It's a brisk Friday morning this 5th of January! The temperature is below freezing, but a nice welcoming hint of sunshine breaks through the cedar trees during my morning run.

I'm not one for city park workouts, they just seem to peoplely for my liking; it's the quiet, calming effect from the scent of the cedar and pine trees is what I seem to like the most.  

 

     I've only been running this trail for nearly ten years, and things always seem to surprise me with each workout. 

The birds are flocking in an odd direction this morning, I've seen a couple elder deer running frantically as if being shot at, and the fresh pine needles have all seemed to have lost their smell. 
what's going on?  It's as if something bad was coming.

 

I slowed myself and stopped to grab my knees; running straight for two and a half miles was a bit overwhelming for these temps, so I decided to take a breather.  

 

     Stretching my legs, I hear a rattle in the brush. Curiously, I go for a gander. It was completely black; a tiny little thing, left completely alone in this freezing wind!  Who could have left it here?  Where was its mother?  
It's eyes, just a bright pale blue, sparkled like a rare gem as the sunlight pierced down upon its tiny little face. 

 

 "Oh, you poor little thing."

I had to reach my hands down to pick the ball of fur up from the damp ground. I lifted the little fella high above my head.

"I will name you Akita!"

 

     I stuffed "little man" into the inside pocket of my jacket and continued on with my workout.  Another two-and-a-half-mile run, and I would be close enough to getting this boy home.

 

 While my workout was coming to its end, I felt a tug from inside my jacket and could hear a tiny growl.  "What are you trying to do lil fella?"  Those bright blue eyes just glared up at me and my heart instantly fell in love. 

 

What. The. Hell?