The leopard turned toward Catherine one last time, eyes gleaming in the filtered light. Then, with the cub pressed close to her side, she slipped into the forest and was gone. For a long time, Catherine didn’t move. Only when the forest sounds returned: birds, wind, the faint trickle of water, did she realize she was still alive.
By the time Catherine found her way back home, the sun was bleeding through the trees, a thin orange light that made everything look unreal. Her hands were scraped, her shirt torn. Every sound made her flinch.