Michael liked the night. He especially liked the stars. To him they seemed like millions of eyes observing him and everyone else on Earth. At night everything was sharper-smells, sounds even noises. The eighteen year old had just graduated high school and this night out in the woods, which surrounded the small town of Ravenville was his way of celebrating. His parents would probably have their own gifts for him, but that would come later. Right now he only wanted to be alone, away from civilisation and enjoy the night, alone. He was a loner by nature and by inclination.
Michael drifted back to that time in his 8th grade. His hands formed into fists almost unconsciously. He remembered the feel of his blows landing on Kevin's face. He also remembered the kick that had broken the kneecap. Michael shook his head from side to side to get rid of the recollections. That was in the past, something he wanted to forget. With a small sigh he looked back up into the sky still lost in his thoughts.
So when the attack came he was completely unprepared. He had been standing in the middle of a small clearing, looking up at the sky when the attack started. Something struck him a heavy blow on his mid-section propelling him nearly 10ft backwards onto a tree trunk. He slid down and came to a rest on the cold ground. Acting on instinct he rolled himself sideways still down. The tree with which he had collided shattered apart explosively. Michael thanked his instincts. As a fighter his instincts had always been excellent. He listened to it now. Pushing himself back onto his feet, he headed for the tree-line. He took a running jump to catch onto a low branch, using the strength of his arms to propel himself upwards. Before he could jump to another one the branch was sliced off leaving Michael to fall to the ground.
