No More Winter

As the shadows shrank and vanished on the mountainside, the day just starting as the sun glinted off the perfectly smooth dusting of snow that covered everything, even the tall Sitka's not moving in even the firmer breeze, Ajax the Alpha wolf was snuggling up to her mate, Cassandra. Despite the sun rising, it didn't seem to get any warmer in the cave.

"Blast it. If only there were some way to make it warmer. I'd do anything, ANYTHING, to make it so," she growled, before huffing and snuggling up closer to Cassandra.

"And so would I, dear," she said, "but it's beyond our control. If the groundhog pops out of his burrow, and sees his shadow, he'll go back inside and we'll have six more weeks of winter. If he doesn't see it, winters over. Todays the day when it all gets decided."

"I see," said Ajax. "Love, I'm going out. I'll be back as soon as I can." And with that, Ajax got up, stretched, and exited the cave. She loped through the woods, avoiding the sharp needles of the Sitka's. They wouldn't do anything to her fur-covered body, but her muzzle would hurt if any needles got stuck in it.

After a while of searching, Ajax found the one groundhog burrow around, and hid downwind, waiting, watching. An hour or so later, the groundhog popped up from his hole, climbed all the way out, and looked around. While he did this, Ajax snuck closer and closer to the burrow. Fortunately, it was hidden in a brushy area, so there were plenty of places to hide. Ajax got quite astonishingly close to the groundhog, and as it looked down and saw its shadow, Ajax leapt, catching and eating it swiftly. "Screw Winter, I want it warm."