A Runt’s Courage

Rixa sighed as she watched her siblings run in the frost-covered fields. As the runt of her litter, she never felt comfortable playing with the other pups. Rixa was smaller, weaker, and afraid of almost everything, so she never had the courage to stand up to her packmates when they were playfighting.

Today, though, she was determined to prove herself. She could run faster than the others because of her lighter body. As Rixa watched the sun shining on the melting snow, she made her decision.

“Coming through!” she yipped as she barreled into one of the pups.

“Hey!” he yelped and pushed back on her. They rolled playfully on the grass.

One of the oldest pups, Rixa’s half-sister Isha, began to run away from the other young wolves.

“Come!” she barked as she ran. “I don’t believe you can catch me.”

The pups looked at each other for a few moments. “Let’s go!” one yipped, and they all sprinted forward.

A few minutes later, Rixa’s ears pricked. She heard high-pitched yelping coming from ahead. The other pups paused, listening.

“HELP!” Isha was screaming. “I’M DROWNING!”

Ahead of the others, Rixa bolted over the grass like her paws were on fire. Finally, Rixa got to a small frozen pond. Isha had accidentally cracked a hole in the ice covering the pond when she ran over it. Then she had fallen in.

Rika immediately went into action. It took all her courage to run onto the frozen pond and grab Isha as they both began to sink. The runt pulled with all her might, but only succeeded in keeping Isha from falling in further. Rixa strained, knowing that if she released her grip, both would fall into the water. She didn’t know how much longer she could keep hold on Isha’s wet fur.

Then, her packmates caught up.

“Pull!” Rixa barked. The other pups pulled on their siblings until all the wolves fell, shivering, on the ground. Rixa panted with exhaustion.

“You saved me,” Isha whined.

“WE saved you,” Rixa responded, and all the pups barked their approval.