The sun was high in the sky, but the winter chill still gripped the mountainside.  A lone female fox, her rusty red fur barely enough to protect her from the elements, stood atop a small mound, her ears perked up and her eyes scanning the horizon. She let out a pleading cry, a call that echoed through the day, a desperate attempt to reach out to her missing mate.

She couldn’t shake off the nagging doubt that had been eating at her heart since sunrise. The dogs of the area were notorious for their relentless pursuit of foxes, treating them as sworn enemies. She had seen more of her kind fall to their canines, than to hunger, accidents, or even to other predators.

Yet, she held onto hope. Foxes were known for their guile, wit, and slyness – well smartness. They had outwitted the dogs many times before, escaping their clutches with cunning and speed. Perhaps, just perhaps, her mate had managed to evade the danger that lurked in every shadow.

As the day wore on, the female fox continued to call out, her voice carrying far and wide across the landscape. She called through the afternoon, her voice growing hoarse but her spirit unbroken. The cold relented a bit, but thoughts of losing her mate forever kept her heart and spirit cold.  The sun began to set, casting a golden glow over the world, and still she called.  

Throughout the day, her calls alerted the dogs of her wherebeing.  The dogs, flushed with hate towards the foxes, would chase her relentlessly, but she always managed to outwit them.  Taking narrow routes that only she knew, backtracking her path to confuse the dogs, and many other tricks.   As the night deepened, her calls became more urgent, a mix of longing and reassurance.  She was not alone; she was waiting, and she would keep calling until her mate returned to her side. Surely, he would have deployed many of those tricks.  The darkness seemed to swallow her voice, but she hoped it carried far enough to him.

And as she stood there, a silhouette against the starlit sky, her call would become a persistent whisper in the night. She would keep calling, her heart beating with the promise that tomorrow might bring him back to her.