5/7/2023 0 Comments Kogitsune by Xia Xia LakeWarm and sweet was the liquid filling my belly and I knew for the first time what it meant to be content. I nuzzled her, instinctively searching for milk, and yipped in triumph when I found the source of my nourishment. She sensed me moving and called for me, raising a leg and revealing her belly. The first smell I remember was the musky scent of Mother’s fur coat. My mother’s den was a hollow in a gnarly cedar tree, a snug bowl cushioned with moss which I shared with my sisters. I was born on the mountain where the first Inari shrine was built, in simpler times, when humans were scarce and Amaterasu-sama’s sixty-sixth descendant was crowned emperor among them. Steam rose from my nostrils to disappear in the shadows of our shelter. Cocking my head, I blew air out of my nose again. I sneezed and jumped, startled when a puff of white smoke lifted from my snout. I squinted at the fuzzy shapes blending within themselves, dancing in and out of my sight. My first glimpse of the world was of a wide open sky covered in white clouds, on a spring morning when the seams of winter’s cloak still lingered on the threshold between seasons.
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