Dawnlark Plains hair of the dog

it had been a beautiful, cloudless morning.

she toddled after her momma as she went to check up on daddy, eyes wide and glistening as she looked up, blue skies meeting baby blue eyes.  until today, she had still been too young to truly understand what death meant.  she understood that when she and river captured bugs near the den that they were gone, their bodies stiff and cold (and easily devoured).  in her young life, she had never even had to deal with the death of a packmate, let alone someone close to her.

and as the realization dawned on her, she understood that daddy would never see another sunset.  he would never go chasing bugs again.  he would never wake up at all.  why?

frozen, she began to shake, and her lip gave one tremulous quiver.  the commotion around grayday's body would soon cause kitten to shut down and remain silent, but this moment would define the young girl's life forever.