Saoirse's Adventures Part One: It Begins
The blown-out building loomed above the forest. A grimy glass structure housed its main entrance behind a chainlink fence, behind a stronger wrought-iron fence with sharp points at the top. The keep-out signs were small and far between and the outer fence looked like it was maintained, while the inner fence was weathered and overgrown.
Saoirse stood in the middle of the driveway that the fences cut off from the road. It had taken four days of bus rides and a seven-hour hike to get here, and she'd expected to feel more accomplished when she reached her destination. Instead, she was hot, sweaty, and grimy. She looked very human at the moment: her catlike renoige ears and waist-length pale hair were hidden beneath her hood. Her fluffy knee-length tail, the same color as her pale ears and hair, was also protected underneath her coat. Saoirse felt the dry tingling of a sunburn forming across her cheekbones; she knew the area would be rainy and hadn't thought to bring sunscreen. The rest of her was covered well enough: she wore a thick, rain-proof green coat over a t-shirt and a knee-length cargo skirt. Her feet were sore and soggy in her worn sneakers, and her backpack was heavy.
Saoirse unclipped her water bottle for a drink and found it empty. She still had plenty of water in her backpack. It was almost dusk and she'd already needed to pee for a while, so she decided to wait until she'd found a way inside the building to take a break.
As Saoirse worked her way back along the fence, she had to avoid patches of thorny vines. The thorns caught on her skirt and tail and scratched at her shins. Saoirse didn't know what she expected to find, or whether she really even expected to find anything-
A motor rumbled to life somewhere in the distance. Saoirse froze and glanced around. The sound had been clear, but there was nothing and no one in her immediate surroundings. She did find something though: a tree had fallen on the fences, denting the iron bars as easily as the flimsy chainlink behind it.
Stepping on one of the exposed roots, Saoirse hopped up to the fallen tree's trunk. She had to sidestep a few branches on the way up, but it wasn't difficult. Within seconds she was over both the outer and inner fences. The tree's bough stopped just short of the building, and bent slightly under Saoirse's weight as she tried to ease herself down-
"FRANCIS! I GOT IT!" a voice echoed clearly through the trees.
Saoirse lost her balance. She landed on her feet, but a branch caught her skirt on the way down, yanking her backward. She tore free, pulling harder than she'd expected and painfully compressing her stomach before the seam gave out.