Early morning before dawn, broken clouds, 9F/-12C
I’m Done Putting Out The Fires You Start
It was early, very early, the sun had not even begun to rise when the Maceio-Tainn teen was awoken with a start. It took her a moment to realize what it was that had woken her up so abruptly. Nearby there was the sound of sniffing, shuffling paws, and worst of all what was the unmistakable sound of a canine eating. Leaping to her paws Marrah rushed out of the tree that she had been using as a den for the last few months.
She was met with the unpleasant sight of a coyote eating the last of her already dwindling cache. Lurching forward she called out, ”Hey! That’s mine!” The pest took one look at the large yearling and didn’t like its odds, turning tail and taking off into the snowy landscape. Marrah chased it for a few yards before immediately giving up, there was no use. Even if she caught the coyote she couldn’t fight it, and even if she could it wouldn’t refill her stores.
Not much of a hunter, and all alone, it had taken Marrah weeks to prepare for winter the little she had been able to. Now there was snow coating the ground, prey was more scarce, and her cache was empty. What was she supposed to do now?
When The Cranberry Vodkas Hit A Little Too Hard