Jade Fern Grove they all ran after the farmer's wife

anyone!

He had hidden from the world, afraid to move on, afraid to try; but now it was time. He had laid facing the entrance to his den for an hour, perhaps more, as he channeled what little courage he had. Slowly, he rose to his paws. His cheek was pressed to the earthen wall to guide him, and he followed it out and around the corner until he was completely outside the den.  

He felt like a mouse standing on bare earth with hawks circling overhead, exposed and at risk. His heart beat rapidly, and he felt that at any moment he would be attacked. It was the way he had always felt when he had attempted to leave the den before, and the reason he had retreated back to it time and time again. "Okay... okay..." he repeated quietly to himself as he drew deepth breaths and tried to calm himself. It was a process, but he felt the world slow down, and with it came a profound clarity.

He could hear. He could smell. He could even feel. He always could, but in his panicky state he had failed to use these senses. He had either ignored them or tried too hard to absorb everything at once, overwhelimg himself to the point that no real information reached his mind. He continued to focus on his breathing, for his legs still felt like a tightly coiled spring, ready to launch him back to his den.

His ear turned suddenly: there was a noise in the brush.