Sticks and stones could break your bones —
— and trying to build with them in the snow could put your mental health at risk.
Kirala had been out here long enough for the sun to move elsewhere in the sky, and when she looked up at them, those weren't the same clouds she saw before. The weather was mild for this cursed land (blessed, if you asked its royal family), but for how long was crucial to her success.
She was getting old enough that age slowed her down. Stopping her was another matter. If it took all day and all night, she'd build this structure to completion. As a hare with limited vocabulary and exposure to the outside world, she didn't know quite what to call it... Two walls made of sticks that leaned together and gave her son ample room to run under them. A tunnel, almost, but with a different shape and above ground.
Bisra had one when he was small, and she hoped the nostalgia would sweeten his sour mood.
Nature had other plans. A gust of wind came through, more than strong enough to topple all her sticks over. It brought some of the white powder back to the space she'd worked so hard to clear for its foundation, too.
"Might as well try once more..."
Seaki
