I am so lucky. My thick, white fur seamlessly camouflages in the snow, it's as soft as a cloud. I have to be sneaky on my journey to get willows. A lot of animalsrely on me for food. Sneaky meaning tucking in my tail, paws, and ears. Yes! I’mliterally the luckiest animal in the world. I can be relaxing while my stupidpredators look for me. Dang, I really am favored by nature hence my structure ismy biggest blessing. My small build means I can hide for hours. Yes! My tiny earsalso preserve body heat which would be harder to do with larger ears. Perfectstructure is what you call it, right?

My journey to getting willows is going to be a piece of cake! My predatorsare fools next to me. Predators are just big elephants in the room. My white butthick coat can keep me warm and cozy while preserving body heat while I waitf or my enemies to go away.

Oh! My beautiful eyes allow me to see 360 degrees which make it somuch easier while looking for other animals but not of my species. I ain’t atraitor. Anybody coming my way has no chance in having me to satisfy theirhunger because I have eyes that can allow me to see far off into the CanadianTundras and allow me to quickly transform as quickly as any transformer andtuck in all my body parts.Hah! Those predators got nothing on me. Oh how could I forget to thankmy large hind legs?! They are what make me fast enough to immediately hide if

I encounter a predator, silly me how could I forget about these?

I have brains and beauty, my charming self is confident that it can surelysurvive 18 months without ending up in somebody’s belly. I could talk about my impeccable self all day long but it’s time to get cozy because I might end uphiding for a while.

Dig, dig, dig. That’s the only thought going through my head as I’m using my long sharp claws to dig a burrow. Faster, come on. Any second a tiger could be on my tail, literally! Luckily, my brown scales will allow me to blend right into the ground, but not for long. 

As I look up while taking a break, a swarm of insects surrounds my face. Tempting, I wonder what the scrumptious taste of them would taste on my sticky tongue…no! Focus. Life in danger here, but it’s as if the bugs know that my end is near, waiting to decompose my remains. Pushing away those thoughts, I keep digging, finally getting the depth of the burrow that I’m satisfied with. As I’m about to walk into my burrow that I’ve created -finally ready for some rest- something tugs at my tail. What could that b-. 

Suddenly, I’m being thrashed around by a large animal. I look back and it’s a tiger, the same one I recall hiding in the grass. I knew it! I try to flare my scales to get the tiger to take its mouth off of my tail. Unfortunately, the tiger is relentless, biting harder into my scales. Ok then, plan B. I use my body weight to curl up into a ball, flaring all my scales this time making them sharp like armour. Yet, the tiger still uses its teeth, trying to penetrate my scales. My mind panics, unsure as to what to do. An idea forms in my mind, hopefully this works. I swivel to lay down on my back, ready to unleash my secret weapon. I hiss as loud as I can, my tongue vibrating against my mouth as I release a liquid from my glands to hit the tiger right in the face. Bullseye! The tiger’s jaw releases its hold on my scales as I curl up into a tight ball once again waiting for the tiger to retreat. The tiger roars so loud I’m pretty sure the whole jungle heard it. 

 Fortunately I can smell and hear the tiger retreating back to where it came from. Serves you right, coward. I swiftly walk to my burrow, safety at last. I enter my “mancave”, its cool interior calming me down. I look back as the sun rises, signalling for me to sleep. Sleep seems like a faraway dream now as my mind gradually drifts back to the ferocious tiger, hunger in its eyes. My fear, real and consuming as I defended myself. I’m safe now, I’m safe. I repeat it like a mantra, again and again to calm myself down. 

Yet there’s a seed of doubt in the back of my head saying, “What if your defenses aren’t enough?”