I lean over the cliff face. One of the two figures has turned around and seems to be speaking to a cluster of about four other figures. I carefully jump down to a small shelf beneath the cliff’s edge. The figure turns back to the other and says something. I hear something hit the wall above me. I look up, and see a small dent in the cliff face above me. I examine the dent. The dent was small, but it must have been moving very fast to have created an impact marking. I keep examining it-

My train of thought is cut off by a sudden, searing pain in my back. My legs wobble and start to slide off the shelf. I grab the edge of the shelf with my front legs and start to pull myself back up, when another pain flares up in my hind leg. My momentary, adrenaline-fueled stamina gives way, and I fall. A strange wave of fatigue seems to wash over me as I fall. I hit the ground, and the world goes dark around me.

- The Pleasure of Winter Warmth, 2023.12.28.B