it's safe now

The wind had been blowing upwind, and Cuan did not notice the approach of the young black male until he began to spoke. The agouti creature glanced over his shoulder as the adolescent, known as Summer, began to speak in a pendulant tone.

Clouds had begun to roll across the empty sky, and from their high vantage point in the upper valley, the fluffy white cotton balls seemed closer than ever. It was almost as if they could leap from the rugged slope and not plummet, but sail into a vast sea of eternal blue. It was hard to believe that gray clouds, full of snow, would soon be storming in.

The subordinate's thin tail waved once as he turned back to the coal-hued creature, and a warm smile spread across his gums with Cuan's characteristic relaxed exuberance. He had caught Summer's name at the pup's arrival meeting, but never had a chance to speak to him directly.

You're right, Cuan nodded in dissent. Though it is hard to think that when it's such a fine autumn's day could be ruined. Cuan would hate to see the soft whoosh of wind across yellowing fall grass turn into the blank stillnesss that descended into winter, where not a single thing stirred under the heavy cloak of snow. Even if it would be his third witness to the cold season, he could never quite shake the feeling of death that stalked the landscape.