I thought it was love.

He thought I was dinner.

I’d been nurturing a friendship with the little beastie for several weeks. Leaving food out, little tidbits of apple, pear and sometimes banana. Chestnuts if they were available, sometimes walnuts or brazils.

Gradually we began to move closer together until the day that I sat in the forest and he took from my hand. We kept this up for two weeks.

I would generally bring my lunch down and my sketchbook.  I’d eat and draw, and he’d sneak closer and grab whatever I’d left down. This would happen several times over a couple of hours.

The day came when he climbed into my lap and then the day that after eating out of my hand, in my lap he stayed for a nap. We were buddies. We were pals.

Then I thought this was going so well, I’d try offering from my own mouth. He wasn’t too sure about that one. He wasn’t confident about being on his hind legs reaching up to my face. He’d try but get shy about it and wander off.

But he kept looking over his shoulder and circling. He was clearly pondering the problem.

At last, he made a decision and climbed into a tree, hanging on to a low branch. He screeched until I came over to see what he wanted. I stood there talking and trying to calm him. He kept at it, until I came closer still. I kind of got what he wanted (I thought) and put the nut between my teeth.

He quietened. Then reached slowly forward, getting closer to the nut, being held in my teeth.

Then he jumped onto my face and began biting and scratching and screeching. He held onto my nose with his tough little teeth.

I was screaming like an animal in a trap, which effectively I was. Running around and screaming and pulling the little ratfink away from my face, but he just held on. Then I grabbed a boulder.

Guess the rest! Yes, squashed little buddy and yours truly with a broken nose and bleeding face.

And I will never again trust a cute and cuddly woods creature. (6 minutes)

1. Set up a timer or sit near a clock so you can keep track of the six minutes you will be writing.
2. You can either use one of the prompts (photo or written) or you can free-write.
3. Get ready and write for 6 minutes, that is it! Can you write a complete story? Can you think of a new Sonnet? Can you write 400 words? 400? 500? There are no restrictions on what kind of writing you do, but you should try to be actively writing for six minutes.
4. After you are done writing, include your word count and then post back to this page #Simply6Minutes or include your link in the comments section. Pingbacks are enabled.