Otis and the Sniffing Hello

Otis the otter lived in a cozy den tucked under the roots of a willow tree, right beside the stream where he practiced his diving every morning. Tonight, though, Otis wasn't diving. He was sitting very still on the bank, because Buddy, the big brown dog from the burrow next door, had come padding over to say hello.

Buddy was enormous — at least Otis thought so. His paws alone looked bigger than Otis's whole head, and his nose was already moving closer, closer, sniffing at Otis's fingers and then pushing right into his fur.

Otis's heart thumped hard against his ribs, quick as a heartbeat drum. He didn't move a single whisker. What if a sniff meant Buddy was deciding whether to bite? Otis didn't know, and not knowing made his tummy feel tight and cold, like a stone dropped in the stream.

He tried squeezing his eyes shut and holding his breath, hoping if he turned into a statue, Buddy would simply wander off. But Buddy didn't wander off. He sniffed Otis's paw, then his ear, then the top of his head, snuffling louder each time, and Otis felt his fear grow bigger instead of smaller, filling up his chest until he thought he might cry out.