Moonlight
By ThunderDragon
The stiff, cold air flowed through the mossy den.
"Mother, how much longer will we survive out here?" asked a small, ginger kit.
"I'm not sure...but I will do anything to protect you." replied a dappled tabby she cat.
Sunflower was a mother of three kits, Finch, Ember, and Sparrow.
Sunflower had been kicked out of her original home and forced to survive in the wild.
She lost her mate, Tuji, in a fierce storm not less than two weeks ago.
Sunflower had to protect her young ones and grow the skills to survive.
"Mother mother mother I'm booorreeeddd!" wailed Finch, a small gray tom.
"Quiet now, Finch," Sunflower warned, "I will go find something outside the den for you to play with."
Finch, Ember, and Sparrow watched as their mother clumped up a muddy ball of moss and took it inside away from the frigid wind.
Sparrow shot at it first. The wild little she cat dug her tiny fangs into the ball and shot it at the left corner of the den.
She squealed as Ember grabbed the ball and threw it to Finch.
Sunflower admired their teamwork. She was still scared for them. They were only about a month old, after all.
Ember toppled over Sparrow in a clumsy manner.
"Ember, careful!" Sunflower warned.
Then a tiny rock shook from the ceiling of the den and plopped onto Finch's head.
Finch laughed with excitement, but Sunflower looked up. More and more rocks started to fall.
Dust was filling the den, and Sunflower rounded up her kits. They fit into the very far side of the den, where a little curve was made.
Soon the rocks stopped falling, but trouble was in the air.
"Stay there, kits..." Sunflower commanded.
She poked her head out of the den. Sunflower looked left, and then right.
Sunflower froze as a fox head poked out of the juniper bush nearby.
Frightened and shaking with fear, Sunflower rushed back to her kits. She destroyed the moss ball and hung it right above their heads to try and cover them up.
"What are you doing, mother?" Ember whispered.
"Silence!" Sunflower silently scolded. "There is a fox just yonder our den. It might try to eat us if it knows we are here. So be quiet!"
Sparrow shut her eyes and leaned in closer to her mother.
"But...I'm hungry mother!" Ember whispered even louder.
"I will give you some milk, but be quiet. Stop talking."
Ember and Sparrow huddled into Sunflower's belly, but Finch peeked out a hole in the moss covering, keeping watch.
"Finch, drink some milk before your sisters take it all." Sunflower said.
Finch nodded and put his nose in his mother's warm belly.
Sunflower closed her eyes. Was she truly going to be able to protect her kits all on her own?
The kits finished and went back to lying down in the corner.
THUMP!
THUMP!
A head peeked in the den. Sunflower froze with fear.
The fox sniffed the cold air. "Cats..." he whispered.
The red fox squeezed the rest of his body in.
He pulled back the moss curtain, and Sunflower shrieked as the fox picked up Sparrow.
"NO NO NO!" She hurled herself at the fox, but his red pelt was out of sight in seconds.
Sunflower was devastated.
Did you enjoy this? Nothing was copied from any other stories, original characters, original ideas from ThunderDragon.
This took me around 30 minutes to write :)
Comment below if you want a part 2!
Have a great day,
~Thunder <3
