Mom Said We're Allowed!

It was downright adorable watching Bowen go hug the trees and thank them for her lovely new gift. Although it seemed absurd to Artorias, he didn't say anything; why spoil his sister's good mood? He smiled while he watched her mirth, but it quickly fell from his face when he saw the panic in Bowen's eyes as she also came to the realization that bringing it back up to their den was not going to be an easy feat. The tears that welled up in his sister's verdant eyes very nearly broke Art's little heart, and he knew he had to be her superhero today. The boy pursed his lips as he studied the glass ball, then scanned the surrounding area for some sort of solution. They would need something to help slide the ball back up to the den without it rolling away... but how could they do that?

As if the trees were answering all of their pleas today, Artorias spotted a nearby willow with a good strip of bark peeling away from its trunk. His eyes lit up with the kindling of an idea, the pup bounding over to the tree with a few leaps and jumping up to grab the bark with his teeth and claws, tugging with all his might and weight. The bark bent and buckled, but held strong. Artorias growled and tugged, tugged, tugged with all his might! Snap! The bark finally broke free with some wooden creaking and cracking, and Art beamed at his reward. The bark was curved like a U-shape, and when he pushed it along the grass and dirt, it slid easily like a makeshift sled. "Bo! I've got an idea!" he called out to his sister, pushing the bark sled over to her so she could see. "We can push the ball back home with this! He and She can help too! We just need something in the back here to keep the ball from rolling away, something that can be packed in..." Looking around again, Artorias spotted a rock just big enough to wedge into the bark sled, and then padded it with some branches from a bush. He nudged the stopper with his shoulder a few times and was satisfied to find it didn't budge.

"There we go! We can rest the ball in here, and then we just slide it home! What do you think? Think it might work?" He looked back at his little sister, tail wagging excitedly, hopeful that his plan would cheer her up again. He didn't like to see his family get upset.