Eat the toes

She gave her tail a happy wag behind her, and waited for her sister to agree. She often let Poem take the lead, her older sister had a strong, determined personality, and it was easy for Motif to fall into line. Instead of agreement, Poem challenged her to a race, taking off without any warning.

Motif yelped in surprise, tail going a million miles an hour behind her as she leaped after her littermate. She slipped in the soft snow, scrambled forward, and put everything into racing. Her balance was precarious, and she occasionally tripped over her large paws.

Poem bet her to the rapids, and Motif was breathing heavily as she arrived, laughing joyously as she skidded in beside her sister and came to a stop against her side. “No fair!” she commented on Poem’s easy head start, but she was laughing, so there was no real conviction to the words.