Lost

Chapter 6

The sun is beginning to set, painting the sky beautiful shades of orange and pink. As he wakes up he feels the pain from before is almost completely gone. He stretches on all fours and lets out a huge yawn. He's still exhausted, but now he's also hungry so he starts exploring the area around himself. As he explores he finds he's surrounded by beauty and life of all kinds. The trees are full of birds of every size and color, chirping, squawking, and flying amongst the boughs. Playing with each other, chasing off predator birds, and searching for food of their own. The rose bushes around the area are occupied by pollinating butterflies and bees; the butterflies flutter about from flower to flower, one even lands on the tip of his snout, making him go cross eyed to look at it. The bees are buzzing, working hard going from bush to bush before heading back to their hives. He watches them for a moment before looking around some more as the butterfly on his snout flutters off. He finds some bushes even have families of mice or rabbits living under them! Their cute fuzzy selves all snuggle up together for safety and comfort as they wait for night to fall before heading out in search of their own food. He briefly considers a rabbit for a meal, but can't bring himself to harm one, or break up a family, when he finds a momma rabbit with a litter of kits. They're all just far too cute for him to harm, even if it means ending the cramping in his belly.

Moving along he finds himself in a large open area with a small creek flowing through it. The creek is fairly shallow, with a slow current, and lined by patches of cattails, and tall grasses. A few birds splash and clean themselves in the more shallow areas of the water, droplets sparkling off their feathers in the late afternoon sun. Realizing how thirsty he is, he approaches the creek and lowers his head to the water for a drink. As he drinks he opens his eyes to see small fish swimming around in the crystal clear water's slow current. Maybe he can catch one to eat? Slowly he steps into the water, eyes sharply focused on a slightly larger fish swimming in a deeper part of the creek. Once he's close enough he raises a paw, and swipes! He misses, splashing water everywhere and he's left watching as the fish rapidly swims away. He looks around, and spots another good sized fish nearby. He crouches, and positions his legs carefully; pouncing on the fish he misses again, splashes more water everywhere and completely soaks his fur. Somewhere in the trees a bird lets out a squawk that sounds suspiciously like laughter.

He sits in the water and tilts his head to the side, contemplating what to do next. As the water settles a little he gets a, somewhat blurry, look at his reflection. His snout is short and round, his ears small but floppy, and his eyes are large, curious and pink. He knows he's covered in pink fur, but the top of his head is slightly longer, black, and slightly curled. As he leans in closer to examine his reflection better, a fish swims right in front of him! On pure reflex he leaps at it with both front paws, and misses yet again. His face lifts into a dog-like grin despite the loss. He splashes the water again, this time purely for the fun of it. This is fun!

He loves the feeling of the cool water around his paws combined with the warm sun on his back. He leaps, jumps and spins, splashing water everywhere and chasing fish, frogs, and even the occasional bird. His hunger is forgotten in the face of pure joy and fun. Water flies through the air, glittering and reflecting rainbows all around him. A slight rustling in the bushes catches his attention, and he stops his galavanting to turn towards the sound. A young doe leaves the safety of the trees and approaches the water, lowering her head for a drink. Curious of this newcomer, he approaches her cautiously. One of the doe's ears flicking towards him as he moves, is the only indication that she even knows he's there. She doesn't lift her head from the creek as she enjoys a long drink from the cool water. When he's close enough he could reach out and touch her with a paw; she lifts her head, gazing curiously at him with her large brown eyes. He stares transfixed at her; she's graceful in her movements and beautiful, with several shades of brown, tan, and even white and black, visible in her sleek fur. He can't look away. She stands to her full height and turns toward him before lowering her head. Coming face to face with him she gives him a big lick on the top of his head with her long, somewhat scratchy, tongue, making some of his curls stand on end. Startled, he falls back and away from the doe. She just watches him for a moment, then turns and trots back to the safety of the woods.

He watches her leave, stunned and unsure what to do with himself. His stomach starts rumbling, and cramping. He looks to the sky and sees the sun setting and darkness beginning to set in. In all his fun he'd completely forgotten to find food, and now he's paying the price. He's practically starving, he feels so hungry. He takes another long drink from the creek, hoping the water will help soothe his stomach, and goes back to his clearing to rest. He wasted all that energy playing in the water, but in the end he doesn't regret it. He had so much fun! Even so, he curls up on his soft mossy spot, and falls asleep whimpering with his hunger pangs. Maybe tomorrow he'll have better luck finding food. Maybe some of the bushes around have berries on them he can eat. When he's recovered in the morning he'll have to look around more carefully. Leave the prey catching to the more skilled animals.