Snow Day

La Brea could feel the change in the air. The cold sapped the heat from his skin where it cut through his fur and dried out his nose when he breathed in. The large dire wolf pushed himself to his feet with a quiet grunt before he padded out from the cave-like room that was his shelter. He’d been sleeping, but the dry, cold air had finally stirred him from his dreams. Curiously, the young canine peeked out from the cave entrance, his golden eyes going wide and sparkling with excitement at what he saw. The sun barely heated his fur as he stepped out, his paws crunching underfoot. Snow. It had snowed!

Ahead of him, the large expanse of his territory had been painted white with the cold, crunchy stuff. He took another step forward, more of his paws coming into contact with the snow as he carefully padded forward. Was it really that time of year again? Where the heavy blanket of snow covered the tired plants? He stood, all four paws in the snow, the width keeping him from sinking entirely into it. His fur had grown thicker as nights had gotten colder, but he’d not thought about it beyond how itchy it was as his undercoat grew in thicker and the old fur had come out. 

The dire wolf drew in a deep breath, then snorted it out, marveling at the cloud of glittering steam that puffed out in front of him when he did. Another deep breath and he tossed his head back, his howl filling the still, quiet air with a lonesome, mournful call. He longed for a mate, a friend… someone to share this glorious moment with. Breathing hard, La Brea pushed off, racing across the unbroken snow that reached up to his chest, a grin spreading over his face as he ran. His breath smacked him in the face with each pant, his fur pinned down by the wind. La Brae grinned more, running in random directions on a whim that only he could understand, giddy and joyful. The canine spun in circles, chasing his tail as he sent snow flying everywhere as he ran. 

He stopped abruptly, panting so hard his tongue hung out of the side of his mouth and his golden eyes darted around, pride filling his chest at the mess he made of the once pristine white sheet. His nose twitched and he lifted it to the wind, sniffing. The dry air burned his nose, but there, on the breeze, was a scent. His head snapped around, nose to the ground as he followed it. A light crunch caught his attention after a few moments and he looked up, eyes focused on the silhouette of long, narrow ears against the white and grays, light and shadow. As he focused, brown eyes became clear, pupils wide. A small nose surrounded by whiskers twitched, drawing his attention. He stilled, watching the creature intently. The twitching nose stopped, brown eyes focused on La Brea. He took half a step, but the crunch of snow was painfully loud as he set his paw down, and that was al it took. The white creature - a rabbit - bolted as fast as its legs could carry it, but that only sealed its fate. The dire wolf took off after the much smaller creature, kicking up snow behind him with no care at all.

The rabbit bounded across the snow, barely leaving a mark beyond the indents of its paws as it pushed off the top of the snow, a sharp contrast to La Brea’s deep tracks as he chased after it. Chase, chase, chase! The dire wolf caught up to the prey quickly enough and with a quick strike and a shake of his head, it was done. It wasn’t much, but it was food. Pride once more filled his chest as he plodded back to his den with his prize. This was a great start to the snowy season, and he looked forward to what was to come.