1The morning sky was bright and blue when Chase and Skye trotted up the grassy hill trail together. The slope ahead was wide, green, and full of swaying grass.
2Whoooosh! A gust scooped up dry leaves and sent them spinning over the pawprints the puppies had just made.
3"Our trail is covered!" Chase woofed. He memorized three landmarks that could not blow away: a mossy boulder, a bent sapling, and white wildflowers.
4Whoooosh! A stronger gust rolled over the hillside, rippling the long grass in great green waves.
5Skye bounded to the ridge. From above, she could see a calm silver strip between the moving grasses. "The lookout is that way!" she yipped.
6Together they moved forward. "Boulder — check! Sapling — check! Flowers — check!" called Chase while Skye watched the grass.
7A third gust wrapped them in dancing golden leaves. Chase tucked his nose low. Skye pressed her ears flat. Their four steady paws kept moving.
8At last they found the calm lookout, a round patch of short grass ringed by the windy meadow. The valley glittered below them.
9When it was time to go home, Chase called the landmarks in reverse: "Wildflowers! Sapling! Boulder!"
10Skye trotted along the ridge and read each bend of the grass. The pawprints were still hidden, but the partners did not need them.
11They reached the bottom as the clouds turned pink. Chase shook a leaf from his cap, and Skye sneezed a tiny sneeze.
12Behind them, the hill stood tall and peaceful. Its long grass sighed in the last soft breeze. Whoooo…
