The sun shines down on the partially snow-covered tundra, the days becoming longer and warmer. Snow melt can be heard trickling down through the rocky landscape towards the river. It’s also the first time in eight months that Sik, an arctic ground squirrel, peeks his head outside of his burrow.

His burrow rests beneath a rock, lined with leaves and muskox hair, and filled with gathered dry grass and nuts to eat while the tundra hasn’t started growing yet. It lies near a river, roaring as it cuts through the landscape. The location has served him well the past few years, and he expects it to stay that way.

While Sik may have just woken up, there’s already much to start doing. The biggest part is making sure his territory stays his. Over the next few days, he patrols, starting small and moving out as he secures his old territory. Unlike previous years, however, he doesn’t come across many younglings trying to get their own share of land. At first it seems to be because of the increased population of lynxes.

Then he notices that the river has been getting closer to his burrow than the day before. He hasn’t seen any females, either, and they should be coming out of hibernation by now, too.

Did the others already leave? Or are they lost to the flow?

He notices that night that his burrow is wetter than it should be.

He’ll have to be careful, looking for a new place to burrow. Not only will he be foraging for food, he’ll be moving through other squirrel territories and past predator homes. He shouldn’t have to go far, really, but the extent of the flooding is unknown.

Sik leaves his burrow and his home the next day, the river ebbing ever closer, too close now to wait.

It’s not easy finding a good place for a new burrow, or even an abandoned burrow. Sik has to skirt around other territories, or risk a fight he doesn't want right now. Most of the squirrels he comes across have had the time to establish themselves, while he has to start over.

It takes even longer because he has to pause to listen for predators. Since he isn’t near his own burrow, he’ll have to keep watch for places to hide. While there are plenty of rocks with space beneath them to hide for a short time, they aren’t good for making a new home. The ground sometimes is too frozen; other times it’s too close to another squirrel.

With the snow nearly gone and plants starting to grow, finding food on the go isn't a problem. Sik eats almost anything he can find, whether that’s stems and leaves or insects and carrion. He knows he has to eat plenty, since finding a new home will take more of his time and energy than normal.

One day, he hears calls about a bear in the area. He doesn’t bother looking or scenting himself; if one squirrel calls it, he doesn’t need to question it. He goes for the nearest burrow entrance, hoping he won’t be chased right back out into the bear’s claws.

To Sik’s surprise, he isn’t chased out, and it actually smells as though no squirrel has burrowed here for a long time. It goes deep, deeper than his old home, but is still dry and cozy the whole way. The entrance he used isn’t well covered, but there is another that sits below a large, lichen-covered stone.

There are tunnels to other burrows, but it seems they’re all empty. The squirrel he heard before must belong to a different network of burrows, a nearby colony separate from what he finds himself in now.

He scouts the area, finding that there’s plenty of food to be had. There’s enough for him to start eating for the winter, and saving some for next spring. He decides that, for now at least, it’s a good place to stay.

The summer goes on, the days never ending. He can tell the colony nearby has had a good year for young. Before, the males made sure he stayed away, but as the summer wanes, they’re more friendly towards him.

The fall settles in, and the young are more mobile. While the adults have had the time to gather food and fatten up for winter, the young are running on a shorter timeline. The females have started settling already as the days grow shorter and colder, not to be seen again until the days are warmer once more.

Sik isn’t alone anymore, as some of the young and even some of the adults move into the burrows alongside his own. They help each other find fur and leaves to line the old burrows, and grass and nuts to squirrel away.

He can feel drowsiness settle into his bones, and he goes to sleep. The other squirrels may be his competition when he wakes again, but at least he won’t be as alone this time.