Change had been slow but such changes were so great. I was no longer so weak, unable to roam about on legs too pathetic for my own ambitions. I could speak now - hear the world, see it all for what it was. I was no longer veiled in silence and darkness and this... it pleased me. Happiness at such an age is a strange thing, for there is little within the confines of a den to bring joy. My siblings are there, as is my mother, but other than them... there truly is little. Perhaps it is my pursuit for pleasure that had driven me to venture closer and closer to the den's mouth - each day, I would move until I could watch outside. I would demand stories from my father, coaxing them out, hungry for word of the outside world. Changes had happened, but they were never happening fast enough. If only, I had thought, I could force such changes.

It had been my father that had forced such a change, however, rather than myself. As per usual, he had come to us in the morning, rousing my siblings and I and yet... he had not given us the order to remain put. He had not asked mother to ensure that we behave. This was freedom. He had left the gate open to us all and such an opportunity... oh, I had grasped it with eager hands. The moment mother had left to tend to her duties, I had followed her right to the lip of the den. How long had I watched the sky above and trees beyond and now... I was so close. If I hadn't taken that step and freed myself from the dirt hole of a home, I would have dismissed myself to a life of obedience and restriction. Even as young as I was, I felt the need to do as I pleased rather than what others insisted of me. Father had always said that independence was an important trait.

So over the lip I had gone, my paws taking me over the strangest of terrain. Whether or not I had been followed was not important at that point - I simply wanted to see, to feel, to taste the universe around me with gluttonous greed. Perhaps, like mother, father should have remained silent on the matters of the outside world but no... he wanted us to be like that, no? He wanted us to want and so, I had taken.

My first stop was by the treeline that lead out to the sea - I had traveled for some ten minutes without having been found. I had seen that side of the world before though; trees, root systems that bent over one another but the sea had been new. The sand beneath my paws was a strange feeling and it prevented me from going further - instead, I flexed my toes in it, exploring the sensation as I watched the world of blue just beyond. I was truly happy then, and it showed: behind me, I could feel my tail waving so slowly, my ears standing tall at attention as the birds above cried down at me. Perhaps it had been somewhat overwhelming, my small heart pounding away in excitement and nervousness and yet... I was too awe struck to move.

There had been one thing I could do, though, and it was simple. I could call for my siblings - they needed to see the strange blue land, the strange birds above and feel the pleasure that the world had offered us. I wanted them to come with to take this all, so I had called for them, even if my voice crackled and got lost in the winds. I had no doubt at that point that my siblings would hear me and come for me, or that any would for that matter. In my mind, I could not see why any other would not.

I had found the first inkling of true happiness in the world, and I had begun to wait - smiling - for those that wished to take such a world to find me.