MINK


What a bright-eyed little hellion you are, so full of yourself and heedless of fear. Snake killer, cruncher of large-bodied insects, fierce defender of your territory, and yet so small.

NESTLE


Deep in the cave they huddle together, soft nearly-naked bodies pressed together for warmth. A brother shifts in his sleep, exposing her nose, and she shivers, sneezes, and nestles closer.

SEA LUNGS


He breathes deep, tasting salt and joy, and sea breathes with him and tickles his feet with gentle foam.

KEEN

Is there anything finer than the things which belong to another? I think not.
Who needs eyes to know a thing has value, when it is coveted so? It's plain to see.
Are you really surprised we took it. made it ours, when you bragged of it so? Don't make me laugh.
Or do! But know, we laugh at you!

FEATHERED FRIENDS

Is there anything sweeter
than that gentle tweeting
and clucking and singing
of these feathered friends of mine?

SECOND BREATH


Darkness enfolds him as his breath leaves him, one final time. His heart pulses once, twice, and then no more. The soul departs - or tries to, though something calls it back. A gasp, as breath fills his lungs, his heart beats once more, and light returns. Mercy, or a fluke? He does not know.

DANCING FISH


The wave crashes upon the shore, and deposits a colorfish fish upon the sand. Too quick, the water retreats, and the fish, panicked, jumps up once, twice, and then again. It dances in panicked torment, until once more the tide sweeps in - and carries it away.

COLD CURRENTS


The shallow surf is Summer-warmed, the waves billowing up gently all around. Then, suddenly, a chilled touch along her flank - a gasp. A cold current from deep below, strange and out of place. She swims away to warmer waters.

HEADWIND


She flies, certain in herself and age-old instinct, never fearing anything in the wide open sky. Her talons are sharp, her beak sharper, and there is no rival save her own kind - of which she is the only one for miles around.

Drifting, she catches an updraft, daydreaming of warm nests and plump mice, when a sudden blast of wind catches her off guard.

A headwind - and she wheels, ungainly for a moment, until with a squawk of indignation, she rights herself.

Nobody saw anything.

BLACK SUN


The bees have recognized that something is amiss. They hover, anxious, about their nest, the drone of their wings thicker than usual in the thick summer heat.

Cool shadow drifts across the land, and as that inevitable daytime darkness falls, a hush settles throughout the swamp.

The sun goes black and even the hum of the bees seems muted in that twilight space.

WILD AS THE RISING SEA


The waves smash upon the rocky reef, breaking apart into gleeful foam, heedless of anything and everything - save for the race toward the shore.

They fall back, winding up again for that inevitable forward push, again and again, reaching ever higher at each pass.

Her heart beats to its rhythm, the sharp crash of heavy water, the danger and daring of running through the white-foam caps left behind.

Here she is free, and wild as the rising sea.

WHERE MOONBEAMS SLEEP UPON THE SEA


Here the Moonbeams sleep
their tails flashing silver, while in dreams
they twitch and quiver,
curled in the forgotten pearly beds
of empty seashells.

MIDNIGHT RIVER


The sky flickers with shifting colors that drift like reflections on water. A great, shimmering, river in the night sky, dotted with stars and dreams.

CRAWLER

MAUL