The rising sun cast a golden glow over the valley below, causing everything to look as though it had been touched by the heavens. It was indeed beautiful, but Ariznim felt none of the warmth or happiness that the rising sun brought with it.
The mosquito looked down into the valley at the village below. She was standing just within a forest, hidden in the shadows, the sun's rays reaching for, but not touching, her. Th town wasn't far away, and Ariznim could see it waking up. It was a market day, and the people were rising with the sun. They were bustling about, setting up their market stalls, ready to sell their wares. When the stalls were set up, more people started to filter into the streets. Children ran and played in the streets together, dogs barked and the villagers bought and sold their wares.
Ariznim bit back tears. 'I do not deserve that sort of life,' she thought, though she longed for it. 'I am nothing compared to them, I am a parasite to them, a pest.'
She jumped when a sharp voice sounded behind her. "There it is!"
She turned around to see three men running towards her. They were bounty hunters, after her from the last time she had been spotted. She felt more tears fall and her wings buzzed into life. She jumped into the air and started to fly away from them, but she heard them running after her through the woods. She knew she could fly much faster than they could run, but she heard the twang of a bow, and she cried out in pain as an arrow pierced her wing. She continued to flap her wings, but she couldn't fly any longer. She tumbled to the ground and got to her feet as soon as she could. She started to run. Her wing was bleeding profusely, but she continued on. She could hear the men crashing through the underbrush after her. They were no doubt stronger and faster than her, but they were also much bigger. She slipped under branches and between bushes whilst they crashed behind her, the underbrush greatly slowing them down.
After many minutes the sound of their heavy footsteps faded behind her. The sun was higher now, but within the forest it was still dim, only a soft dappled light filtering through the leaves. She continued to run. She caught her foot on a rock and went sprawling to the ground. She cried out in pain as her injured wing hit the ground. The arrow had fallen out of the wound, and it was still bleeding. Ariznim lay on her back, her wing sticking awkwardly off to the side, breathing heavily for a few moments before she drifted into unconsciousness from exhaustion and pain.