Believe - Chapter 5: Lost

When Imya woke up she felt warm. The noise of the storm had piped down and it was dark around her. Her eyes slowly got used to the darkness and she could see the roots breaking through the ceiling of the den. The ground under her went up and down and a strange smell got into her nose. Whatever she lay upon was alive and much bigger than her. But thanks to this she had been spared from freezing. Imya slowly crawled down from the hill of meat and a gust of wind told her where the exit was. The moon was shining bright in the night sky. She must have slept the whole day long.

When Imya looked back into the den she could see what she slept upon. A giant bear was having his winter slumber in this den. The wind had blown her right through the branches he stuffed in front of his den. Most of them were blown away by the storm but some of them still covered the entrance. Imya managed to crawl between them to get out of the den. She had heard stories of bears and only because of the description that her mother told her she could tell that it was a bear. They were very dangerous and Imya was sure that the bear would eat her if she stayed until he woke up. She felt her own stomach growl and looked around to get back to their den.

Nothing around looked familiar. She remembered that she was pushed downhill by the storm and so she looked upwards. The mountain was steep and threatening. The moon made the snow shine but because of the many trees she could not see far. She just wanted to start crawling up when her gaze fell upon the other side. There was a steep accent as well. Sure, the mountain was big but where should she go? Imya remembered what her mother said. 'You pray to the moon and he will guide you home.' Imya was not sure if the moon would help her. She looked up and it peeked past the edges of the trees to her right. Because Imya did not know where to go she just followed the only lead she had. She turned into the directly of the moon and started to run through the snow. The trees were much closer to each other here than at her home so she could only see twenty feed in front of her. Sometimes the snow was very deep and Imya sank into it. She started to swim through the big snow, that barely carried her light weight. For once it seemed that her small frame was helping her.

The bad side of the coin was, that her fur soon was wet from the snow all over and with the cold air around she started to freeze again. Only her constant moving kept her body warm enough to go on. She totally lost where she was going. The moon hid behind the mountain long time ago and Imya just moved forward. She did not notice that unconsciously she turned away from the top and more in line with the mountain side. It was easier for her to move that way because the accent was far too steep for the little wolf pup. Imya did not look up and her hunger and the freezing paws had her just look in front of her and keep running without watching where she went. Without noticing she started to decent the mountain again slowly while her home was left further and further behind without the pup knowing about it. A very high cliff had forced her softly to go down again.

The good side of the snow was, that it was just frozen water. Imya had tasted the snow because she was so hungry and noticed that it would become water in her mouth. At least she did not have to go thirsty. While running, she grabbed a mouth full of snow every now and then and her stomach calmed down now that it had something to do in digesting the water. Imya did not notice that less and less trees were around. She was slowly beginning to descent towards the valley of the mountain. Only when the night was at its end and the sky began to brighten Imya noticed that she was nowhere near her home. She looked around and saw the forest opening for a plain that was covered in snow. In the distance, she could make up big buildings of the humans. She wondered if this was the man's village that they were forbidden to enter. For sure was that she was further from her home than before and that with the starting day she would be in a lot of danger outside. She did not meet any other animal yet but she knew that as a pup she was not safe outside a den. Imya scanned the surroundings but did find nothing where she could hide. She was afraid to go outside the forest and into the plain. There should would be visible to anyone. Imya put her nose into the air to maybe smell something familiar but all the smells were strange and nothing she recognized. One smell though let her stomach growl again. It smelled good and like food even though Imya never smelled something like that before. Slowly she turned towards the smell and carefully ventured along the edge of the forest. The sun started to rise and blind the wolf pup. She had seen the sun before but never so big and bright. The snow reflected the light and made Imya close her eyes and hide behind the trees. She feared the sun because it exposed her. Little did she know that with her white fur the only thing that gave her away in the snow was her movement. And even this was hard even for trained eyes. In her misery, she got the best protection from mother nature to travel in the snow-covered land.

Imya heard a lot of new and scary noises. The man's village woke up and they shouted to each other. It was still a mile away but in the cold air their voices traveled all the way to the frightened pup. From the woods she heard the cracking and running of other animals. They all seemed to be big and Imya did not want to test if they were friendly because she was afraid it might be another bear who was awake. Exhausted she finally found the source of the smell. It was a small hood at the edge of the forest. Her nose led her to a pile of jute sacks. Imya did not know what they were but the smell came from inside. It took her a few minutes, and the discovery that the bags did not move, to fight her fear and approach them. One of the bags had a hole and the smell was coming from inside.

She carefully put her snout inside and after a few minutes of searching she found the rest of a cooked chicken. There was only a bit of meat still on it but for Imya it was the saving straw. Without any care about her surroundings she hungrily began to eat. This was much more than she normally would get with being the one who had to eat last. It tasted funny and there was no blood in it but her stomach welcomed the meal and the fat that cling to it was tasty for the little pup.

A loud noise when the door of the hood was opened made her wince. She grabbed the rest of the chicken bone and ran away in panic, around the house. When the man, the ranger who lived here, exited the house to pick up the bags he left there in the morning and bring them to his cart, he did not notice the frightened pup that watched him from behind a tree next to his house.

Imya found a small bush that was thick enough to hide her during the day. It was covered with snow which made it dark and comfy inside. The wall of the house next to it felt warm and Imya cuddled up with the warm rock and finished her meal before she closed her eyes to sleep. She was exhausted and still far from home. She had a day of cold and fears but at this moment, warm and with food in her belly, she could not help but feel better. High above her head a big cloud of smoke exited the chimney and floated between the trees.