Juniper hurried from her apartment as she tried to tug on a well worn sweater while juggling her purse and lunch box. “Dammit!” She grumbled, as she dropped her lunch bag in her struggle. “Like I am not running late enough.” She gave herself the time she needed to finish tugging on the warmer gear to protect her from the chill morning, before grabbing up her purse (Which she had put down) and her lunchbox before hurrying off towards the bus stop. “I hope I don’t miss the bus.” She grumbled as she turned a corner.

And it instantly seemed darker and the cold drizzle of rain could be felt. “The ********.” She growled out. “I didn’t think it was suppose to rain today!” She huffed, barely noticing the fact that the world wasn’t quite right around her. That was, she didn’t notice until she hit the bus stop and actually took the time to look around.

Blue eyes widened at the darkened, almost run down features of Other Ashdown and a sense of panic formed in her chest. Every other time she’d been here there had been others along with her. Now, she was very much alone. Not to mention she was damn sure she was going to be terribly late to work now.

“How do I even get back?” The first time she had been sent back home and the second time it had just sort of happened.

Looking around herself she squinted, trying to catch a glimpse of a way back home. But what was she even suppose to be looking for? She huffed, and sat down on the bench that was accompanied with the bus stop.

She had no idea, how long she had sat there pondering over her dilemma. In a way, she had hoped that maybe someone would stumble upon her and help her home but that probability seemed less and less likely with each passing minute. Eventually she gave up on the idea all together, stood up, and grabbed her bags again. “Guess I’ll just wander around.”

Other Ashdown was, well, creepy. Especially now that she was exploring on her own. There wasn’t that sense of security when in a group. Still, at the same time, there was a sense of odd fascination and excitement at being able to see someplace new and different. Wandering the streets was a curious thing in a place that seemed so desolate.

Time was ticking by and Juniper had no clue how long she’d been in Other Ashdown wandering, trying to find a way out, but her stomach was indicating it was time to eat. Looking down at her lunchbox she contemplated what she had packed. “Should I ration this stuff? I mean….what’s the chance I could be stuck here for a while?” A hazy memory of someone mentioning that a person had been trapped for days here made her think twice about eating her entire lunch. Instead, she opted at parking her butt on the curb outside of what looked like it was possible some sort of convenience store, and pulling out the bag of chips she had packed.

Tugging at the ziplock bag, she opened up what would have been part of her work lunch and began munching. How am I supposed to get out of here? I don’t want to get trapped here for days. I’ve got work! If I miss too much I might get fired and that will just lead to more and more problems.

She absently munched at the chips, not paying much attention to the fact that a gathering of some sort of bird was occurring around her. Some had landed in front of her on the street, others perched on poles or the buildings. Juniper was blissfully unaware of them until she felt something peck at her head. “The ********.” She said as she reached up to rub at the offended area, nearly hitting one of the Othergulls.

“Stupid! Useless!” The words seemed to echo from multiple areas around her. She looked around at the birds, noting the voices and rude remarks were coming from them.

As if that one specific bird had been the indicator, others began swooping and swarming her. Their aggressiveness had the woman screaming as she tried to shoo them away from her to no avail. Juniper had no clue what they were after! “GET AWAY FROM ME!” She shouted as she swatted at another bird that dive bombed her. By now, her sweater was well pecked at, holes were forming, and even some small wounds and bruises were now being done to her.

“Peck her! Hurt Her!Worthless thing!” More and more words were sputtered around her as she tried to defend herself from the swarming other creatures.

Eventually, one of the birds managed to snatch the bag of chips from her lap. A few others joined it in it’s swarm over the contents, but the few chips and crumbs left weren’t enough to sate the othergulls hunger. Juniper was continued to be assaulted. “You bastards! Go away!”

Another bird dived for her purse, grabbing at anything remotely shiney within.

She didn’t know what else to do and she wasn’t at all willing to give up the small purse that held her keys, phone and little bit of money in it. So, she stood up, her paper lunch bag in her hand. She hurled the object away from her, food still contained in it.

The birds attacked the bag with gusto, giving Juniper enough of a chance to grab her purse and run as fast as she could away from them.

She turned down an alleyway, breathing heavily she leaned against the brick facade of a building and tried to catch her breath as she listened for any tell-tale sounds of the flock following her. A minute passed, then another, and eventually she decided that they had left her go. “s**t. Is there nothing in this world that doesn’t want to kill or injure you?” She whispered between her breaths, before letting herself slide down the brick wall to sit and rest.

The sound of a rude remark and the call of birds in the distance made her eyes snap open.

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