Opening Lines from 'The Hunter's Heir'

When I submitted my synopsis for the Five Magic Spindles show and tell, my opening lines were not quite...er...presentable enough to share. Now that I'm working on the second draft of this novella, I've revised and improved the beginning and am excited to post the opening lines on my blog!

Hope you enjoy! 

Opening lines of 'The Hunter's Heir'

by Allissa Zimmerman

A gentle breeze blew through the branches that towered over Coral Brook forest. A doe and her fawn drank blissfully from the brook in which the forest had gained its name and an owl hooted contentedly from above.

            The creatures of Coral Brook Forest were unaware that sitting against the trunk of an old oak tree nearby was a young elf silently watching them. She sat in remorseful misery gazing at another doe as it frolicked from the bush nearby and joined the other deer at the brook. 

           If only she were like that doe. If only she could run free without the pressure of trying to please everyone and live up to the expectations she could not meet.

An owl hooted once more, and the elf lifted her face towards the sky. The sun must have been setting, for patches of orange and pink glistened through the leafy trees above. She knew she should return home. Her family would be terribly worried by now.

But how would she face them after today?