A Pheasant Surprise

Photo from this site (is it cheating if the picture isn't my own?)

We live right on the edge of a suburb, with farms on the lowland side and forested mountains on the other. Looking for places to go running I explored some new trails and found a path running between forest and some secluded fields tended by bent old women in huge sun hats and leather-faced old men who wear gumboots all year round. It was shady and peaceful, the soft earth absorbing even the sound of my footfall. I rounded a bend in the path and startled a wild pheasant foraging in a cluster of spring flowers. With a sharp cry and a dazzling flash of emerald feathers he took flight, his wings releasing the sweet scent of daffodils and bluebells into the air.

Many thanks to Helen of Inn by the Sea for giving me a kick back into blogging with the "five days challenge". The idea is to post five photos, one per day for five days, and to write a story or poem to go with each photo. For each day that we post we are supposed to invite one person to participate.
Today I am tagging Erinn of Off on a Whim for the "five days challenge". Erinn, if you would like to participate, post a photo every day for five days and write a story to go along with each photo. Your story can be fiction or non-fiction. It can be a short paragraph, a page, or a poem. Each day, please select one person to carry on the challenge. It's just for fun, there's no pressure to join in ;)