Snow Cat

Chapter 1 It was cold. The snow lay thick on the forest floor, marred only by the footprints of a large cat. If anyone had been following them, they would have discovered the prints headed toward a cave buried deep in the side of the mountain—a cave whose entrance was practically invisible unless someone knew exactly where to look. The cat knew. Wary, as always, he approached cautiously. He sensed the presence of a pair of rabbits hidden under the snow-bent boughs of a nearby bush but he wasn’t hungry so he ignored them. Finally deeming it safe, the cat crawled through the small entrance on his belly then stood again once he was through the narrow tunnel that led to the cave itself. While almost invisible against the snow outside, his muscular, white body stood out in stark contrast against the dark walls inside as he paced softly to his den. Once there, he settled down on a thick pile of leaves that formed his bed. Curling his short tail around his body, he fell asleep.