Her silent tread brings her into my line of sight, unexpected. She picks her way through the flowerbed, oblivious to the lines that we have drawn around nature, and the tiny walls we erected around the manicured patch inside the chaos of creation. She swivels her head on her elongated neck and takes in my rapt form with her glassy, prey animal eyes. I am holding my breath, willing her to stay near me for a few moments more.
Three heartbeats. Four.
The explosion of her muscles uncoiling, a flip her tail, and she vanishes once more into the mist.
