Everything was so new and bright! She didn't know which way to look first. Her den was out in the middle of nowhere and it was so magical here! There were rocks and wildlife everywhere. Rabbits scurrying to their holes, lizards and mice hiding and lurking and she wanted to catch them all! Not to hurt, mind you. She just wanted to talk to them and play with them! Mom and dad were always lurking though, warning her not to go too far, not to touch that, don't play with that, don't run in the den, and so many other warnings that she couldn't even keep up with them all. But that made life so boring! She wanted to run and play and explore! She had no siblings to play with and mom and dad would only play with her for so long before they tired out. Mom, especially. She was tired a lot and hadn't recovered from the birthing yet. Dad kept warning her to be gentle with her but who else would she pounce on and chew on? Dad kept up with her the best he could but it still wasn't as good as having a playmate her own age and size. He could only dramatize falling over and dying so much before she grew bored and wandered off to dig something up.

She'd even started making up friends to talk to, just to pass the time. There was a rock not far from then den that looked oddly like a wolf so she called him Freud. Her and Freud went on a lot of adventures together, even though he didn't move very far. Still, she told him about everything she had found and everything she planned to do each day and he was a very avid listener. He would give her advice and she would tell him to shove it and it was all just fun and games. But today there was trasure to be hard in these crags and she was going to find it if it was the last thing she did!

"Okay Freud. Wish me luck! And don't tell mom or dad where I am, okay? They'll just worry. I'll be back before they know I'm gone!"

Giggling, she took off into the rocks, sniffing and digging. There had to be something shiny somewhere around here!