"Good." Fireheart slid her strong foreleg around her son, pulling him to rest against her chest, between her paws. She toyed with his tail fur - how had little burs gotten in the fiery tip already? - and groomed him a bit, thinking back to her own time as a cub. She had grown up very quickly once she got a bit older, and she hoped her children would cherish their short time being young.
"Hmm...let me think," she murmured as she picked the last little burr from his tail. "Perhaps I'll tell you about the time of the year when the tortoises from the sea come up to lay eggs on our beaches. Every year, when the moon looks big enough to touch, hundreds of turtles as large as you climb up onto the shores."
She continued with her story, her voice echoing in the den pleasantly, until Asker fell asleep.
FIN
