forby
or for·bye
[ fawr-bahy ]
preposition, adverb Chiefly Scot.
1. close by; near.
2. besides.
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“It’s
close. I can smell it.” George said.
He held
his net at the ready, prepared to drop it on the creature the moment he saw its
furry form. He slowly crept through the
yard, periodically checking behind something.
“Should
we tell him? Asked Kyle, one of George’s kids.
“Are you
kidding? We usually have to pay for this
kind of entertainment.” Replied Ted, the elder brother.
“Yeah,
but it’s kind of sad, isn’t it?”
“That’s
what makes it fun.”
George
approached a small bush at a slow pace.
He gave a triumphant yell and jumped behind the plant, only to find
nothing. He still looked closely at the
ground nearby.
“I think
you almost had it, Dad!” Ted called.
“Don’t encourage
him.” Kyle said. “I still think we
should tell him.”
“Tell
him what? That he’s right, it is super close? Then what’ll he say?”
“I think
we should just outright tell him it’s behind him.”
The
furry creature stood just behind the teen’s father. Whenever the man moved, it did too. The thing was definitely smarter than most
animals its size. Of course, it was
nothing any of them had ever seen. It
looked like a cross between a rabbit and a squirrel that stood on two legs. It looked intently at George, always jumping
around to stand directly behind its would-be captor.
“Where
is it!” George cried. “I know it’s
somewhere around here. My hunting instincts
are screaming that it’s close.”
“Has Dad
ever gone hunting?” Kyle asked.
“Nope.”
Ted answered. “Unless you count hunting
for the remote. And what’s the fun of
just telling him? Besides, do you think
it would stick around if we told him?
Pretty sure the only reason it’s ignoring us is because we’re not trying
to catch it.”
“You
think so?”
“Oh
yeah, definitely.”
The
animal spared the boys a glance. Then it
went back to moving behind George every time he moved. George’s face was starting to change color,
both from anger and from physical exhaustion.
He still refused to be defeated by the small animal, and continued to
run around the yard, trying to find it.
“Man, he’s
really going at it.” Ted said. He wished
he had remembered to bring his phone outside with him. It was too late now anyway. “Hey, watch this.” He called out loud enough for their dad to hear
them. “Hey, Dad! I think I saw it run up that tree over there.”
George stopped,
looked toward the tree and let out an almost primal bellow. He charged the tree and did his best to
scramble up the trunk. He did not make it very far.
“That
was mean.” Kyle said.
“But
funny.”
They
watched their dad jump around the tree, trying to see the creature that
remained just behind it. Kyle let out a
heavy breath.
“Hey Dad!”
He called.
“Don’t
do it. Don’t be lame.” Ted said.
“Think
about Orion.”
George
stopped. His breathing was heavy and he
just looked at his son blankly.
“Yeah,
he has no idea what you mean.” Ted said.
“Hell, I don’t know what you mean.”
Kyle rolled
his eyes. “It’s behind you, Dad.”
“Dude,
not cool.”
George
quickly turned. This time, the animal
remained in place. The two looked at
each other for a moment. George screamed
in rage and swung his net. The animal
nimbly avoided the capture attempt and dashed off into the nearby woods. George ran after it, but soon came back with
slumped shoulders and a net that had a few new holes in it from branches and
brambles.
“That
was lame. You should’ve just kept your
mouth shut.”
“It had
to end some time you know.”
“Yeah,
but not that soon. I mean, we could’ve
easily kept him going for another hour.
Maybe gone and got our phones and filmed it.”
George
slumped over to his sons.
“Come on
boys, let’s…let’s go inside.” He said, defeat etched into every fiber of his being.
The two boys looked at each other. Kyle pursed his lips and spoke up.
“Oh don’t
be so down, Dad. I bet you’ll get it
next time.”
***********************************
I'll be honest, I didn't really know how to end this one. I could probably do a better job, but whatever. This is what I'm willing to do, so yeah. Sorry.
