A week was a long time to wait for anything, but when you’re sitting around twiddling your thumbs and waiting for rescue… it seemed like forever. The most frustrating part was their unexpected week of ‘vacation’ could easily be considered good luck. After all they Marion and Kid patrolled the same pass on their winter rotation. Marion could be sitting watching snow instead of rain, snow that would mean they’d be stuck for weeks instead of days. At the moment it was little comfort.

:If we were lower, it could be flooding.: Kid’s mental voice poked it’s way into her train of thought. :Or if we were higher, it could be sleet.:

“Or someone could have remembered that footwear isn’t optional.” She stubbornly kept her gaze focused out the cave entrance.

:If you hadn’t been yelling about the sheep, I wouldn’t have slipped.: Kid, who looked disturbingly like a cross between and Irish Wolfhound and a Scarlet Macaw, shifted slightly trying to find a more comfortable position on the stone floor.

“I was yelling about the avalanche, not the sheep,” Marion muttered. “The sheep were just a reference point. Yelling ‘lookout! rocks!’ is like yelling ‘lookout water!’ in the middle of the ocean.”

There was a pause. :I’ll give you that.:

“I’d rather you give me my week back.”

:Right, because walking along a trail is so much more interesting that not walking along a trail.: Kid clicked his beak in exasperation. :Can we just drop this?:

“As soon as you find a topic of conversation that lasts for more than five minutes.” She poked around the ground next to her, looking for more rocks to pitch down the mountain.

:How about ‘Monkeys: Why are they so grumpy?’:

“I’d rather go with ‘Animals who don’t exist in nature’ for 500.”

:Cute.: