Seventy-Six

Imagine yourself in a wet, cold forest. The only green you can see are the few pine trees scattered among the leafless hardwoods.  Everything else around you are shades of brown and muted greys. Naked and alone, you shiver as you search for shelter from the rain. Mud and wet leaves and pine needles squish between your toes as you struggle down an incline toward a cave.  You can’t see inside the cave, but the scent of wet fur fills your nostrils as you near the entrance. The hair on the back of your neck stiffens. You want to get out of the rain, but do you dare enter another creature’s domain?