June 29 2015, Late morning, Sunny 77F/25C
There was a quiet sigh. Bracken looked down as the small puff of air stirred up a cloud of dust and sent a fallen leaf fluttering. She scrambled after it, a graceless collection of stubby legs and wild energy. The girl pounced on it, forelegs stretched out to pin it down while she shredded it. It was great fun -bits of leaves flying everywhere and sticking to her face- but it didn't last for very long. Foggy blue eyes searched for another leaf, anything to do. But there was nothing.
She sighed louder, fading into a thin whine. Bracken was bored. Mother had left, which wasn't a bad thing because the darkly-smudged girl invariably got into more trouble fun when Iopah wasn't there. Ember was sleeping, or ignoring her wild sister; one of those two. It was a beautiful, sunny day and Bracken had nothing to do! It was terrible! A series of muffled whines voiced this complaint and the girl flounced to the ground, kicking her backlegs as she propelled her pudgy body through the dirt in an attempt at amusement.
A noise! Her tiny head flung up in a puff of dust. What was that?! Something was moving, just large enough for puppy eyes to notice. She rose to her feet, whip-like tail going nuts behind her. Something was always better than nothing. The girl sprinted for the edge of the clearing, tripped and went tumbling once, then slipped under the curtain of salmonberry brambles that had been intended to keep other's out. Iopah couldn't have anticipated how impulsive her daughters would be, or how easy it would be for them to duck underneath it.
A high-pitched yip announced her presence. The puppy sat down, weak blue eyes looking eagerly for the visitor. Mother didn't really like it when she jumped on her and Ember definitely didn't like it, so she was going to wait right here. Impatient, but waiting nonetheless.