Surrounded

I see them from afar. There is no doubt; it is a gang. They huddle together, moving as if controlled by the same force, a collective drive, with a unified goal.

I stop my bike. I notice something odd, something not of their species, but somehow moving with them, like a bodyguard. It is a cat - yes - a feline, strange indeed. And then he scatters, simply disappears into the brush, but they are still moving, moving, moving, and faster now. And toward me.

I am surrounded before I even have the chance to get away. Surrounded. I look down at them. They are wagging their tails, and I feel as though I have been chosen, chosen to partake in some ritual....but what is it? I can not even begin to understand these wild beasts, they are so very complex. We stare at one another; me somewhere between terrified and bewildered, them with something like an urge, something which drove them to me with such haste, something which causes anxious wagging, waddling behinds.

I find myself, in my lone desperation, saying "I don't have any bread", the words falling from my lips to deaf ears, apparently, for they continue to stare me down. They are waiting.

Thankfully after awhile of encircling me, and with the incessant wagging, they find interested elsewhere - a puddle nearby. I am saved. For now. Next time I must bring to them what I want; namely bread, or some other food substance to their liking. I have a feeling I shall eventually be tortured and killed by this gang, as menacing as they are. I can't let them get to me....I must win this battle against these island terrors, these bullies so unafraid and abundant in my new home.