The first half of the year unfolded in the midst of a severe drought; in the forest, every plant, from the mightiest oak to the tiniest wisp of lichen, felt the lack of moisture and responded by withholding the usual bounty of fruit and foliage. That’s when the burden of want fell onto the shoulders of the woodland beasts. Most could slake their thirst from the brackish ponds and small rills left from the once-bubbling brooks, but each day the scarcity of food drove them closer to the brink of desperation.
