December 2023: Janet Muirhead Hill

“I began to see out of the eyes of animals”

She walked with her husband through the lovely woods, a nice break from housework for a change. The peace was broken by the distress call of some animal. She hurried in search of the cries for help. But her husband, right behind her, pulled her away. No, it’s a skunk. You’ll get sprayed. No, she said, It needs help. Her elbow flew into the man’s face as she broke from his grip. On hands and knees she approached the beautiful creature, its leg held tightly in the teeth of a trap nearly twice its size. Soothingly she spoke to the animal, whose eyes met hers in a pleading cry. She promised not to hurt him, and reached slowly for the release. Sprung free, the skunk, eyes full of gratitude, put its paw and her hand, then turned and ran into the woods.

Hill writes from her rural Montana home which she shares with her husband, two cats, and two ponies. She writes for the joy of writing as she learns about life and herself through the characters in her novels and in the random poetry she occasionally pens. www.janetmuirheadhill.com