The Unexpected Find
It started with a bark.

Not the kind of bark that meant “someone’s at the door” or “a squirrel’s in the yard,” but a deep, urgent, almost frantic sound—the kind that said something was wrong.

It was early morning, still damp with dew, when Emma took her dog, Leo, on their usual walk through the wooded edge of their property near the forest preserve. The golden retriever had always been curious, sticking his nose in burrows and chasing butterflies, but this time, something pulled him in another direction. He bolted off the trail without warning, tail stiff, nose twitching.

“Leo!” Emma called, jogging after him.

He didn’t come.

Instead, he whined—then barked again. Low and sharp.

Emma found him crouched by a fallen log, head tilted, paw gently nudging something nestled beneath the damp leaves. Her heart jumped. At first glance, it looked like a piece of dark cloth or maybe some trash—until it moved.

Carefully, Emma knelt down and pushed the leaves aside. There, lying still, was the tiniest black-furred creature she had ever seen.

It was so small it could have fit in the palm of her hand. Its body trembled with shallow breaths. Its eyes were closed, limbs curled, as if trying to shield itself from the world.

“What… are you?” Emma whispered.

Leo licked the side of the creature’s body gently, then looked at Emma, expectantly.

She reached out and touched it.

It was warm. Barely.
And alive.
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