Runt In The Wild

Chapter One

Everything was dark around me as I tried to peek through my closed eyes, but they just wouldn't budge. The air was filled with the sweet scent of warm milk, and I could feel the heat radiating from the other live bodies.

I crawled on the rocky ground towards my siblings. The floor had pieces of ferns spread out to make it more comforting to lay on, but it only helped in places where there were several plants placed on top of each other. Soon I reached my litter mates and fell into a deep sleep surrounded by the other balls of fur.

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I woke with a start as I felt movement at my side. Suddenly, I was picked up by the scruff of my neck, carried away from my siblings. Where am I going? I was just going to have to wait and see.

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We had been traveling for a long time as I swung back and forth in the mouth of a wolf. The wind blew deep beneath my fur, making the hope for warmth disappear.

We started to slow down until the mysterious wolf stopped abruptly to lower me to the ground.

The earth was cold and dry on my paws and belly. The wolf started to walk away without me, so I whined and called to it to come back.

I was frightened of what was going to happen to me. The wolf started licking my fur to calm me down.

"It's okay little one," the wolf said in a sweet and gentle voice. I immediately recognized it as my mother's. My mother was the wolf who brought me here to this deserted wasteland.

"I'm sorry," she said as her voice cracked. I opened my eyes just in time to see tears streaming down her snout, blending in almost completely with her snow white fur as she turned to run away.

As she put distance between us, I cried out to her. How could she just leave me here? I felt like a part of my heart was torn out savagely while it was still beating.

I watched as she disappeared over the hill while tears burned through my eyes. My eyes closed once more, but I soon heard paws rushing towards me. Was it my mother coming back for me or a predator wanting to tear me to shreds?

I whimpered, half scared out of my wits while the other half of me just wanting to be safe and sound with my siblings' warm bodies surrounding me.

"Shhhhhh. It's okay. I'm here. Poor little thing." It was a foreign voice to me, but it was kind and soft to my ears. The wolf picked me up by the scuff of my neck, and we trotted away to my new life.