(Tiny cliffhanger :3) “Frisky? Frisky, wake up!” Frisky felt paws softly nudging her side, and she groaned. Her whole body ached. Her neck felt tender… wait! Her neck? No, she thought as she resettled her body. If they did the same thing to me as they did Wag, then I would be dead by now. Relief flooded her mind. Ouch! What was that? Pain lanced up her tail, she suspected that her tail had been pinched. By what was beyond her. “FRISKY! WAKE UP!” The voice that so rudely assaulted her peace sounded like it was full of panic and fear. What is it this time? Frisky felt a flash of irritation bubbling up inside her. I guess I’ll just see what all the commotion is. Her eyes opened and she found herself in a big silver room in a cage with a weird, moving shape. Her eyes went into focus and she realized that the moving shape was Nip. “Frisky!” Nip cried. “Nip!” Frisky barked with glee at the same time as Nip. “I have so many questions, starting with ‘where are we?’ and ending with ‘how did we get here?’” Frisky demanded. “I can answer almost all of them, I think.” Nip declared and then sat down. Frisky wagged her tail happily and looked around their surroundings. They were in the same tendriled box as the humans Brady and Alicia trapped them in before they drove away. “Do you know where we are?” Frisky asked the nearest animal. The animal to whom Frisky asked a question was also in a cage. She had bright red fur and a defeated air about her. Nip whispered to Frisky. “I think she’s a fox, is what Leaf and Acorn taught us.” “You can stop whispering about me, thanks very much.” Was the tart reply. Nip and Frisky looked around until they realized the voice came from the female fox. “Sorry. What’s your name?” Nip said courteously. “My name doesn’t matter. My family is gone, and I am doomed here.” “I insist on knowing your name, and you sound as if you know where we are, currently. Could you possibly tell us the answer to both of those questions, please?” The fox sighed, and turned towards them. “Fine. But I do this because you are the only ones who will talk to me. We are in the Rocky Mountain Animal Conservation Center. Otherwise known as the RMACC. My name is Alpine.” “Nice to meet you, Alpine! And thanks for telling us where we are!” Alpine grunted in acknowledgment. “We need to get out of here! Mom and Dad will be super worried!” Nip whispered. Frisky nodded in agreement. “I say we ask Alpine if there’s any way that we could escape.” A plan was forming in Frisky’s coyote mind. Frisky turned back to the depressed, female fox. “I’m sorry, but do you know if there is a way we could get out of our cages?” She asked politely. “Not unless you can wait ‘till sundown. They take us out every day to get some exercise and to give us a chance to make dirt before they go home for the night and we are left until sunrise the next day. You can slide out of the fence that coops in the paddock. Then you can run into the forest and be free. But I will do everything in my power to keep you here unless you comply with one little condition of mine.” Alpine’s eyes were bright and shining. She looked young and beautiful again. “And what’s that?” Nip asked suspiciously. “You only have to take me with you. It’s one simple thing that will get us all free from these humans.” “Let us think about this for a minute.” Frisky said. Alpine nodded in assent. “Of course.” She said. Frisky and Nip turned their backs on her and started the following conversation. “I think it’s a reasonable request. We should agree.” Frisky stated. “I just don’t think we should though. She’ll only be extra weight to heave around.” Nip argued. “But if we don’t, Alpine will alert the humans!” “Fine! Do it your way, see if I care!” Nip snapped. Just then, a blur of brown fur flew down from the top of their cage. It was a cat, and he was a boy. He whispered, “Whatcha whispering about, coyote pups?” Frisky and Nip screamed. “Calm down, pups, it’s only Homer. Really smart, loves finding new ways to escape and knows all about every animal and everything in Rocky Mountain National Park!” Alpine said proudly. “He was the first friend I made here, but we got into a fight concerning escaping the RMACC. I wanted to wait, but he wanted to leave that instant. Since then, we have never really seen eye-to-eye. Although, I wonder why he never left without me…” Alpine said mischievously. Homer snorted and said. “It was because the humans caught me. Not because of any feelings I had for you.” He trotted briskly away from them, on top of another cage. “Alpine, we’ve made our decision.” “Well?”
