Blacktail Deer Plateau PACKTIVITY — Scary monsters and nice sprites

Pura listened to Blue Willow's story with wide, attentive eyes, mouthing the syllables of the more difficult words. Ee-mo-shun. Lots of 's' in that one. Keeeell-d it. Side-by-side consonants. Ouch. Vowels were much kinder to the mouth, and sharpness of 'k' and 'd' tended to get stuck and reverberate around like bugs in your cheeks.

Nearby, Junior's head began to droop, and Pura heard a strangled sound reverberate from inside her belly. Ha, the boy thought cruelly when he recognized the sound as hunger, flashing his snoozing cousin a self-satisfied look. Had she been smart, she would have unearthed some worms to stymie the hunger. Pura was never more than a minute from being absolutely ravenous, and made many such trips to the dampest parts of the clearing during the day. By now, he was the terror of all things that crawled.