The Beginning I had written this story for the 500 words radio 2 competition. Unfortunately I do not think that it got through please tell me what I need to improve! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Run! Left foot. Right foot. Left foot. Right foot. Past the sunken willow tree, nearly there, I wonder what incredible force would have the power to knock over such a... NO! Can't let my thoughts wander. Not with this pack of Pookeh nipping at my heels. Pookeh are very aggressive creatures, resembling a cow torso and head on human legs. Sundara, a rather boisterous young elf with gold glowing hair and hard stormy eyes, was herding these Pookeh away from the eastern side of the elven city of Deriem after they started stampeding, causing the livestock to run amock. She was leading them towards the jagged overhang of ivy covered rock by the waterfall, where her sister Mozre was waiting with her bow drawn and an arrow nicked inside. Mozre was exhausted. Her arm ached, her jaw was numb from clenching her teeth. Elves were built with inhuman strength and withstood much more than the average man. But this tedious waiting was definitely taking its toll on the young elf. Mozre was built tall and lean, like most of the species, wearing loose chestnut hair with soft eyes that oozed compassion. There it was a flash of gold in the distance, Sundara was close. Had she succeeded? Yes. There was the dust cloud billowing behind her, impossible to make by the light-footed elves. There seemed to be more than they planned but Mozre was certain she could take them. Shroom shroom shroom the arrows were fired with lightning speed and years of precision, hitting the target every time. She nicked an arrow, pulled back the bow, took aim, and fired. Repeating this process until she was out of arrows. From then on she resorted to using hand-to-hand combat, drawing her curved blade and jumping from her rocky overhang. Sundara noticed Mozre's change in combat and joined her drawing her sword and charging after her sister. They dodged, slashed, stabbed, parried and downright eliminated the Pookeh! Then they laughed, just laughed. Well what else can you do after defeating a stampede of raging cow-men? Eventually cleaning their blades they retrieved as many arrows as possible, before heading back to their forest home. Before being allowed to retire to their rooms, they were asked to recall their journey to the queen. The queen, a very mysterious character that no one seems to understand. Even her name was covered with shadows. Many people tried and failed to conjure the queens’ name, in the end everyone ended up calling her 'mam'. After what seemed a tedious process, feeding every remembered source of information to the queen, they were allowed to leave the magnificent throne room. Upon reaching the door, they were stopped and Sundara was asked one final question. 'How did you manage to get the Pookeh to follow you with such ferocity?' Sundara pondered this for a moment then replied with, 'it just so happens that they are rather fond of their mothers, and do not take kindly to offence directed at them.'