GROUNDSQUIRREL

            It was nearly sundown by the time Groundsquirrel woke up. The long, cold vigil had exhausted him and his siblings. Cavefrost and Grassfur were still asleep. Yawning, Groundsquirrel settled back down in his nest. A few moments of rest wouldn’t hurt. And then he remembered that he was supposed to go hunting with Flowerburst.

            He forced himself to stand up. Groundsquirrel padded out of the warriors den and looked for Flowerburst. She was eating a thrush with her sister, Floodface beside her. “Flowerburst,” he called as she swallowed the final bite of her thrush. “Do you still want to hunt?”

            “I’ll be back soon,” Flowerburst whispered to Floodface.

            Then she trotted over to Groundsquirrel. “Let’s hunt!” she said.

            “Where should we go?” he asked her.

            “To the Sky Oak,” she said.

            They ran through the forest, pelts brushing, until they reached the Sky Oak. Groundsquirrel noticed a leaf twitching. “Hold on,” he whispered to Flowerburst.

            Dropping into a hunting crouch, he slowly stalked forward. He pounced and dispatched the mouse with a sharp bite to its spine.

            He turned around, about to call to Flowerburst, but she was stalking a thrush. The bird had no idea she was there. Groundsquirrel crept forward to stand beside her. Suddenly, a twig snapped under her paws and the thrush, alerted, began to fly away. “Oh, I was so close,” Flowerburst hissed.

            But Groundsquirrel wasn’t listening. As the thrush spread its wings and lifted off the ground, he took a massive leap. He caught a hold of the thrush’s wing and it was brought down by Groundsquirrel’s weight. He killed it with a quick nip to its neck.

            “Nice leap!” Flowerburst exclaimed, impressed.

            “Thanks,” he said. “You'll catch the next one.”

            Suddenly, he noticed a squirrel nibbling on an acorn at the base of the Sky Oak.  He pointed with his tail towards the squirrel.

            Flowerburst slid over the leaves towards the squirrel until she was only a tail-length away from it. She leaped forward, claws outstretched, and killed it with a swift bite to its spine.

            “Nice catch!” Groundsquirrel meowed.

            The sun was dipping below the orange horizon and Groundsquirrel smelled rain on the wind.  “Let’s go back to camp,” he said.

            Flowerburst nodded. They walked back to camp together and Groundsquirrel was happy.