• “Come on, Brighthowl! We’re going to make it this time, I know it!”
    Bright sunlight soaked Brighthowl’s black fur and the young wolf cub grinned, wagging her tail. She crept forward over the summer leaves next to her ginger friend, Whitefire. The twin towers of rocks that marked the end of the dens were close enough for her nose to touch…
    “Brighthowl, stop!” snarled a deep voice behind them.
    “Oh no,” Brighthowl whispered and flattened her ears as she sheepishly turned around. “Hi, daddy.”
    Lightningheart, she Alpha male of their pack, flicked his tail in anger. “What have I told you about leaving the dens? Whitefire, you should know better than to leave without a fighter or hunter with you. Go back to your den now!”
    “Daddy!” Brighthowl protested as her friend bolted for the safety of the pup dens. “I’m five-moons old! I can take care of myself!” She sat down with a huff and glared at an ant moving across the leaves.
    “Your mother and I have told you not to go wandering off,” her father snapped. “Do you want to disappear like your brother?”
    Brighthowl hated her father for treating her like a pup and she glared at him in defiance. “Maybe I will! At least he got to have fun!”
    “Come back -“
    “No!”
    Brighthowl turned and ran. She ran past the well-traveled path her parents left for her, past the paw-shaped pond that was the farthest she could go, even past her packs borders. I can take care of myself! She thought fiercely as she kept running. It was wonderful letting the evening air race through her fur and having the unfamiliar scents fill her nose!
    Suddenly, she skidded to a stop. How did it just get darker? Brighthowl looked up at the sky and her puppy-blue eyes widened in surprise. It was a summer rainstorm! Clouds piled on top of each other until they were an angry gray and there was a cold wind already stirring the grass. Her parents had warned her about being caught in one and she didn’t plan on it.
    Turning around, she ran for only a little bit before she realized that she didn’t recognize anything around her! “Mommy?” She called, her tail slowly sinking. “Daddy?” The scents here were all strange and she didn’t remember which way she ran. Panic made her run every which way, crying for her parents. Brighthowl stopped when the rain burst from the clouds above. She was soaked at once and she couldn’t see where she was going. “Mommy?” Brighthowl called again, though she was scared of the dark. She turned around again and was staring straight at a hole beneath a large tree. With a little bit more energy in her step, Brighthowl entered the hole and shook herself before curling up to sleep.
    A horrible smell woke Brighthowl from her sleep early the next morning. “What?” She mumbled, shaking herself, but then she froze. Standing in the back of the small den was a mother fox and her cubs! Yipping in alarm, Brighthowl scrambled out from the hole and ran her heart racing and her tail tucked all the way between her legs. I should have stayed home! She thought sadly, sneezing as she ran. It wasn’t raining anymore, but everything was wet and mud squelched beneath her paws. A rock loomed on the other side of a rushing creek, making her skid to a stop. “I know that rock!” She cried out loud, her ears pricking forward and her tail wagging. It was shaped like a bear! Her pack’s border to the west! Happiness raced through her and she howled eagerly. It wasn’t as pretty as an adult’s yet, but she liked it. Drifting as if it was far away, there came more howls; her family! “Mommy, Daddy!” She cried and bounced up and down.
    The ground beneath her gave away and Brighthowl fell into freezing cold water. She yelped as the water soaked through her fur, but it was cut off as she sank beneath the surface. I can’t swim! She realized in a panic and started kicking at the water the way she’d seen her parents do. A rock pushed her head above the water and she gasped for air. “Mommy, Daddy, help!” All she could see was the churning water for a few more seconds before she slipped under again. She was so cold!
    Teeth grabbed her neck and Brighthowl was lifted out of the water onto her pack’s side of the creek, coughing and shivering. “Brighthowl?” Her father asked nervously. “All you all right?”
    “I’m c-c-cold,” Brighthowl stuttered. She grinned. “I’m s-s-sorry, d-daddy.”
    Lightningheart licked Brighthowl from head to tail. “It’s all right. Let’s go home.”
    As they walked back, Brighthowl decided to explore some other time when she was older.