Short stories!

The Melt

My black, padded feet crunched against the snowy landscape, far from any salt water to smell or sight. The wind runs through my snow white fur, pushing it back from my eyes. I can hear it; sheets of glassy ice detaching and crashing in the raging sea; the marine life and the sounds they let go for anyone who's willing to listen.

But that is not me. I am not listening.

I trudge through the howling wind and blinding snow, the wind whipping my face, but I am focusing only on my hunger. My legs straining to support my weight beneath me, I lay down in the snow and grass covered the ground beneath me, wondering whether or not this breath would be my last. Inhale...exhale...inhale...exhale. I smell something salty but, it is faint. That one whiff gave me hope; gave me the strength to continue my wrenched wandering. I'll go further than I ever have to satisfy this colossal appetite. The smell vanished and I slumped to the ground. My searches were in vain, it was nothing more than a mirage, an attempt to ease the nauseating agony. My thoughts cycling back to repeating and circling through survival or succumbing to despair.

My mind drifts and shifts through old memories. Old memories of the old world. Before the fish were scarce. Before the ice began melting. Before the oceans had more than just marine life.

Before my home was destroyed in one great melt.

Our vast, beautiful ocean, covered in a thick, unbreakable sheet of ice; the snowy white hills without a hint of grass in sight; the landscape filled with holes of burrowing homes, as well as my own when I was just a cub with my mother and brother. When the ocean was full of water and animals. Now, when I would jump in looking for fish, all I had to show was a mouth full of hard see-through, transparent, or sometimes opaque plastic. Sometimes it wasn't even hard, and my teeth could rip through it, leaving a terrible taste on my starved tongue. I can barely remember what it felt like to have a full stomach; to play in the snow when it was so thick, the weight above my feet would cause me to sink, yet there would still snow beneath me. I never knew the grass, or how it tickled. I never knew to hold on to an iceberg for my life, wondering when I'd find land again.

Something darted across the high landscape in the corner of my eye. I looked up to see merely a bird. But A bird that caught my hope by a thread. I felt a surge of adrenaline rush through me and I shakily pushed myself onto my feet once more. My eyes locked on the ruffling feathers as I followed, my legs numb. I nearly stumbled into the water. I had followed the bird to the ocean. The deep blue waves crashed against the thin ice, breaking them off of the main stretch of white. I carefully plodded forward, fearing my weight might break the thin ice because I knew that with what strength I had there was no way I'd be able to muster the strength to save myself. Admittedly, I'd drown.

I looked around, birds flooding the ice, none acknowledging the presence of a predator. I'm sure they could tell I had no strength for a hunt, nevermind a chase. Regardless, as I approach, their marble brown-grey wings spread, watching me with diligence, ready to fly if it came to it. I search desperately for one that could possibly be unaware of the situation, one with no knowledge of my black nose and desperate, hungry gaze. But there are none. My head feels like it's swimming in the cold causing a struggle to focus. I do when my gaze falls on a bird caught in a plastic binding. The small Fulmer struggles against the tight ribbon, wrapping around her white body, pinning a single grey wing to her side.

Now's my chance.

I lunged, my gaping maw closing around the feathered body. My first meal in days was over faster than I could blink. Eating something felt good and nauseating at the same time, but it could hardly fill my stomach. I'm sure my mind has numbed some of the pain. I'm sure it could be worse. I was grateful for the bird, but I couldn't ignore the fact that I was still so hungry it hurt.

The ice began to split.

The sound of cracking ic echoed and raged in my ears.

A knot formed in my throat as I stood, petrified. I try to identify the sound but it took a moment for my brain to realise in full what would occur. My body stood paralyzed until I hear the same sound a second time. I leap, desperately trying to get away from the unstable, crumbling surface I stood on. It didn't want to wait for me.

So I fell.

I barely had time to take a breath before frigid water engulfed my body. I tried to keep my head up, batting at the surface. I needed air. I could feel the chaos of the sea pulling me under, pushing me out; the choppy waves making me falter in the water. The ice in reach, I try to pull myself back to the somewhat sturdy ground, but with each lash of my paw to the ice, innumerable pieces split off, pushing me further and further away. I wasn't making any progress and I knew I wouldn't. I look desperately around for a sturdier surface to latch onto. I find one. It's not too far... I can make it.

I dig my claws into the white snow and pull my quivering body out, my fur dripping with water.

I stain the white snow a dark maroon with my blood, gushing from my abdomen.

The ice, jagged and sharp, cut deep through my flesh like a blade.

My head zig-zags in exhaustion as I walk farther from the sea, unsure of what I'm surrounded by or where I am. Astonished to find a patch of grass, although it's stale and slightly frozen. I collapse then and there. The dry, dead grass that isn't quite frozen through. It tickles my nose, but I couldn't care less. I closed my strained eyes, a single uncertainty lingering in my mind.

Would I wake again?