just taking in the scenery [ envis // lisa ]

`Envis | 716 words

Morning dew clung to the flora and foliage, the little droplets glinting in the delicate rays of sunrise. At the sight of the coming sun, Naomi lazily blinked her eyes, hoping that the blinking would rid her of the drowsiness she felt. Through the leaves of the trees, Naomi could make out the pastel colors of the sky—purple to pink mid-tones, steel blue shadows, and yellow highlights. She stared up at the sky, her eyes suddenly wide and bright with admiration. It wasn’t often that she got to see what the world looked like at such an early time. Usually, she would awaken when the sun was well settled into the sky, not when it was just coming into it. Just earlier, she’d dreaded getting up so early, but getting to see the painted sky alone made her troubles worth it.

Feeling refreshed, the girl dropped her head to normal position and carried merrily on her way. She struggled to ignore the feeling of wet dew adhering to her paws and legs, for the damp feeling was hard to disregard. Still, it did little to discourage her from her mission. She walked, pressing her nose to the ground as it worked to draw in the scents of the surrounding area. Many of the scents were ignored by her, except for one of course: the smell of bear. Ears perked with interest, Naomi followed the scent and picked up her pace, only slowing when she neared the source of the smell.

From her cover in the bushes, she could see the brown beast. It was relatively far away, far away enough that she could run for safety should it provoke her, but close enough for her to observe it. She could see it rummaging through the foliage, and she shifted her position to allow her to better see the situation. Then, she saw her target; the bear was feasting on dark berries. Her eyes locked on the little black orbs, curious about what secrets they held that made the bears crave them so much. Most predators of her kind would come to Berry Valley to catch prey and get fat on plump deer, but that wasn’t what brought Naomi to the area. On previous days that she’d actually gotten up early, she noticed bears out and about munching on all sorts of berries, and she was always curious about why they did so and, more importantly, what those berries tasted like. She’d gotten up early because it was mainly in the mornings that she’d seen the most bears, many of them mothers with cubs.

This bear didn’t have a cub, but it was feasting on tiny fruits and that was all that mattered to the wolfdog. Naomi’s patience grew thin as she waited for the bear to finish its meal and leave the bushes that it occupied, and just as she was about to give up and find another bear to watch, she saw it begin to amble away. When the bear was well into the density of the forest, Naomi bounded out from the bushes and rushed up to the berry hoard. She stopped in her tracks, frowning at the gruesome sight of mangled berries. Determined not to give up, she padded around to the other side of the cluster of bushes and was pleased to find a decent amount of untouched berries.

At first, the girl just stared at the blackberries, wondering if the reddish-purple ones would taste better than the dark purple ones or if it was the other way around. Then, without another ounce of hesitation, she bit off a berry and chewed into it. The fruit popped beneath the pressure of her teeth and the juice gushed through her mouth, sending a tart-sweet flavor to her tongue. "Hmm," she hummed, pleasantly surprised at the taste. The sweetness made her crave more, and it didn’t help that the berry was so small. She sat back onto her haunches and bit into another one, and when that one was gone, she bit into another. The juice had seeped from her mouth and stained her muzzle a red-purple color, a mark she wore proudly as she feasted on the berries. If anyone had been nearby, she didn’t notice, nor did she care in the moment.