Alpine Lake for merely dreaming we were snow

He shook his head, then made a different motion. Masquerade’s long tail flicked as she tried to parse his meaning. Perhaps he was a roamer, like her siblings his age… and like herself, now, she supposed.

My mate and I are traveling too, she said, pausing in case he needed to correct her. We came from a pack back east, she continued, breathing through the stitch in her chest as she thought of the rise.

She thought about confessing to this stranger, particularly as this was one of the first and only conversations she’d had lately outside of Riley. I was the one who decided to leave. I regret it but I don’t know if going back is an option. I can’t walk this back.

Masquerade shook her head lightly, staying mum on the matter. Sable probably had enough problems of his own, she didn’t need to unload hers on him. That somehow seemed like an abuse of his inability to speak himself.

Instead, she went for lighter fare, asking, Where did the chipmunk go?