They Should Have Been Spiders

Rodrigo saw Bobbie before she saw him, which was always the best way. She was sitting on the heath, enjoying the summer warmth.
Rodrigo inched over, carefully measuring the distance between them, before thumping down just out of range of her teeth and grinning insolently at her.
“Hello handsome,” the fox purred. “Still don’t trust me?”
“Bobbie, if I trusted you, I’d be long dead.”
“Ouch. That was deep,” she gave a crooked smile over her shoulder at him.
There was a short silence.
“So how’s life treating you?” Rodrigo asked eventually. “Still sending the farm dogs crazy?”
“Of course, darling. It would be no fun otherwise.” Bobbie enjoyed tricking the dogs on the local farms and making off with some chickens or a pet rabbit while they were looking the other way. Although her reputation in the area had become almost legendary amongst the furious farmers, she still managed to elude the hunts which were sent out after her.
Another silence.
“Why do we keep doing this, Rodrigo?” Bobbie asked quietly, running her claws through her tail fur. “It’s just painful. Another life, perhaps, but not now.”
Rodrigo stared at her in surprise for a few moments before admitting, “I don’t know. We really should’ve been spiders or something. You could have ravaged me and eaten me and moved on. It would’ve been easier.”
Bobbie threw back her head and laughed.
There was a sudden change. Rodrigo did not know what warned him, a sixth sense perhaps, but he leaped up and threw himself to one side, just in time. The fox’s jaws snapped shut where his head had been a second earlier. He shot past her face – her breath rippled his fur – and tripped her forelegs from under her before retreating to a safe distance, shaking with adrenaline.
“What the hell were you thinking?” He shrieked.
Bobbie, who had landed heavily, slowly got to her feet and stretched, making sure she wasn’t injured. “I’m sorry, darling.” She murmured, and turned away. “Until next time.”
Rodrigo sat and watched as she trotted off, eventually losing sight of her over the edge of the hill. “Next time.”


Rodrigo (the hare on the left) and Bobbie (the fox on the right) are soulmates trapped in incompatible bodies. I thought it would be interesting to have a predator/prey relationship where the predator can't be trusted to not eat the prey, unlike some popular theories about at the moment *coughTWILIGHTcough*

Sorry for the rubbishy scan, it looks better on paper but I can't seem to get it to scan well.

All feedback is greatly appreciated - thanks!