My second time waking in my new body was just as unpleasant as the first, but for wildly different reasons. First, the crunching sound of vicious teeth chewing was coming from the entrance of the den. That sent Instinct into panic mode. Second, the sight of a massive badger the sounds are coming from. That sent me into panic mode. And to make sure that this morning sticks in my long term memory as an unforgettable trauma, Mother's lifeless body is hanging from the mouth of the badger.

My pile of siblings is in a frenzy, darting everywhere to try to find a place to hide. I move do do the same, hissing in alarm and terror. The last of Mother's tail disappears down the beast's mouth.

Much to my dismay, the badger doesn't stop at eating Mother. Instead it's eyes lock onto one of my siblings. They are trying to slither past it as fast as possible. With a snap quicker than I can see, that sibling disappears into the beast's maw. Another that's going for the entrance gets its heads swiped off, laying still. The badger starts a rampage that takes the lives of my siblings faster than I can react, since many were bolting for the door.

I remember dying yesterday. Death is painful. I would rather not die again, not even a day later. Not ever again, if I had the choice. Instinct agrees, so we keep slithering toward the wall. There are a few cracks in the packed dirt that would make it easier to hide.

When I make it to the wall and curl into it as best I can, the panicked hissing of my siblings have been steadily snuffed out. Soon, it's almost silent, save for the beating of my heart and the snuffling of the badger, rooting around for the last of us. A peek out shows that it is still between me and the entrance, though I doubt that I could out slither it. So I wait, and hope and send a prayer to whoever might listen. But the badger starts to get closer and closer.

Instinct is panicking more than I am, and that's saying something. It's taken to slamming its head into the dirt wall. Wait. It's trying to burrow but my stupid ass is just waiting for the beast to get to us. So I join Instinct, working in tandem to try and put as much dirt between me and the badger as possible. The fact that we have little upturned noses helps immensely more than I thought it would, but it still isn't enough. The badger sounds like it's gotten closer, maybe attracted by the shuffling sound of the dirt. I can't stop though, since stopping would mean death.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

So I dig with Instinct. I dig and they dig and we dig. We've made decent progress, about a slither length into our new tunnel. It won't be enough.

Dig. Dig. Dig.

If I wasn't terrified, this might be a relaxing pastime.

I wonder if Mother would've taught us to dig.

The thought is compounded by the badger starting to dig. I don't know much about badgers. Actually, this is the first one I've seen in either of my lives. I now know they can dig. This one can dig as well as I can, if not better. I can't turn and see how close it's gotten.

Just dig. Dig. Dig.

If I can tell directions, I think I'm digging down a little. Doesn't really matter which direction. Just have to dig.

Dig. Dig. Dig.

The badger behind me is really out for blood. The dirt around me isn't getting easier to dig. I feel like I'm running on pure adrenaline and fear at the moment.

Suddenly, the ground beneath me is no longer dirt, but rock. I was the one to whack my nose on it first, letting instinct keep their noggin intact. Instinct leads us to try and dig around the rock, and I just follow, slightly dazed.

The badger also hits the rock, a horrid scraping noise grinding through my bones.

It's closer than I thought. Have to dig.

Dig. Dig. Di-

There's only air beneath me now. Air and darkness. I fall. I don't know how long I fall.

I know that where I fall is painful though. Almost painful enough that I black out.

But I don't, since that could spell death, and there's enough adrenaline in my tiny system for me to find a crevice to squeeze into. The darkness isn't pitch black, there's some glowing moss in patches around. There's also noise. Noise of things scuttling about. Big things.

I find a crack big enough for me to squeeze into almost immediately. The adrenaline wears off. The noises quiet for a while. I cannot keep my eyes open, and Instinct seems asleep already.

The sleep I fall into is not one of pleasant dreams.