Swiftcurrent Creek vesnianka

for @Trailhawk !

The blue-and-gold sky was fractured by branches that now bore leaves of vivid green. In the broken sunlight, a wolf lay on a rock overlooking a trickling waterfall. His fur was still slightly damp from the bed of grass he had thrashed about in all night. With his thick winter coat already shed, all he could do was wait for the afternoon sun like an overgrown lizard.

A bored one, too. Not once did it occur to him that getting up and moving around might be beneficial. Instead, he just lounged onto his side, trying to get comfortable on the hard rock. He did not have much to cushion his bony frame, even after a few fishy meals (though his fur was looking much nicer now). He sighed to himself and began to hum a tune to the sky.

Without realizing, he found himself singing something he knew well: a hymn to the spring and the earth. It was meant to be sung together in a chorus made up of the pack’s voices, with his mother’s steady howl to guide him. His own voice sounded thin and meek without them. Hardly a proper welcome for Nature’s return to life.

Yet he sang anyway, because he could still remember it and it would not leave his head.

It was then that he finally realized someone else was present. He looked around in surprise, and in so doing, managed to roll directly off the rock and onto the grass. His last note trailed off into an undignified yelp.

Ahem. Pardon me, Hirundo said as he quickly got back up, attempting to comb bits of grass out of his fur with his teeth. Hello! I’ve not seen you before.