Fishy Fish Is Lunch

Her mother was, well, somewhere! The rainbow-marked pup didn’t know where Medusa had gone, though Morticia had decided that it didn’t matter where she was because she wasn’t here. Not that Morticia hated her mother or anything, but when her mother wasn’t present she felt more comfortable wandering around and exploring this new place that they called home. The child moved with her ears perked forward, a natural curiosity filling her red and lavender eyes. The place with the tar was cool. She liked tossing in sticks or stones and watching them sink in, careful not to end up in the pits themselves, but the area next to it? That was even cooler.

Morticia entered the land known as the dancefloor of the gods with her usual energy. She bounced along, her bright gaze taking in the brilliant autumn sun. The grass here had started to dull and brown but some areas still held onto their green, lively hue. Morticia was fascinated by this. The world was both alive and dying, and the skeletal child giggled as she moved among those grasses. The landscape had no trees to speak of, though that didn’t seem to deter the herds that were moving through the area.

Morticia bounded toward some of the grazing wild horses, but the moment the herd caught wind of the young predator they took off at a run. Oh, was this a new game of chase? The girl’s eyes lit up and giggling she started after the herd, barking at their heels. This was fun! She liked playing chase with the big herd animals! They would run and she would follow after, her eyes alight with delight and her paws practically feeling like they were buzzing with the energy she had. No matter how far she chased after the horses however she wasn’t able to catch them. They just kept running and running, leaving the pup in the dust. How rude of them!

Morticia slowed, her ears flicking back and forth as she looked around for something to play with. Surely she could find something more on her size to play with? Or maybe she could find food? Her stomach rumbled. Food sounded like a wonderful idea to the young pup, not that she really had the best idea of how to hunt yet. She moved through the grass, sneaking along like she was a proper predator… at least in her own mind. Her movements were kind of clunky, and most prey animals would easily be started by the young predator’s approach.

Humming to herself Morticia searched for something, anything, that might fill her belly. She found a mound of dirt with a hole in it but, when she dug at it, no food came out. Darn, sad days. The pup frowned, whining as she pawed at the hole. “Morticia hungry…” Well, if she couldn’t find food in the hole, there had to be food somewhere else, right?

Traveling along Morticia soon saw something sparkling in the sun. She paused, curiosity drawn to it. She padded closer, soon finding the slow, lazy-flowing river that was running through the territory. It was so pretty! It sparkled as the sun hit it, and Morticia grinned as she came closer, about to play in the water when something caught her attention. What was that? There was something moving in the water!? She paused, curiously leaning forward and sniffing at the surface as a fish darted away from her shadow.

Food?

Morticia kept her head over the water, tilting it this way and that as she watched some of the fish under the surface. The river was still recovering from the drought season and was small enough that the young pup could go in without too much danger… She watched the fish, saliva dribbling down her maw and into the water as she watched them. She didn’t know what this food was called, but it was definitely food. It looked good, and she was sure it would taste even better. The pup glanced around, seeing how the fish darted around in the water.

Maybe if she darted fast she could catch one!

The pup lunged forward, splashing into the water, and luckily for Morticia, she managed to slap one of the fish onto the shore. The rainbow-marked pup dove on it immediately, not quite getting the need to kill her prey first as she bit into it. The fish thrashed, but the pup growled, determined not to lose her lunch. This was her prey! Hers! She put a paw on it and ripped some of the meat off, chewing with delight. She’d done it! She’d caught her own meal! Her tail wagged happily back and forth and she sat down triumphantly.

Morticia had won this battle, wait until her siblings hear about this!