In the cool crispness of the coming dawn, mist, like curling wraiths, rose off the smooth surface of the lake. It drifted across the water, over the sandy beach, and into the trees. The eastern sky pinked with the promise of a new day. Against it, maples, willows, and pine trees created black lacy silhouettes. Ravens called to greet the morning, and robins added their chirping song to the rebirth of the light. Dew beaded on the grasses and silvered the tree branches making them sparkle and glitter like diamonds. The land smelled of summer and dampness.

A fox sat on a rocky knob above the lake. Her reddish-brown coat ruffled in the light breeze; her bushy tail curled around her delicate feet. She might have been a queen so majestically did she perch on the rock. The pristine white of wild daisies and purple blooming sweet pea vines surrounded her. A ladybug climbed along a blade of grass in front of the fox, and the grass stirred gently in the cool morning air.

Her pricked ears and piercing green-eyed stare were fixed on the edge of the trees below. Her rapt attention centered on a narrow path that emerged from the bushes. Not an ear twitched or muscle quivered; but for the wind stirring her fur, she might have been of stone.

There, at last, a movement in the brush and a yip from her mate; four rabbits shot out of the brush to bound towards her in long leaps. The vixen jumped off the rock then became a blur of fur covered destruction. Death lived in the air she breathed as she grabbed the rabbits one by one, snapping their necks and throwing them into the air. No rabbit survived her ferocious attack. Sunlight gleamed on bright red blood as the unfortunate animals lay scattered around her. Some still quivered as the male fox trotted up the hill towards her; black-tipped ears pointed, tongue lolling from his exertions, and a grin on his canine face.

Usually, the vixen lived and hunted alone, but now in the late summer, it was almost time for her to mate again. She would tolerate the presence of the dog fox for a few weeks until last year's pups were on their own and she was pregnant again. The female and the dog fox greeted one another with much frolicking and sniffing before settling down to their feast. Bones and bloody bits of fur littered the ground; ravens circled, waiting to snatch a bit of meat.

Later, the vixen and her companion made their way back to the den with the remaining two rabbits. They were instantly beset upon by the three pups who had been born the past winter. Clumsy and playful, the young ones fell over their own feet as they hurried to greet the returning hunters. When the pups pulled at the rabbit in the vixen's mouth, she quietly dropped the meal for them. The male fox who had hunted and fed with her also obliged the youngsters. The fox watched approvingly as her young pups ate. She nosed the largest cub, and he responded with a lunge at her, pulling her fur with his strong young teeth.

What the mother fox felt for her pups, was not so much love, but a sense of responsibility. They were growing fast and becoming stronger every day. The youngsters were healthy and eating well, and that was good. Soon she would teach them to hunt and care for themselves; they must learn to survive on their own before her new litter came.

Four months later, the fox crept out of a den under the roots of an ancient cedar tree. To the west, a sullen cloud bank darkened into blackness and promised increased fury, one with teeth of snow. The three young foxes slept on in blissful ignorance that their mother was leaving them to fend for themselves forever. She had taught them all she knew about survival and the life of their kind. They would miss her for a while, but eventually separate from one another and live their lives. The vixen's belly was heavy with the new young ones to come, and she needed to find a place to spend the coming winter.

As the months and years pass the vixen and her three cubs might meet from time to time, but it is unlikely they will remember one another. It might seem sad, but it is the way of nature.