Swiftcurrent Creek Edible spry sky

Relonikiv sensed change in the air. There were signs of it elsewhere too: in the patches of brown revealed by the melting snow; in the snap, crackle and pop of thawing ice in the creek; in the music of songbirds that woke him each morning now. There was also something more abstract shifting around him. His guardians were restless and often away tending to business of some sort or another, leaving the two young pups under the watchful eye of someone else.

At least, that was the case usually. Intentionally or not, Relonikiv and Julius were entirely left to their own devices today. By now, the boundaries of their rendezvous site had been ingrained, so the younger of the two stayed within the invisible fence line. Still, he felt a strange sense of freedom as he loped in circles around the clearing and, at length, Relonikiv realized that there was no one there to stop him should he bust out of the playpen...