SSWM Word Count :: 396 A wild Skoll appeared!
Skoll Haskel thought himself an awesome tracker, but none of trails in the pack were interesting enough for him to wander after. He would chase after the mostly worn-away scents of prey to find himself lost, or if the smell happened to be fresh, his growing and clumsy body inevitably scared the other animal away. Even now, despondent after a rabbit had been spooked by his loud footfalls, he lay down on his belly in the snow and huffed loudly. Though the first snowfall had given him and his siblings a ton of delight, the grownups in the pack had been preoccupied with preparations to get them through the cold weather. And so, more often than not, he found himself bored—or he found himself getting into trouble.
Today, however, the pale golden puppy got to his feet and wandered back toward the hotel. Some of his comrades were guaranteed to be inside, especially since the day was rather overcast and it wasn’t much worth standing out in the cold. Closing his eyes and let the weak tendrils of sunlight comb its fingers through his wolfish coat, he sighed and quickened his pace to just get inside and distract himself. Winter was fun and different, but the beast of warmth and light craved the warm and bright months that his elders had promised would follow.
On the way there, however, he paused, one white paw lifted midair. His ears pricked and his leathery black nose wriggled, and he turned around to see fresh prints on the ground as well as shapes that made the shape of a bird’s arching wings. Maybe a clue! Remembering all the stories he forced out of every adult with a voice, he decided that this was a mystery to solve! Grinning smugly to himself for his clever powers of observation, he trotted along after the smell and the sticks toward a walled-in area.
His mouth dropped open when he made his entrance, glancing at the two females. “Caspa! Terra!” he blurted, his tail already wagging prestissimo. They seemed to be in the middle of doing something, however, so with great effort he suppressed the rest of his excited yapping and resisted the urge to go running into them. Instead, he tried to keep himself low to the ground, though his green eyes were huge as he looked the pair over questioningly.
Image courtesy of ilovememphis@Flickr; coding by the Mentors!
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