{"id":4861,"date":"2024-11-10T00:01:33","date_gmt":"2024-11-10T00:01:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/press\/?p=4861"},"modified":"2024-12-05T13:59:04","modified_gmt":"2024-12-05T13:59:04","slug":"the-pot-of-gold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/arts\/2024\/11\/10\/the-pot-of-gold\/","title":{"rendered":"The Pot of Gold"},"content":{"rendered":"

We ate strawberries on the last day of September. It was past their season, the taste too sweet, skin too ripe, too easily bruised. Red leaked from our fingertips like blood, and we sucked them greedily like starved vampires. The light was fading, so we crossed the field, looking for bats and other monsters that hid in the dark. We found a scarecrow, ripped open by some unknown creature, straw organs spilled to the ground. I felt pity rather than fear.<\/span><\/p>\n

When the strawberries started to fall simultaneously, you found it funny. A chill cascaded into the air, our skin, forcing goosebumps to rise as the moon did, and night became us. I kneeled down to the torn fruit that lay helpless in front of me, yet somehow seemed to lead in a trail alongside the field. I didn\u2019t even ask you before I tore down that path, torch in hand.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It seemed to go on forever, leading towards the woods. You gave me your hoodie, but it wasn\u2019t the cold I was worried about. The trail came to a stop at the foot of the field before the trees, with nothing to show for it. You laughed and said it wasn\u2019t like a rainbow, <\/span>what, you looking for a pot of gold?<\/span><\/i>\u00a0My hands were freezing but I saw imprints in the dirt and knelt down. I pushed past the muck and the golden leaves, and there, between my hand and the ground, was a paw print.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018What do you think?\u2019 I said, breath visible in the air.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Werewolves.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

I snorted, just as we heard a howl. It was a miracle our necks didn\u2019t snap as we both whipped our heads round.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Chimeras.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

I shoved you when suddenly we heard snuffling from the strawberry field.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Watch out\u2014it\u2019s hungry,\u2019 you whispered, laughing as I snatched the torch from the ground and continued on my way. \u2018Where are you going?\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018To find the pot of gold.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018I wasn\u2019t being serious\u2014wait!\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

I almost fell face-first into a tree trunk in my haste, feet crunching awkwardly in the leaves. Whatever was out there, I was sure I\u2019d scared it off. And anyway, I wasn\u2019t actually searching for a pot of gold. I\u2019d recognised those tracks.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Twenty minutes of tireless searching, and you finally stopped me.<\/span>\u00a0It\u2019s getting late, too cold to stay out<\/span><\/i>. I was so close I could see more paw prints, as though the moon was guiding me. Across a thorn bush, tiptoeing around a bramble patch, and there it was, standing serenely in the moonlight.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I spun around, grasping your shoulders. \u2018We found it! Our very own pot of gold.\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018A fox,\u2019 you sighed. \u2018A bloody fox.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

A gleaming light reflected off soft, tawny fur as it stared at us with amber eyes. I beckoned it over with my hand, but it only sniffed the air, before scampering off. I watched the trail glow through the woods, as the October air began to settle in.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Not just any fox,\u2019 I smiled, softly. \u2018A <\/span>golden<\/span><\/i>\u00a0fox.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We ate strawberries on the last day of September. It was past their season, the taste too sweet, skin too ripe, too easily bruised. Red leaked from our fingertips like blood, and we sucked them greedily like starved vampires. The light was fading, so we crossed the field, looking for bats and other monsters that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":4863,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","iawp_total_views":7,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[288,842,843,294],"wf_post_folders":[211],"class_list":{"0":"post-4861","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts","8":"tag-creative-writing","9":"tag-english","10":"tag-golden-pot","11":"tag-poetry"},"acf":[],"author_meta":{"display_name":"Rachel Oliver","author_link":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/author\/rachel\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/fox-eyes-300x129.png","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["Arts<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Arts<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["Creative Writing<\/a>","english<\/a>","golden pot<\/a>","Poetry<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Creative Writing<\/span>","english<\/span>","golden pot<\/span>","Poetry<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 2 years ago","modified":"Updated 2 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on 10 November 2024","modified":"Updated on 5 December 2024"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on 10 November 2024 00:01","modified":"Updated on 5 December 2024 13:59"},"featured_img_caption":"Fox eyes. Credit: Chris Parker on flickr","series_order":"","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4861"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4861\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4934,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4861\/revisions\/4934"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4861"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=4861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}