Crouches trembling against the biting wind through a long frigid night in the Canadian wilds. Paralyzed, frozen, he slept too hastily then woke to utter weariness, the hunger gnawing under his ribs like frozen needles.

Rabbit curled snug in his grass-lined burrow. Nestled there with his mate, he never felt the stabbing pain of those bitter cold nights. Rabbit woke, a gentle hunger curling around his middle, urging him out into the bright morning light.

Soon after, fox relaxes back on his haunches, licking warm rabbit drippings from his gaunt muzzle. Snug in the secure triumph of conquest, fox relishes the fruit of all his attempts to outwork hells vast and frozen.

Lilly Jones