A young canine takes a small break through a journey away from civilization to recharge.

Comfort Hike

Thistle trots along a grassy path, happily humming to herself. The female canine has just acquired the break she needed to just get away from civilian life for once and settle down. Since this is the big break she is looking for, Thistle has time to herself to sort out some important matters and relax.

As a writer, Thistle enjoyed literature. Making scenes, actions and reactions, screenplays and scripts, the female canine kept herself busy, always coming up with new ideas and scenarios. But lately, she's been feeling burnt out.

Although Thistle is a great writer with her creativity, the female canine never considered herself a professional since she is still learning new tips. And the amount of work she has done is overwhelming to the point she needed a break from reality.

For outdoor activities, Thistle enjoyed taking walks. And hiking is one of her favorite types of adventure. In fact, Thistle is on a hike right now, just happily humming to herself.

Thistle pauses for a brief moment after journeying for a bit. The female canine rolls onto her back to stare up at the sky after coming to stop near a tree.

Thistle sighs softly while flicking her ears to the ambience in the background. Then she suddenly passed off to sleep from relaxation.

~~~~~

By the time Thistle wakes up, it is nighttime, save for the city lights in the distance. She yawns and surveys her nighttime surroundings while mindlessly questioning herself, “How long was I out??”

Thanks to her night vision, Thistle's eyes glow in the darkness, allowing her to see clearer while navigating through the dark. She eventually stands up and resumes her trek, having received a complete recharge through her impromptu nap.

“Maybe this is what I needed.” A long stretch of her muscles and a brief yawn, Thistle straightens up and resumes her trot. “Hopefully I can return to work soon after this. It’ll be a shame if I start to drift off to sleep again.”

During Thistle's hike, the female canine begins to ascend upwards, slowing down occasionally to survey her surroundings. The higher she climbs, the smaller the city looks and the more majestic the scenery appears to be.

After a bit more uphill climbing, Thistle reaches the top of the trail, completely overlooking the city from above. The sight alone makes her impressed, leading her to whisper, “It's beautiful from up here… if it was still daylight, it would look completely different.”

Thistle remains standing at the lookout point from above until she turns away to leave, finding a nearby cave of some sort. She wanders into this and shakes herself before lying down to curl up and hopefully sleep off the rest of the night.

By the time Thistle wakes up and yawns, she is greeted with sunlight flooding the cave interior. She stands up and ventures outside, being met with a sunny, clear blue sky. Down below, traffic is flowing at a light pace, though from high above the pedestrians are ants.

Thistle takes a deep inhale and releases it back out, savoring the feeling of a new sunny day. She sighs in relaxation, “Another beautiful day. I think I’m gonna stay up here for a while.”

The female canine begins to play and run around for a bit, having fun all by herself. Soon, she tires herself out, leading to her lying down to take a break and recover. During this period and after her recovery, she is hit with a new idea for a piece. She can use her new experience for a newsletter or submission to a regular newspaper. But whatever the case, Thistle has already figured out what she can put down in writing for her new idea.

Satisfied with her new hiking experience, Thistle leaves to go back home and begin her descent, confident of her new mindset and story idea. Maybe she'll share her experience with others or post her idea publicly in a catalogue.

~~~~~

Thistle belongs to Thistle & Thorns from ToyHouse in this short-length writing commission!