Gazing down the ridge Banner was finally able to appreciate where she was. Now that it had been pointed out, she could see plain as day that the ridge lead into a huge crater. Feeling blind, Ban tuned back in to Cobra’s tale. The pup shuffled her paws and gazed mournfully at the white she wolf. “I’m sorry you lost him.” Banner said quietly. “I didn’t mean to stir up such sad memories.” She mumbled, looking up at the muddled gray sky. Patches of blue shone through the dreary ceiling. The young wolf thought it didn’t look so threatening now. Her fur stood on end, imagining she could actually feel the stinging burn of flames. Ban shook herself and looked back to Cobra, smiling crookedly. “All the time.” She confessed. “My oldest brother, the one I mentioned, used to bring us all to this stream when we were still with our mother. We played this game where we tried to catch the minnows and throw them on the shore.” Banner giggled at the memory. “One time I got swept up in the current and went all the way down stream…and over a waterfall.” The pup paused, whiskers twitching. “They were small so I was fine. My brothers thought it was really funny. My mother not so much.” Banner’s laughter rang across the grass, fading slowly as she thought of the family she had left behind. She had to remind herself it was worth it. The price of this freedom. b a nn e r as we walked I heard the laughter in the leaves mars 2013