(052)
Something was in the air. Something was coming, and even underground they could sense it. A restlessness had taken hold within the warren. What had once seemed spacious had now become cramped, and eight brothers and sisters all push each other to be the first to venture out from the only place they’d ever known.
Until finally, one does.
After being unceremoniously shoved from the nesting chamber, a female has had enough. She moves in gentle hops towards the entrance of a world she hasn’t seen, her curiosity marked by a frantic, twitching nose. Her siblings follow closely as she reaches the opening, where the energy they’d felt vibrates more ferociously. It was as if a collective inhale of breath had been taken by the world, and it trembled with the pressure of holding onto it.
She pokes her head out, blinking against the light – gloomy as it was. Dark clouds swirl in the sky above and black dust plumes in the dirt at any passing breeze. An irresistible, nervous chattering lingers in the silence, and her siblings push her from behind to try to get closer, but they needn’t do so; imbued by the energy in the atmosphere, they soon all bound into the open field.
A tiny pitter patter of droplets stains the ashen earth like inkblots, growing fatter by the second. Each drop that touches skin sends them wilder. Some hare around the open field in pursuit of one another, while others jump with all their might into the air, flipping and landing in a heap. The bravest ones creep away to the edge of the field and peer down at the river below, though none dare to go any further.
A sudden flash of light paints the sky before a deafening boom sends them running. Sixteen pairs of blackened paws scrabbling in the mud, heading for the safety of their nest. The bravest sister, having strayed the furthest comes in last. She gallops across the field towards the charred tree, leaping through the entrance and skidding into a pile of panting wet fur.
They cower amongst the roots of the wounded tree as another flash fills the burrow, fear and exhilaration surging through their tiny bodies. Back in the cramped cavern they’d so wanted to escape from, their heartbeats drumming with the rhythm of the rain that falls above their heads. The air they share is musty with each other’s breath, the space is claustrophobic, and yet, huddled together – it’s as good as anywhere else.
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