Heron Lake Plateau Stars come swimming out of the horizon.

Oh! There was someone new here!

To say that Kite remembered…well, anyone, except her mother, father, sisters, and brother, was being generous. At this stage, collecting memories was like scooping up the same clot of sand handful by handful — some of the granules stuck, and others would get brushed away as new ones surged to the fore. Still, she knew enough to recognize that this wolf’s voice felt different when it teased against her tiny, folded ears. She smelled different, too, and in a misguided attempt to both resume her feed and explore the new visitor, Kite gaped her baby jaws wide and made to suckle on Towhee’s nose. Her tiny paws would scrabble for purchase, and if the beta would allow, would settle at last in the whiskery bristles on either side of her nose.