Sun Mote Copse Dance-off, bro. Me and you.

@Weejay , @Avery , @Sugar Glider , @Penn , @Crow and our senior puppy @Maia . Adults are welcome too! Puppy chaos, no posting order, rounds every few days.

It had been very hot during the past few days. The air was thick and stuffy, the heat bearable only on early mornings and late evenings (either before or late after bed-time), therefore rendering life difficult and boring for a growing weed like Elfie. If he was not sleeping somewhere outside in the shade, he was cooped up with the rest of the family in the den. Which, frankly speaking, was getting too small and too crowded for his taste. Especially now, when every breeze was worth in gold.

One afternoon, however, the winds changed, heavy, dark clouds assembled and there was low rumbling heard. And as the first flash of lightening happened, Elfie got scared and darted right back to the den. There, lying in the safety of the darkness, he allowed only his muzzle to peer out. He watched the rain fall, the thunderstorm rage with awe in his eyes. Never before had he seen anything like this. And as it happens with such summer thunderstorms, half an our later it had done it's cause and moved on to terrorize some other place.

Elfie walked out of the den and peered around carefully. The landscape had not changed much, except - what was that - he lifted one paw, then the other and scrunched his nose. Wet. Eugh. He tried to shake it away, but it was not easy to balance his fat form on three legs. Therefore the next instant he plopped down in the middle of a puddle. A quiet splash, followed by an annoyed groan. "ARGHHH."

Maia hadn't spent too much time around the new puppies.  Not because she didn't want to!!! Just.... Eljay was sad.  Like, really, really, really sad.  And Maia did not like sad unless it was her own sad, because her own sad she couldn't avoid.

But today it was raining, and as she passed by at a trot, she caught sight of one of them out.  Well... surely they wouldn't mind.....

Ayoooooooo friends, this is puddlewump weather if I've ever seen it! she called out, smiling and coming closer to where Elfie seemed skeptically upset by the water.  As she went, she was able to get a few good tromping splashes in.  Let's be honest... she had already been splashing in puddles well before she'd been near the den.

Loud noises and Sugar Glider were not good bedfellows. She disliked, in particular, sudden bursts of sound. When the first thunderclap came, startling her awake from her daily nap, every single blade of fur on the youngster's body stood on end, the flesh beneath crawling with revulsion. The ones that followed lacked that first peal's sharp edge, however, and then came the rush of rain: a more familiar and soothing sound. The sky grew so dark that it was like nightfall had gone rathe, though there were bright flashes of light that threw the shadows against the wall into stark relief.

The whole experience was extremely sensory. Sugar felt a little wrung out by the time the storm moved on from the copse. The dimness began to brighten again and the den's other inhabitants made toward the exit. She did not follow right away, though a few loud exclamations from out of doors compelled the littlest Blackthorn forward. She peeked out of the den, black eyes roving over the by now familiar sights of the small dooryard, noting a strange glister on some surfaces, a darkling on others. Everything smelled much richer than usual too.

But it was Elfie and their loudmouthed guest that drew her attention. The babe's lips drew downward in disapproval at the shouting, though it didn't trigger her like some noises did; it was merely irksome. It only soured her features for a beat before Sugar realized they were likely about to play. Abruptly her sweet little face broke into a grin and she hopped like a rabbit to stand beside Elfie, whose face looked a lot like hers had a moment ago.

Pox hadn't been particularly bothered by the thunderstorm. Actually, he hadn't even been aware they'd had a thunderstorm seeing as he'd slept like a rock through the whole thing. Fin had even tried to wake him, thinking to take he and his siblings nearer to the mouth of their den so they could see the lightning. But he hadn't moved at all except to twitch his back toes once in mid air as some aspect of his dream required use of his little peet.

By the time the loudmouths arrived, Pox was waking from his slumber. He stretched his limbs out as far from his plump little body as he could reach, and then he was up and bounding outside to see what all the fuss was about. He raced without hesitation through the puddles and planted himself excitedly in front of Maia--a near stranger to him (I think?), which obviously didn't perturb him in the slightest. He giggled at the mess she was making and raised a paw to try it out himself, his giggles bursting into laughter as a wave of water splashed up into his own face.

Round 2: thank you all for joining! Others are still welcome.

Elfie was both a problem-solver and a person, whose confidence in himself  at this point in life depended on other people's appraise. It was easy to shine with Weejay and Eljay in the background, however, it was harder to prove that you were a star on your own. Especially, when others saw your failings. Therefore he was about to get out of this embarrassing situation, when the bulky adult arrived, but was not quick enough and got water both in his face and on his body. "Blergh..." he groaned and shot Maia a dirty look. 

However, the sourness did not last long, because a perfect distraction arrived. Sugar Glider (to Elfie he was Finwood No.Something, because he had not yet learned to count and to him all the babies looked the same) arrived to sympathize with his puddle situation. And inspired by Maia's splashing he turned around and attempted to push his younger aunt in the puddle. Whether he succeeded, it is unknown, because a little canon-ball darted out from the den and splashed a wave of water in Elfie's face, along his course. 

"You, Idjit!!! he told Finwood No.Something 2 (and I have no idea, where he learned that bad word from), but not in an un-nice way. He forgot about his intention to soak and drown Sugar Glider and went after his uncle, slipping in mud and happening to bump into Maia's ankles.

Sugar never saw it coming. One moment, she was standing beside Elfie, anticipating a game of some kind, and the next, she was face-down in a puddle. There wasn't even time to cry out in alarm. All she could do was splutter as water went in her eyes and up her nose. She pushed herself onto all fours, sloshing the ankle-deep water as she attempted to orient herself, brackish water dripping from her small, startled face.

But the young were nothing if not resilient! Sugar Glider eventually recovered her senses, pieced out what must've happened, and let out a small battle cry that was equal parts playful and vengeful as she sprang out of the puddle and chased after Elfie, who was himself pursuing Penn.

oops!

They were not in the puddlewumping spirit apparently!  Well, best pup friend ever Maia would simply need to change that.  Penn was about the only one who seemed to be having any fun with it, and she laughed with him, splashing one of her own.  Getting soaked was one of the best parts!

Watch!!!  She ignored Elfie's sour look at her dousing and instead focused on showing all of them how fun puddles could be.  She took off at a short galloping run towards a prime, slick patch of grass.  Then, when she got there, she stopped.... but momentum kept her going, turning the run into a nice rolling slide over the slimy grass.  She didn't know if any of them were paying attention to her outside of their own games, but she was having fun, so hey!  Didn't matter!

Fun story - my friends and i did this in college around campus after a thunderstorm one year.  Completely tore up the main lawn right before family weekend too haha! XD mud puddles make amazing slip-n-slides

Pox was completely unperturbed by being called an idjit. Mostly because he didn't notice it happened, but also he wouldn't have known what it was so he wouldn't know to not be okay with it. His attention was on Maia, who was showing them something quite fascinating just now. His head canted with interest as she ran forward and dropped into a slide across the grass. His eyes grew wide with fascination and after about five seconds of standing there in awe and curiosity, he was springing forward to give this a try for himself.

It was about ten paces in when his older nephew caught up with him. Whether he'd meant to or not, Pox found his paws suddenly tangled and down he went into the grass. It had been his intention, of course, to trip and slide across the grass at some point, so he was once again okay with it and just giggled all the while as he tumbled about in a confusion of grass and water and (potentially) other puppies.

Round 3!

Elfie had had suspicions that Maia was a person to learn from, when it came to doing cool stuff, and he was not disappointed, when she quickly distracted him from biting Pox's (let's keep it simple for the narrator) butt and deflecting an attack from a gliding superhero that was Sugar-woman (free to assume any lasting/non-lasting damage here). At the ringleader's command, he stopped and he watched, and his initial skeptical frown changed to a mouth-agape wonder. 

Mr. Idjit was the first to try, Elfie did not want to be bested and did the same. Except his slide was cut short, when he accidentally dove face-first in a very deep puddle, inhaled a good amount of dirty water and was left coughing and splurting. However, a moment later he had recovered (still coughing and eyes red and watering from the sand), turned and splashed through the muddy wonderland towards Maia, intent to try and pull her down. Hopefully - with the added weight of the other two guys.

When her prey stopped rather suddenly, Sugar nearly collided into him the way he had just knocked into Penn. She dug her little feet into the ground to brake to a stop, whirling to lunge at Elfie, capturing his tail in her mouth with a triumphant grumble. She chewed on it for all of three seconds before she realized the other two pups were looking at something. She absently spat out her cousin's tail and followed their line of sight, watching the end of Maia's slip-and-slide demonstration.

Just as abruptly, Elfie and Penn were now romping around in the slick wet grass, mimicking the grownup. Sugar just stood and stared for a moment, the sight suddenly striking her as hilariously absurd. Her tiny jaws split in a grin and the most cherubic laughter burst from her mouth. Without further ado, she sprang forward, trying to tackle Elfie and Penn simultaneously as she too fell to the slippery sedge, flopped onto her striped back and began writhing like a fish out of water.

Pox laughed as the sodden pile of puppy swiftly turned into a sodden pile of puppies. He squirmed against the other two, trying to reach for a paw or a shoulder or a face idc to chomp on, but there was so much squirming, he ended up with a mouthful of muddy water and his own wrist in his teeth. Unperturbed, he let himself go and managed to wriggle out to freedom, only to turn back in another moment and launch himself at Sugar's tail.

And I think I will wrap up this puppy playdate and start a new one. 'cause those buggers are a month older now. Thank you all for joining!

Elfie was a tad bit disappointed in the two younger Blackthorns, because they had no interest in working as a team and tackling the bigger wolf. He did attempt to entice the duo with barks and meaningful glances toward Maia, but with no success. Therefore with a glance of "Sorry, Sis!" in her direction, he sprang right in the middle of the puppy yarn ball. 

Water and mud splashed everywhere, growls, barks and yelps could be heard, running paws, someone slipping and falling. The game lasted until three soggy and dead tired kids had to be fished out of the soup they had made in front of the den and brought back to warmth to dry and rest.