Citizen 719 Minnuette

The first time she ever saw snow…it wasn’t hard to recall. She was just a hatchling,
armored throat still soft, furred back still downy. Her parents hadn’t quite been prepared for
the snow; after all, it was the beginning of spring when their daughter hatched - but nature (or
the Elders) had other plans.
Outside, Minnuette was digging, chubby paws scooping handfuls of earth, and setting
them carefully to the side. Once she had a pile probably about the size of her head, she began
to delicately pick apart the dirt. Well, she tried to be delicate. Untangling roots and brushing
away pebbles, Minnuette unearthed worms, to her great delight.
They were put aside in a bucket filled with more dirt, and the young rexal went back to
her scoop, organize, pick apart actions. The wind picked up while she did, and there was a
strange smell on the air, one that she couldn’t identify - a little like rain, and a little like dirt.
She tilted her head to the sky, closing her eyes and trying to focus on the smell, when
she felt it. A cold, almost burning sensation, right on the tip of her delicate snout. Minuette
yelped, and a little spark of her pink magic burst out, knocking her back onto her haunches.
She swatted at her nose with a dirt-stained paw, but the feeling had already disappeared.
However, her paw came away the slightest bit wet…she wrinkled her nose at the strange
series of events, and thought nothing of it until, a few heartbeats later, the feeling returned,
this time on her tail. Minuette was lucky enough to see it happen, a small white spot landing on
her and disappearing within the blink of an eye.
“Just what is this stuff?” Minuette caught a few particles in her paws, then watched as it
fell from the dome’s sky a bit faster now, coming down in drizzles and beginning to cover the
ground quickly. While the first few moments of it melted as soon as it hit the grass, it soon
began to stick easily to itself.
Minuette was not a short baby; she could easily clamber on top of her parents’ backs
when she wanted to wake them up for something exciting. But the drifts of the powdery white
substance soon came up to cover the apertures on her front legs, and she squeaked with
concern, barreling towards her home and safety from the snow.
Fear was stronger than curiosity, and soon the drizzle began to slow to a simple flurry,
summoning the young rexal back outdoors. She set a paw on the surface outside the door, and
almost immediately, it began to crumble under her weight. Minuette withdrew her paw, tilting
her head curiously at the surface and blinking, then lowering her nose and taking in a long
breath. It just smelled…cold. Finally, Minuette stood back up to her full height and considered
the land covered in the soft, white stuff - her parents had told her it was called snow - and she
took a grand, large leap out into it.
She sunk into the snow and it was so, so cold - but still, it was fun to run through it,
barreling around and making trails through the snow, large drifts of it building up in her wake
and flying into the air as she kicked around.
Minuette put her nose into the snow and watched as it melted around the warmth of her
breaths, steam puffing out into the empty space and spiraling up into the air around her.
Standing on her back feet for a moment, wobbling and almost losing her balance, she then falls
backwards, wiggling around on her back in the snow. Front arms spread out, Minuette left
imprints of her body in the snow, giggling all the while.
She soon discovered that it was especially fun to pounce into the snow, her back feet
launching her into the snowbanks and piles of it, exploding the powdery top layer and spraying
it out into the air. More than a few times, she popped out of a snowbank with the top of her
head covered in a little hat of the stuff.
Soon though, she was being called inside - her fur was cold and wet, and stuck to her
like a too-tight jacket. The sun was setting far too quickly for her preference, and she dashed
inside as soon as she was called, wanting to get warm. Tucked in, enjoying the warmth of a fire,
Minuette settled into sleep, tuckered out from her day of play.

Author: sky-limits