Hideaway Strath You call but I just cut the line

Turmeric was alone.

The little boy loved his siblings, but he loved his solitude all the same. Not so much for any antisocial reason, but because being alone gave him time to explore the world, and those boring things that sang of so much interest to him.

He'd found a new cluster of berries the other week, and after confirming with himself they were okay to touch (he'd watched a squirrel collect some away) and eat (she'd disappeared with them into her tree, after all), Turmeric decided to experiment with them himself.

Vibrant red stained his paws and the rock where he'd begun to mash the berries down. He didn't quite know what he was making, but the task so stole his attention he never noticed the obvious sound of footfalls behind him, or the charge of another, until a bark and a weight like a boulder - or maybe a mountain - crashed into his side.

"Tye!" he barked on instinct - only to realize, quick enough, the boy he faced wasn't his brother. The force of the bigger pup toppled Turmeric to the ground, and he felt the warm dirt scuff against his side, even as he thrust his paws upward and out in a feeble but honest attempt to try and fight back.