Arrow Lake why you rolling waves over me now, that's all i need dreaming

If this was meant to be private, lmk!

The rabbit, the Caldera, and the brief brawl with the brash yearling already seemed like they happened years ago. Such was life for Ephraim. He had not the luxury of reminiscing about his past, what little comfort could be found there, nor contemplating his future, for no day was assured. This left him mired firmly in the present, where things flew by in an instant and were overwritten by other, more pressing concerns.

There was little food to be had in the mountains. No packs to nick a bite or two from, and few travelers to trick. Ephraim might even have agreed to a joint effort and shared honestly if it meant a solid meal in his belly. He was forced to accept whatever meager offerings came his way while he crossed to the taiga. A rotted and mostly picked over carcass here, an unlucky mouse with a broken leg there. That rabbit would be as succulent as choice venison compared to the pathetic victuals Ephraim scrounged up, but in the snow, they were far too quick.

When he finally reached the other side, he looked even more pathetic than his typical meals. Thin, haggard, and bone-tired from traveling, it was all the little coywolf could do to keep from shivering with the slightest breeze. Yet he pressed on, alive despite the odds, to a little lake tucked away in the foothills. No chance of fishing, but he made his way out to the ice all the same.

And stopped, lifting his head to watch another canine across the way, shaped not so differently from himself.