Taika was almost more excitable than she was! It was fantastic! My bouncing ceased when Taika skidded to a stop in front of me, white ears perked to hear her response. I could not help my tail’s endless wagging from beginning once again as the darker wolf reached my side.

There are games here! My golden eyes take in the landscape around us as she speaks of the forest and the fairies. Fairies! I have never even heard of such things! Eyes dart, trying to find them. A hot summer breeze rustles the tops of trees, turning them into giant birds ruffling their feathers.

“Fairies?” I said, excitement evident in my light tone. “What are fairies? Will they play with us?”

As Taika moves forward, I follow, careful to not make noise if we were searching for something. I wouldn’t want to startle the fairies and ruin our game! My brow furrows as she sniffs around, my own black nose lowering to the ground to try and catch this mysterious fairy scent. I could smell other wolves, faintly, along with lots of food animals, but none had been through recently. But all the food smells were ones I recognized! Rabbits, deer, weasels, nothing new here! Where was the fairy smell? Perhaps the fairy smell was like the bird-trees. I knew if I told Taika, she would not see them, but I knew the leaves were feathers. Maybe Taika was the one who could find the fairies, but I couldn’t.

When Taika speaks again, my head droops. The fairies don’t want to play with us, that’s no good! I hadn’t done anything to hurt them or scare them. I didn’t even know what they looked like! My head tilts to to the side, questioning.

“Fairies have pet rabbits? Are they for snacking on?” Maybe fairies were like wolves! Rabbits were small but tasted fine if one was light footed enough to catch them! I would often play games with the rabbits back at home, hiding near their burrows waiting for them to appear only to scare them back inside.

“Yes, let’s find them!” My tail is high behind me as I prance in place, ready to see where this new friend would take her.