Born Anew

His mother had informed them that March would be ready to come out of the den soon. Finally! She and her mother had been sick practically since they were born, and although his mother had recovered sooner than March had, he was secretly eager to see his sister take her first steps out of the den for the first time in...well...ever! Whenever he left the den for the day, he always came back around quietly and mostly waited and watched for an hour or two for the day he would see his sister's earthen pelt emerge. And it just so happened that today, was that day. He had a young ptarmigan in his mouth. The white bird was near death, but he made sure it still had enough strength to try to get away when he put it down. He knew March had never had the chance to hunt yet, so he was eager to see if she was interested in wanting to try. And if she wasn't up to it, he understood. They could dispatch it quickly enough so she had a meal at least.

Approaching the den, he spotted his mother's bigger form before he spotted March. But when he saw her, his tail wagged and he felt his fur bristle with excitement. They had lost two siblings the moment they had been born. And their mother had almost lost her own life that day, and in the weeks following when she was sick with whatever she had. Although he wasn't the most social of creatures, he had been afraid they would lose March. He offered a muffled yip through the mouthful of bird he had as he approached, "Hey M'rch! Brought you a present!" It was hard talking with a bird in his mouth, that was for sure.