Glowing Squirrels!
Terticus the she-wolf lifted her paw and replaced it on the bed of pine needles. Every needle flexed to absorb her weight. If even one threatened to crack, she would lift it again and seek a quieter place to step.
The glowing outline of her packmates was no danger. The beasts that made this territory dangerous were blind.
Una, the Alpha female, glanced at her mate, Solo. Their deafness made them vulnerable, but she needed a place to whelp and their last den had been raided.
They would never attempt crossing the river here if the blind beasts were large. None of the pack had ever encountered one, but the legends were scary. Terticus silenced the voice in her head.
In time with Una and Solo, she lifted her paw. If they made a sound, they made it together and the Blind Ones would not know how many trespassed.
Solo’s glow intensified, illuminating the pine bows, glinting off snow falling, obscuring their tracks. “A little further,” his glow indicated and again the three wolves moved in unison.
A snowflake settled on Terticus’ nose. The effort of concentrating on her pack mates distracted her from seeing further than the next pine bow, the next clear patch of needles under the next tree. Her nose twitched with scents, vicious, ugly monster scents.
“The pups!” Una’s glow, intensified by a contraction, sparked fire in the needles under her feet. Solo licked her toes.
A rustle, a sharp pain in Terticus’ back. Una and Solo took off, leaving her to fulfill her purpose. Her sacrifice would ensure their safety and the birth of the pups.
Her last though blazed through the snowfall, crackled in the bows and set the forest alight.
“Glowing Squirrels!”
Today we are following up on the above prompt. Thank you to the good people at Microcosm who continue to challenge and encourage flights of extreme imagination!
