gobble, gobble

An early morning sun drifted lazily over the eastern horizon. Warm rays of light shine down from above, peeking through clouded skies that threaten an afternoon full of rain. The world is quiet for now. A gentle breeze flutters the nearby orchard leaves that cause a few over ripened apples and pears to drop from their branches. Their quiet thuds against rich grass and supple dirt bring the eye of animals toward them. A quick, early morning snack would be just the thing for a couple of rabbits and foxes.

What brings the small pup awake was not the hiss of a fox as it snags a piece of over ripened fruit. But rather the loud garbling noise of a feathered bird that she's not quite sure what the name of it is. She blinks slowly, rubbing sleep from her eyes before stretching out her legs and wandering over to the mouth of the den. Peering out into the shadows of a dewy morning, Sonnet glances over to the towering barn with its strong wooden beams and inviting double doors. The animals all appeared to still be asleep, but surely would be awoken soon as the racket coming from the barn sang out once more.

Now she definitely had to go investigate. Looking back once at her snoozing family, Sonnet figures that heading over to the spacious barn wouldn't get her in trouble. After all, both of her mothers had taken her there before to visit with other pack members so surely it was a safe place to be. As she's about to begin her journey alone, the blinking eyes of her larger, protective brother, Ipos, find her. Freezing for a moment, she smiles timidly at him with that obvious 'oops, I've been caught look.' When he gets up to wander over to her, her tail wags excitedly as she greets him with a bump of her forehead against his neck and a quick lick of her tongue across his cheek.

"Want to come figure out that noise with me?" Sonnet whispers to Ipos, a glint of mischief in her eyes as she steps back to regard his expression. Her charm would work and only moments later did he agree to toddle along with her. Having Ipos along for the journey did make Sonnet feel better on the inside. As if she were undoubtedly safer with him next her to her. With small, but wide paws, Sonnet's fur soon dampens as she trots through the grass. It won't take her long to approach, her steps slowing as the garble of the bird sounds out once more. Her eyes widen and ears fall backward for a moment as she ducks behind a stack of cut logs. The double doors of the barn are open, but only just enough that she can barely make out the shadows looming on the inside.

Once the stirring animals quiet again, Sonnet pops back out and begins a stalking crawl toward the exterior doors. Her belly brushes against the ground as it turns from grass to packed dirt. She's close... but not close enough when the garble sounds again, but louder this time. Quickly, Sonnet ducks behind a bale of hay, her heart racing as she hides from whatever it is she was now stalking. The call of the bird stops, but she can hear its clawed feet scratch at the dirt and its beak peck at the ground. Its feathers rustle for a moment, stirring up dust as the bird continues to meander out front of the barn.

Poking her head out from behind the hay bale, she spies on the bird. Sonnet sees its tall fan of brown and gold tail feathers, almost a crown behind its slim, but naked head where she then sees a weird red thing hanging from its beak. The sight nearly scares her and she has to pull herself back behind the hay to calm her breath. Could she possibly... hunt this thing? Was it a pack bird? For food? Or was it a wild one brought in by the promise of friends that roosted in the nearby coop? For those first few moments, Sonnet is unsure, but as she gets another good look at the bird, she settles on the decision that it's definitely a wild bird attempting to take over the chicken coop. This surely would not be good and she had the chance to save those poor, defenseless chickens!

Looking to Ipos with determination, she not-so-quietly lays out a plan to take down the "vicious" enemy. "So if I go around the side and scare the big fella toward the hay bale, you can jump out and take him down." In Sonnet's mind, it was a perfect plan. If only her voice had been more of a whisper rather than a shouting rasp. It quickly draws the attention of the turkey toward them. Feathers rustle and poof out, an alarm chittering loudly toward them as the fat, gobbling turkey comes rushing toward them. Startled by the imposing form of the bird, Sonnet lets out a yelp and ducks behind her brother. So much for successful hunting!

Sonnet