The Encounter

== The Encounter ==
The leaves gave a soft crunch underneath the light footsteps that belonged to a special someone. She was 15 and in her freshman year of high school. She was out taking a light run in the forest. She had been walking for about a few hundred yards for her cool-down, before starting up again. Just as Tate was about to shift into running, she spotted something lying on the dirt road up ahead. She jogged over and realized what it was. 
   The forest floor was littered with leaves of all kinds, each unique in their own way, shapes, color, and all. The trees were colorful with the leaves that came with fall. Slight breezes carried through the deciduous trees, giving hints of the winter cold that was coming. Because of this, Tate needed breathable long sleeve shirts and pants to give her comfort and warmth.
   It was a red squirrel, a small creature with a rusty reddish coat of fur and a cream colored underside. It was… Well, to simply put it, it was dead. Very dead. Although she looked closely at the squirrel, she couldn’t figure out the cause of its death. After a few seconds of Tate’s staring, an almost identical - but greyish-red colored - squirrel came scampering through the bush and onto the dirt road. As soon as the squirrel spotted the other dead squirrel, the former moved towards the dead squirrel to investigate what had happened. Suddenly, without a warning, the squirrel hesitantly sniffed the air and quickly darted back into the bush.
   Before the squirrel could even get to the edge of the dirt road, a blurry flash of blackish-grey struck out and seized the squirrel. Little did the squirrel know, it was already at death’s door in the snake’s grasp. The snake appeared to be a black mamba, one of the deadliest snakes in the world, able to kill almost any creature in its path. Within seconds, the black mamba thrashed around with the squirrel, opened its wide jaw showing the sharp fangs, pierced it, and then injected the lethal venom. Blood started to leak out from where the black mamba pierced the squirrel.
   Tate was terrified, terrified at how strong and deadly these creatures were. She worried that this mamba could thrash out any second to get her. As she slowly backed up, she stepped on a small twig, creating a sharp snapping noise which caught the snake’s attention. The snake’s head swung around to look at her, its beady eyes sizing her up, its tongue flickering in and out to smell the air. Tate continued to back up, thinking that the snake would leave her and eat up its prey. Instead of leaving her alone, the snake lunged in the direction of her and tried to bite at her legs. In fear, she quickly leapt backwards, and picked up a stick about the size of the snake itself. Tate thought to herself,
   “Can I actually make it out alive from this situation? I’m really depending on my survival instincts, but I’m so scared that I’m shaking. I bet that this snake is more scared than me, it’s quite a bit smaller than me. I can tell it’s black mamba, since it’s black with a grey-white underbelly. These things are really dangerous, being even more poisonous than green mambas. I need to get out of here alive, I need to prioritize my life.”
   Just as the snake snapped at her, she swung the stick right at the snake, causing it to flinch and leap back. Since the snake felt threatened by this girl, it was highly aggressive towards her. As she took a fighting stance, the snake ferociously hissed at her, indicating that this snake would not give up without a fair fight. After several minutes of this and a swift whack to the head, the snake finally gave up and retreated into its den, a hollow at the base of a tree.
   By the end of the fight, the biten squirrel was already dead, showing that this snake’s venom was highly fatal. It could easily kill Tate, if it felt highly threatened by her. She kept calm when the snake was retreating, because she thought that the snake would sense her fear. When the snake eventually slithered into its den, Tate let out a sigh of relief, and exclaimed to herself,
   “That was so close, I just dodged a bullet. I can’t believe it, but I’m actually alive…”
   Now that the snake had retreated, Tate took a deep breath, signaling that she had had enough for that day. She took a moment to stand still, surveying her surroundings. She could hear the gentle but quick breezes rushing through the trees, could smell the scent of the damp soil from last night’s rain, and could see the afternoon sun filtering through the trees. She could feel her heart slowing down from the encounter of the black mamba, could feel the slight warmth of the sun colliding with her face, and could see the multi-colored leaves move in motion with the trees in the slight wind. 
   After taking a moment to let it soak it, Tate started walking, then shifted back into jogging. She would never forget this day, it was a day of chaos, yet a day of calm. This was the day of the encounter.