shepherd in disguise
the fence stood tall above the little lamb. mother's words ringing in her ears to never cross it, that nightmares beyond her imagination lurked in the lands beyond the safety of the farm.
so why did she feel so drawn to it.
trees that towered over her, grass that went above her ankles and the sounds of running water that lay just beyond the fence.
"laura lee!"
snapped out of her thoughts, she panicked, the young lamb scampers back towards the barn, terrified of the earful she may receive from her mother.
but not before catching a glimpse of her. dark eyes and hidden between the brush, canines poking out the corner of her lips. grinning right at her.
the little lamb was curious now and everyday she would return to the same spot in hopes of catching sight of the lurking shadow. it's not until when the sun began to set when she saw her again.
"hello, little lamb."
words dragged out low as she watched the lamb from the cover of the woods. an innocent little thing sitting right by the fence. so close. she could almost touch her, grab her. maybe she should. yank her across the fence.
no no, shauna scolds herself. she must be patient.
her lamb would come to her voluntarily soon enough. all she needed was time.
laura lee bleats out quietly, tripping and falling down onto her bottom as she stares up at the eyes that bore through her from the bushes. the same ones that she had seen all those days ago.
"are you lost? you are a long way from your herd."
laura lee turns around, the voice was right. the flock hanging back nearer towards the barn and she was here all alone by the fence.
"what are you?"
as the days passed, the lamb became more and more curious and with every second she spent with her new 'friend', the more she forgot the words of her shepherd.
the wolf grins, almost a little too widely.
"why little lamb, i am simply a friend."
and the lamb, as naive as can be, believed her
"shauna?"
"yes, little one?"
laura lee crossed the fence a week ago. she sneaked off in the cover of the night and crammed herself through the little gap to join her new found friend from the woods. dark brown eyes and sharp claws greeting her. the wolf's appearance confused her. mother warned of such creatures. the ones that wore pointer ears and smiles too wide
but her new friend seemed so nice unlike the stories she'd been told. perhaps she must have been mistaken.
"why don't you ever come to our side of the fence."
oh what a sweet one, she sure is clueless.
"well the shepherd doesn't like me too much."
"why?"
"you are a curious one aren't you."
the lamb's little tail wiggles as she crosses the fence on yet another night. first it was minutes, then it turned to hours and now, she spent afternoons playing in streams, spent entire nights curled up with the wolf. her mother started wondering why she smelt different but she chose not to question.
"shauna?"
"yes, my little one?"
shauna lay in her den, her body wrapped around the smaller body of her new found prey- no, friend. the little thing was so sweet, always stuck to her side and begging her to join when she splashed in streams or jumped into piles of leaves. how could shauna ever deny her little lamb of happiness.
"can i stay with you? you're much more fun than my shepherd."
"how so?"
"he never lets me play."
one evening, two stood by the fence, shauna standing in the cover of the tree line while laura lee gazed at the farm from afar. was she sure about this? surely her mother would worry right? but the idea of her new life was tempting.
"are you sure you don't want to say goodbye, my lamb?"
"no, it's okay."
and with a little hop, she returns back to shauna's side, nuzzling up into her warm body as they disappear deeper into the woods.
the little lamb has found herself a new shepherd.
