Survivors: Forbidden Fear

Chapter One

Deep in the forest, a gray squirrel scampered up an oak tree as a little gray pup barked frustratingly at it. The pup bounded around underneath the oak tree, yapping and barking as loud as possible. The squirrel just scrambled farther up the tree and shoved an acorn into it's mouth, unfazed. Frustrated, the puppy let out a huff and turned in circles.
I can be brave, brave like Basil and Starling and Mouse. I can be brave like them.
Then the puppy pricked his ears and wagged his tail as he got an idea. He turned and trotted away, toward a thorny bush. The squirrel stopped, puzzled, and watched the puppy.
The pup turned around and lowered his head.
"I'll show you who's brave." He growled under his breath, as he shot forward and ran toward the oak tree. Leaping upward, he expected his claws to sink into the bark so that he could flawlessly climb up the tree. But instead, he just slammed into the side of the oak tree and thumped into the dirt, rolling downhill towards the thorn bush. With a great big yelp, the pup dug his claws into the dirt to slow himself down, where as a result, one paw got shoved under a root. The puppy flailed and scrambled, attempting to loosen his little white paw.
"Aster!" Barked a golden dog in the distance. It was Hibiscus, Aster's mother dog.
Aster pricked his fluffy black ears and tugged at his paw, clenching his teeth and growling, even though it sounded more like a whimper. In the distance he thought he could hear the squirrel chattering with laughter.
"Aster? Aster! Are you alright?" Hibiscus asked as she emerged from the bushes. Her silky tail flowed behind her as fluently as a river, but it looked stiff now. And Hibiscus's eyes were full of worry.
Aster pricked his ears at his mother and raised his chin. "I'm alright.. I promise-"
"You don't look too sure." Hibiscus chuckled as she gently tugged at his paw, quickly freeing it from the root. Aster let out a sigh of relief as he looked at his mother.
Hibiscus licked the top of his head. "Come now, son. Father has hunted many rabbits for us tonight."
As Aster followed his mother, he looked at her and grumbled. "Was I brave?"
"When?" She asked without emotion, as if she was distracted.
"When I was stuck. In the tree root?" Aster explained impatiently. Hibiscus pricked her silky golden ears. "Ah, why?"
Aster looked forward and cocked his ears. "I just.. want to be brave. I want to not be afraid of anything. Nothing at all. I wanna be brave like my siblings and like you and father. You all are not afraid of anything."
Hibiscus lowered her head. "Listen to me, son. Bravery is not the matter of not being afraid, it's a matter of facing the things you are afraid of." Aster thought for a moment about the things he was afraid of. Could he face those things? "No.." Aster shook his head. "I couldn't face them now. But what if I become brave later on?"
Hibiscus cocked her head. "You cannot become brave. You are either brave or you're not."
Aster lowered his head. He didn't feel brave, he didn't look brave, and he certainly did not sound brave with his whimpering and grumbling. "Well then I guess I'm not brave-" He whined.
Hibiscus paused and sighed gently. "Perhaps I should have reworded my response- think of it less as becoming brave and more as realizing you are brave."
Aster still had so many questions. "But.. when will I realize I'm brave? And when I do, will I need to face my fears right away? What fears will I face? Will it be normal fears that everyone is afraid of.. like giantfurs and longpaws and wolves.. or will it be fears that only I have.. like trees and water and thunder and hills and-"
But before he could finish his long line of questions, the two dogs emerged from a bush that led to their small clearing in the woods. And there was their family waiting for them.