Leo and Howl

The Forest in Autumn, 1841 - Gustave Courbet

‘Don’t let him touch you, Faye!’ Isobel giggled. She darted round a gnarled and ancient tree, kicking up the fallen leaves and dove between the brambles, her blonde hair swishing.

Faye hopped backwards, her new trainers covered in mud. Leo’s hand swiped the air where his friend had been, he grunted, ‘No fair!’

‘You’re just slow, Leo!’ Faye stuck out her tongue, blue with lollypop juice, and sprinted after Isobel.

Leo chased the pair, thorns scratched his arms and the branches clawed at his eyes. He burst out into an opening. ‘You’re too slow, Leo. Give it up,’ Theodore said, sitting atop a tree branch a dozen feet in the air.

‘Yeah, and you can’t climb either,’ Vincent said. He sat upon a branch higher up than Theodore, a pinecone in hand.

Leo ignored them and set his sights on Faye. If he could catch her then she’d be the one chasing them. He could get away and they’d laugh at her instead. Faye fell. Her hands slipped from the branch and she lan…