zera tainn
Summer's stretches proved to harbor all the tautology of a child in experiment with words. It seemed that a day was like the backstretch of a never ending mountain. As soon as the sun got its fingers on the morning's hard earned dew, it simply evaporated the meaning of a day's potential - sweltering until the fireball could burn out, leaving the grass, and everyone else unfortunate enough to stand in the rays, parched as crunchy crust. It could be brutal, but it hardened the stamina and developed the esprit of the pack. Summer couldn't burn the bend.
It certainly couldn't burn Zera. It seemed that everywhere worth exploring was a place that depended on the sky's fodder. The clouds were becoming a piece of her, radiating the young pup with the electricity of a bouncing bolt of lightning. Surely she was imagining the powers of nature, but they felt so real. The flash and strike of each bolt was so much like the danger of a snake, jolting a charge within the tiny Tainn's body with every growl of thunder. Zera loved it. It was almost as if the clouds and the sun were in constant quarrel with each other, as the rays shot to the grasses and the lightning attacked with skilled vengeance. The battle was invigorating - and so much so that Zera watched from the shelter of the den, secluded in the ground's hollow. She memorized each technique, wondering if she could harness the wisdom of summer's great conquering.
Beyond the reach of the Sierra's shelter, Zera's keen ears detected a powerful, familiar bark from the clatter of thunder. She pushed herself onto growing paws and emerged from the den's entrance, ripening eyes peering out onto the bend. She caught the great figure of her father, a big black smear resting under the giant oak tree, observing the incoming storm. Zera bounced excitedly into a jolting run, racing the thunder-claps to the windy tree. As she approached him, the little Tainn quickly noticed that his black fur was damp with creek water and his mind was rich with thoughts of his previous patrol. Zera loved the idea of patrolling and protecting, brewing a battle like the rainstorm and the sunlight. She was ready to fire out the questions as soon as she plopped herself down beside him, tongue lolling out from beneath her excited smile, bluey-yellow eyes absorbed in his copper ones. Her tail wagged with the wind, and she panted though tiny lungs.
"Hey Daddy," she said, breathing his name.