the sun dawns bright and warm, casting golden rays over Jamie's mountainous home. the sky is a clear, vast blue, void almost entirely of clouds. on any other day, it'd be enough to coax Jamie from the mouth of her den the second Mama allowed it. but today, the itch weighing perpetually on her lungs has increased two-fold, and the girl is too ashamed of her frequent coughing to approach her littermates. they won't want her participating in their games, not when she can scarcely go more than two minutes without making a racquet. Jamie sniffs at the thought, eyes trained on the book in front of her. whatever. she'd rather read, anyway - the characters in her books are way more interesting than her immature siblings. but as she turns the page, a cough tears itself from her throat, stomach muscles aching with force. Jamie scowls and shoves the book away, eyes prickling. frustration grips her, works beneath her skin and prickles along her spine. damn it.
