The tundra was bare and flat - a stark contrast to the lights dancing through the sky. Blues and greens and purples all defiantly prancing, defying both the darkness and the monotone of the landscape.
They were also defying any chance that the cubs were going to sleep that night. Which in turn meant that Alex would suffer, much less willingly, the same fate.
"Perfect," she sighed as she resigned herself, "what's another sleepless night?"
"THE ALIENS ARE BACK!" shrieked a young cub as he came running towards his mother and "accidentally" tripped, "unintentionally" wiping out his sister in the process.
"There's no such thing as aliens!" His sister stated gruffly as she got up and by complete coincidence smacked her brother during an exaggerated attempt to yank a paw out of the snow. "It's ghosts."
Alex sighed again. It was her own fault. You let a crackpot bunny babysit your kids just one time and they come back convinced the sky is out to get them.
She separated them deftly with a paw as the acts of aggression were starting to lose what subtly they may have once had.
"There's no aliens or ghosts up there. It's just light."
The cubs scowled.
"You can't know that - you've never been there."
"Yeah. You can't even fly!"
"The aliens..."
"GHOSTS"
"...are going to pick us up and PROBE..."
"HAUNT!"
"...us! And then..."
She sighed for the third time. Note to self - eat bunny next time instead of letting him off in exchange for child care.
Alex pulled her cubs in close.
"I promise I won't let any aliens OR ghosts probe or haunt or do any other unsavory thing to you."
"What are you going to do against an alien?"
"OR A GHOST?"
"Trust me. Aliens and ghosts have nothing on me - somewhere there are little baby aliens and baby ghosts crying because they are scared a mother polar bear is going to come get them. They are way too scared to come get you while you're with me."
The cubs softened into her embrace but still looked at her incredulously.
"I promise. It's all going to be Ok...if you just go to sleep. Otherwise I might have to find an alien to take you away."
"ghost..."