it all comes out in the wash

The stars above seemed to shiver with chill as dusk gave way to darkness. Likewise, the pup's coat, just beginning to turn from her whelp down to adult dress, was not nearly enough to keep her warm. So unfamiliar was the chill, however, that she did not seem bothered. Instead, she pranced about beneath the light of the moon, her stout legs carrying her in laps around the grassy clearing upon a rise that overlooked the river. As far as she was concerned, there was nowhere else to go; she was trapped between various stone barriers and the river which was too deep and too wide to even dream about crossing at night. Content with what was bountiful before her, the child finally settled atop a dense mound of grass, throwing her head up to the heavens to pant heavily, watching the silver tendrils of her breath fading into the night. Happiness could be found anywhere, she was certain.

With the help of a passing gust of wind, she rolled down onto her back, twisting and writing as she scratched those out of reach itches, and massaged her sore muscles. A long day of play and exploration deserved a proper roll on the ground! With a deep sigh of contentment, she began to wind down, the thrashing becoming less frantic, her movements becoming more rocking, soothing, opening the gateway to new ideas: Ideas of sleeping out under the stars, or next to the sound of the flowing river, or all sorts of other marvelous things she had never done, or had never been allowed to do.