Desolate Blizzard

He had to grin a bit as he watched Malalia, with her shorter frame, barrel her way through the snow after her wave of greeting, a soft chuckle puffing free of his jaws and quickly stolen by the wind. He dropped into a half play bow at that hum, tail swaying over his hips before he straightened.

He welcomed her nose bump to the shoulder was a casual, friendly drape of the paw over her shoulders in an easy hug before she pulled away and circled him curiously. Ahhh, that was it. He had to laugh a bit. He wasn’t sure even his own littermates had noticed the subtle shift in his height. Hell, he hadn’t realized it until the morning he’d clonked his head in the dead when he shouldn’t have. Before, sitting straight up, his head had barely brushed the ceiling of his little nook in the den, and his ears would have been pressed down to the sides.

Now he had to lower his head. It was a change, definitely, but he’d get used to it. Now, he grinned down at her and nodded. “Apparently, I have grown. It started this winter. Woke up with the most awful pains. Like bone deep. It’s like growing spurt pain but quadrupled pain level. I’ve gotten used to ignoring it and pushing through, but I think it’s easing now.”

He chuckled to himself, adding, “Strange times. Maybe the volcano’s to blame, eh? Maybe when it blew it sent something other than ash into the air.”

His head cocked and he gave her a toothy grin. “Have you ever fought in deep snow?”

Word Count: 272
Total: 1413

Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think