get out of the woods. In the few months he'd recently spent in District 10, he'd almost forgotten what it was like to spend long periods of time in the wilderness--no bathing, no laundry, no warm beds. In fact, he hardly ever slept at all; he was constantly afraid that he'd be attacked by something while doing so and rendered unable to ever wake up again. He missed the bed that Mr. Bevan had made up for him in the shed, where he didn't have to be afraid of bears. Well, he missed civilization in general really--being able to buy groceries from the market, eat breakfast, take baths, and hear the sound of human speech every day. Hell, he even missed the streetlamps, which in some places had been so bright he couldn't sleep--now he would give his left sock to see one.

Hatter walked on, his brown leather cowboys boots creating a steady rhythm as they crunched against the newly-fallen autumn leaves. As a boy, he'd loved this sound, and he'd even go off the path on his way home from school sometimes just to pursue a patch of dead leaves. Now, however, his ears had grown tired of it, and the sound was like a broken record, repeating the same thing over and over again until it echoed in his head even when he wasn't stepping on the leaves. He longed to walk on a sidewalk again, or a street, or even just a gravel path, somewhere that, unlike the woods, leaves were more scarce. A chilly gust of wind whipped up a few of them as he walked, and he pulled his jacket closer to his chest, wishing he had something warmer to wear.

• ~ ° ~ • ~ ° ~ • ~ ° ~ •

After a few more hours, just when Hatter'd thought he should take a break, the trees began to part. They thinned and receded until what had been forest morphed into tall grasses. He realized it was a meadow, and that it looked like a good place to set up camp later on. For now, he'd rest--he'd walked long enough, and his legs felt like jelly. Stopping where he stood, he plopped down on the ground, falling back into the soft, cold grass and staring up at the sky, watching the clouds pass by. He relaxed his whole body, letting his limbs go slack, enjoying this moment of rest after so many long hours of walking. After a few minutes, he felt like he could fall asleep, despite the fact that it was only about three o'clock in the afternoon. He might have, too, if not for the soft sound of footsteps shuffling through the grass.

Listening closely for woodland predators these past few weeks had made Hatter's ears alert and finely tuned to even the slightest noises. If they hadn't been, he probably wouldn't have heard anyone approaching; the footsteps were quiet, barely audible. Propping himself up slightly on his elbows, Hatter peeked cautiously over the grass. Fortunately, it wasn't a fox or any other kind of animal. It was a girl, probably in her late teens, with light blonde hair. Hatter smiled slightly at the sight of another human, something he hadn't laid eyes on in weeks.

Something sparked inside him, a sudden urge to have some fun. Hatter wasn't sure what had caused it, but whatever it was also prompted him to tread quietly through the grass, out of the girl's line of vision, in order to sneak up behind her. Really, he had no idea why he had suddenly chosen to mess with this girl, it was just a random impulse. But anyway, when he was about two feet away from her, he yelled, "Hey!" because it happened to be the first interjection that came to mind.

((OOC- Don't worry about making super long posts or anything if you don't have the muse for it ))

narration