The cold, wet air dropped in temperature and my skin started to burn with more intensity than a fresh sunburn. The wind whipped my hair across my face and her ears looked as if they were wings about to take flight. Our footsteps left our mark in the untouched soft earth beneath us as we steadily climbed our way to the top of the dunes. Then the summit.
"On your mark, get set...GO!"
We raced through the sand together creating a stormy cloud of dust in our wake, which was caught in the blustery air and taken away.
When we reached the bottom we collapsed. Me, wrapping her small body into a warm embrace and laughing until tears streamed down my frozen cheeks. She looked me in the eyes with that wild, open-mouthed grin she gets when she's truly happy.
All I could hear in that instant was the sound of our breath in unison. The world around us completely silent. It was as if Mother Nature was giving us the gift of time being frozen in tune with our shivering bodies. We took it in for a moment before the uncivilized side took hold.
Together we howled. We howled until the geese called and a lone coyote in the distance bellowed back. The world around us began to awaken. And suddenly I felt more alive than I had in a very long time.
Just a girl and her pup on a Sunday afternoon. Our wild spirits speaking fluently.
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