The Jig Is Up!

Chaos had been stalking marmots in the long grass, trying to get as close as possible and pouncing, but so far they had been giving him the slip in the tunnels each time. It was great fun, though, and his tongue was lolling out in a silly grin as he prepared another futile leap.

“Give up already, you bastard!”

The screamed words threw him off midleap and the alpha landed badly, one paw going into the marmot hole and drawing a yelp of pain as his ankle twisted and the gash on his leg reopened.

Growling to himself and limping, he turned to see who had shouted at him, to see a little female coming towards him, trying to squeeze through some roots. Burrowing his brow, he limped up towards her. "Hey, what's the big idea?" But his brow furrowed further at seeing how frantically she dug at the roots. "Something chasing you?" He glanced past her shoulder, looking for a bear or something, but couldn't see anything particularly alarming.