if only later

If only she had come to the orchard just a smidge later, then perhaps Kleio would have been lounging about with a belly full of cooling, juicy fruit, basking in the sun. Alas, it seemed winter was going to take its sweet time departing from these lands; it could never leave too soon. With her fertile season tied to it, she thought it the most dreadful time of year, full of not only scarcity and biting cold and muck but mere energy-wasting irritation that she could never seem to escape. And to top it all off, the season meant she was one year older. Huff. With any luck, she would sleep that night and awaken to the melt.

Until then, though, she strolled beneath the barren canopies of the dormant trees, her eyes scanning her surroundings as her nose continuously sampled the air. Still she could not escape that scent of pack life, but at least here, it seemed she had a little more room to roam. Would she encounter one of these pack wolves? she wondered. Would they have a clue as to the whereabouts of her sisters?

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