Tall Hike (Otherwise Untitled)
#185 of Short Stories
Top of a walk.
~ Heavily heaving breaths and wobbling about the knees, the hyena took a moment of respite amongst the oppressive heat of the morning. There was still just a bare glimmer of sun on the horizon, and the night's sweltering fog clung with vigor to the earth below. The trail had taken him and his boyfriend up the local mountaintop, which was in turn adorned with the variously painted graffiti of generations of teenagers gone past.
~ The park and city sprawled below, a faint glimmer of feature behind the grey curtain of muggy weather. The straps of his backpack rested firmly into sweat soaked fur, though it did not take long for his breath to return to him. He regarded the scene laid out below the mountain with a frown.
~ The tiger, being the more adventurous boyfriend, smiled broadly at their accomplishment and the completion of the task they'd set before themselves. He gingerly patted the hyena on the shoulder, who glanced up to the tiger's face. The hyena's frown softened, approaching a grin.