The Fox Girl

Getting lost

The birds cried out as the morning sun shone through my window. My brown eyes were tired from the lack of sleep. I sat up and my sheet wrinkled onto my legs. I pushed myself out of bed and walked over to the window. Snow flakes danced through tree leaves and a bird sat alone in the cold. It was a young owl, left alone in the blistering cold outside. I stared at it for a minute, watching the way it turned it's head and watched me cautiously but curiously. I walked away from the window and slipped away to the front door. I opened it and felt the cold, icy wind against my cheeks. I walked out and began my way down the side of the house. The owl sat, perched in the branches of a leaf-stripped tree. It's eyes stared longingly into the warmth and comfort of my room. I pulled my legs through the snow towards it. The owl looked suddenly at me and fear decorated it's deep brown eyes.
"Shhh." I whispered. The owl tried to calm itself. I made my way towards it and held out my fragile hand. The owl jumped closer, it's wings appeared to be damaged
"Come on," I whispered. "I won't bite." The owl shyly hopped over and perched itself on my fingertips. As it sat the owl showed slight signs of comfort. I pulled out my other hand to pet the owl but it curled itself into a ball in fear. I began to gently pet it's feathers. It became more comfortable and relaxed and moved itself up onto my shoulder. I slowly moved back to the front door. Outside stood a huge box that had been used for the fruit delivery. I picked it up and walked cautiously back inside the house. I found a small blanket to pad the box. The owl jumped straight in as if it could read my thoughts.
"Kitsune?!" My mother yelled. "What are you doing?!"
I stopped. My mum looked down over me.
"Is that a bird?!" She yelled. "In my house?!" She began to lecture me and I zoned out, not interested in what she had to say.
"Am I understood?!" I heard her say. I nodded and she glared down on me. "Now get that bird out of the house before your father sees it." She said shaking her head.
I nodded and took the box back into the cold air. The bird cocked its head and I felt like I was killing it. I felt tears stream down my face.
"I'm so sorry." I whispered in a croaky voice. I felt the warm breath of my mother's on the back of my neck.
"Alright." She sighed. "You can keep the bird."
I turned to see an approving smile on my mother's face.
"Thanks." I whispered and hugged her tightly.

The bird sat in my room, content and warm. I felt a smile spread across my face. The white light from outside filled the room. I heard my mother in the room next door waking up my sister.
"Usagi! Wake up!" Mum yelled. I heard groans coming from my younger sister, Usagi.
"Up! Get up now!" Mum screamed. "Look, we're going on a walk so I need you up and ready." She said in a much calmer tone.
"Ok." Usagi said drowsily. The bird cocked it's head and looked up at me.
"Hey." I whispered. The bird cocked it's head again. I smiled.
"Ash. Do you like the name Ash?" I whispered. The bird ignored my voice this time.
"Ash." I muttered to myself.
"Hey honey." Mum said interrupting my train of thought.
"Hey." I said looking up at her.
"Can you please get dressed, we're going on a walk." She said.
I nodded and got up from my bed. My sister poked her head around the door.
"It's snowing." She said. I smiled.
"Yeah. Morning Usagi." I said.
"Good morning Kitsune!" She said her red cheeks awakening.
"Go get dressed Usagi!" Mum yelled.
"Mmhm!" Usagi yelled and skipped away.
Mum sighed.
"C'mon." Mum said.
"Coming." I sighed and shut the door of my room.

We made our way through the snow to the black car that appeared white with frost.
"It's cold." Usagi stated. Her clear blue eyes shone like crystals.
"Well, it is snowing." I mumbled.
"Don't talk to your sister like that, Kitsune!" Mum screeched. Her dark eyes narrowed and she frowned.
"I was just say-"
"NO! Do not talk back to me, young lady!"
I sighed under my breath but followed her orders. As soon as mum's back was turned, Usagi poked her tongue out at me and smirked. Sometimes Usagi could be a real pain. Although, once you burrowed through all her annoying-ness she was an okay person deep down. I clambered into the car and pulled the seatbelt across me. It sat tightly upon my waist and comforted me. Outside the trees shed their last leaves as the snow, light as it fell, killed many of the plants and animals. I had never really liked snow. From an early age the snow had seemed like an agent of death, sending plants and animals into a possibly deadly situation.
"Are we there yet?!" Usagi whined.
"Only about five more minutes!" Mum said, excitement leaking into her tone. The sky was filled with dark, grey clouds, filled with snow. Clouds overlapped and let the snowflakes dance from them. The car came to an abrupt stop. Out in the window was a sign that pointed to a walk which could not be seen under the deep snow.
"Here we are!" Mum said, clapping her hands with delight. If she had not been seated with a seatbelt strapped around her, she probably would have jumped with joy.
"What are we doing here?!" Cried Usagi.
"We're going on a walk." Mum said. Usagi groaned.
"In this weather?!" She cried.
"Yep! Isn't it exciting!"
A loud groan protruded from my mouth. Usagi began to grin very broadly.
"This could be fun, I guess." She said, jumping out the car door and allowing her feet to sink through the snow. It reached her knees and sank into her boots. Through gritted teeth she murmured "Yep, so much fun."
I clambered on after her and a shiver came up my spine as I let the snow into my boots. Usagi began to enjoy herself and ran until her face was numb with cold.
"Don't run too far off!" Mum yelled to the distant nine-year-old girl. Mum turned back to me. "Can you go look after her, I don't like her being out there on her own."
"But mu-" I started
"Just do it, okay?"
I sighed.
"Usagi!" I called. "Wait up!" I pulled my self through the cold and ran. Ignoring the cold that blistered my skin, ignoring the numbness of my feet. Usagi stood ahead, panting.
"What?!" She snapped.
"Mum wanted me to look after you." I said, out of breath.
"I'm not a little kid anymore!" She yelled. "I turn ten next month, double digits!"
"Can we just walk." I said, bored by her conversation.
"That's boring." She said and bolted out ahead of me. I attempted to sprint but my legs failed and I found myself deep in the snow. Usagi's laugh trailed off in the distance as I staggered back to my feet. The numbness of my feet had spread through my body and I found it difficult to move. "Wait... Usagi..." I felt my own voice trail off with weakness. I pushed my legs forward but felt the snow biting at my skin. I ran into the trees where Usagi's footprints appeared. There were mainly pine trees that surrounded me but the occasional dead tree stood in the forest. It was dark in here, the tree leaves covered what was left of the sun.
"Usagi?" I called. "Usagi!"I began to get louder. "Where are you?!" My feet weighed me down as I walked, lost into the forest.
"Usagi!" I screamed with all the power of my vocal chords, but the only response was the echo of the words. I turned around to find I had a backpack on my back. Mum must have put it on when I wasn't looking. I slid the backpack off my shoulders and inspected it's contents. Four muesli bars, two one litre water bottles, four sandwiches, 12 chocolate chip biscuits and a box of fresh raspberries. I pulled out one of the water bottles and lifted the nozzle to my dry lips. I felt the cold water rush through my body and began to walk again.
"Usagi?!" I called and when there was no reply I continued on my journey.

What felt like an hour had passed by the time the forest ended. I searched ahead for Usagi's figure but found nothing. The muscles in my legs ached and I began to wonder if Usagi was still running. She couldn't possibly run for that long, could she? In any event she was well ahead of me. Maybe if I started to run again, I could catch up with her. It was worth a shot, so I ran again. As I did I began to wonder where mum and dad could possibly be. It had been ages since I had seen them. In only a few minutes I found myself at the top of a cliff.
"Where am I?" I muttered to myself. I found small footsteps and followed them, guessing they were Usagi's. The footsteps were hard to see so every so often I had to stop to find her trail. The more I ran, the closer I got to fresher footsteps.
"Usagi?!" I yelled with all my might.
"Kitsune?!" I heard a faint voice cry. Although I couldn't see her, I knew it was Usagi.
"Wait, I'm coming!" I yelled and ran after the footprints. And there she was, a small figure on the horizon. From here she looked the size of an ant. I ignored her trail and started off in a straight line towards her. As I got closer her features became clearer. The redness of her once white nose and the faint tone of her skin. Tears glistened down the sides of her face.
"I was so scared." She whispered as I reached her. Up close her face appeared blotchy and the croak in her voice was evidence of her crying.
"It's okay." I said in a gentile tone and hugged her. Her body seemed almost lifeless, there in her arms. She was so cold!
"After all," I smiled. "Big girls don't cry." I laughed and I felt her smile even without seeing it.
"I missed you." She said.
"I missed you too." I said.

"Where are mum and dad?" Usagi asked as we walked.
"I dunno, haven't seen them in ages." I said. "But we should find some kind of shelter first."
Usagi nodded. She reached out for my hand and when she grasped it, she squeezed it tight.
We walked in silence and stared ahead, hopeful for the presence of a house or some form of shelter. The snow was becoming heavier and harder to walk through. It slapped at my face as I powered through.
"We have to find shelter soon!" I yelled, my teeth clattering with cold. Usagi nodded but did not reply. It was odd, her being quiet. Usagi had always been a really loud person.
"You okay?!" I screeched, cold air filling my lungs. Usagi muttered something not loud enough to be heard over the snow.
"What?!" I asked. She nodded, almost as though she was trying to convince herself. To her left a small cave appeared.
"That'll have to do!" I yelled and pointed at the cave entrance. Usagi's eyes followed the direction of my fingers and began to walk toward the cave. Once we were inside Usagi looked at me, eyes filled with fright.
"Where are mum and dad?" She asked, her voice trembling. It seemed like the first time she had ever talked and as I looked into her fear-struck gaze I felt myself ask the question too.