Effervescence

-2- a fox's wink

Cold..

So.. so.. cold..

There's a faint voice talking to me in such a persuasive way, I immediately begin listening. I want to get up..

No.. stay..

I want to get up..!

Just.. stay warm here..

I'm freezing. I want to move my arms to pull myself out of this frozen lake.. I can feel myself shivering.

You need to wake up, Griffin.

Huh? Who's that?

Wake up.

I don't know who you are, and I'm warm here.

Wake. Up. Trust me, you don't want to be here. Do you remember what happened?

Uhm..

Thoughts come flying through my brain. The wolven pack, the three claws..

They used you as a sacrifice. And now you must wake up and prove them that you're stronger than that. So WAKE. UP.

My eyes groggily slide open. It feels like the whole world was resting on them, and it drained all my energy to open them a quarter. They almost close again, but I give my head a slight shake. By the way all my joints feel, I'd been asleep for a long, long time. I shudder; I'm absolutely freezing, yet.. warm at the same time. This baffles me. I look down.

My whole body is covered in snow, up to my neck. I don't know why or how at the moment, but my face is completely untouched. But that's not important.

Where am I? My brain is frantically trying to cling to the facts. I was attacked in the forest by wolves on my way home to my brothers. Due the the three claws each wolf extracted; I was meant for their sacrifice.

Blood pumps hard through my veins. Too many thoughts, too little time. I need to get out of this bunker. I attempt to move my arms up.

Fiery hot pain shoots up my right  arm. It's self explanatory. Broken wrist. I moan. Not only do I have a broken wrist; I can't move.

Come on, Griffin. I will myself upward, breaking through the icy snow. With a gasp for air, I take a huge breath and sigh as my lungs contract.

I hear a small whimper behind me. I turn around. The squirrel from earlier. I can recognize him from his poofy chestnut tail."Hey, lil' buddy," I rasp. My voice is practically gone. The squirrel tilts its head in concern at the situation I'm in. I give it a small nod. "I know," I whisper.

The squirrel dominantly puffs up its chest and scampers away. Wow. Thanks. Just as I'm about to fall back into the snow and die, I hear a light crunch crunch crunch of the squirrel returning. Maybe he brought me food!

Even better. He returns with two large bucks, with their majestic antlers gleaming in the sunlight. I give a small gasp.

They canter over and bend down, almost like they're bowing. I'm confused. "What--"

Then I understand. I gently loop my arms around their necks and they easily pull me out of the bank. God, they're so beautiful. They gently set me down on the snow. My knees immediately buckle- my vision blurs red, and I fall forward--

And land on a large, brown, furry animal. A bear. 

Standing up made me greatly winded; I'm panting for air. I gratefully sink into the grizzly's warm, soft fur. Gently, the bear sidles me onto its back, and takes my backpack from a nearby birch branch into its mouth. Several snow buntings trailed the parade as the caboose. 

The animals somehow made it to the trail leading to my home. It was always a strange sight. Our house was in the middle of the woods, a large suburban house with a dark red garage door. None of us owned a car; it was mainly for our snowmobiles, mountain bikes, speedboats, jetskis.. 

"Thank you." I murmur to the animals trailing me. I catch a fox's eyes, a squirrel's tail, a snow bunting's wing, a mouse's nose.. "Thank you all."

I could've sworn I saw the fox wink.

-|+|-

thanks for reading! i know it came out late; writer's block, ya know?