Believe - Chapter 6: The Star

The stone was a bit colder when Imya woke up. It was silent around her and dark. Imya nibbled at the bone to eat the last traces of meat and licked it until the taste was very faint. Then she pushed her nose out of the bush. The moon was covered by a few clouds but she could see a few stars in the wholes between them. The night had fallen again and with it the temperature. Snowflakes danced down from the sky. It was only a light snow but it blocked the vision to see far. Imya was not able to see the man's village. She knew it was still there but not seeing it made her feel more comfortable at this moment.

There was a shimmer of light coming from one of the windows of the house. Imya looked at it in hope that maybe the moon had come down but it did not move and it looked different than the moon light. It was not white but yellow and sometimes it got brighter or darker like it was flashing. Imya was in trance from this light but soon the cold surrounding got back at her. She shot into the bush again and pressed herself against the stone. It was still a bit warm and she loved the feeling of warming up outside and inside.

Imya lay there until the stone got completely cold and when she exited the bush again even the light in the house was turned off. She went to the place where she found the bags before but there was nothing left. Only fresh fallen snow. Something inside her was urging her to stay here, in the bush. Maybe she would get more food this way and it was warm and she could make it... make it where? Imya realized that staying here would not get her home to her mother. She did not care for her father or the others. They were mean to her anyways but she missed her mother. She also knew as much as that a wolf was not safe alone. She had to find the pack to be safe. Even if she hated life in the pack this was the only home she knew.

The pup did not think about how to get home. She did not even reconsider the thought that she had no idea where she needed to go to reach home. She just turned her back to the house and continued to travel along the border of the forest. Just a few meters into the forest she felt the safest. She could look outside where the trees did not block her view to see any danger and at the same time she was hid inside the forest. Imya did not think so far that from the forest itself danger could emerge as well or that if she could see outside, others could maybe see her as well. But running here made her feel safe and so she followed the forest borders along the plain and her home, that she tried to reach, was left behind even further with every step.

The snow slowly got weaker and then stopped. A few mouths full of the soft snow quenched Imya's thirst and with her stomach full of the meat she got more energy this night. She usually did not get so much food and it was normal for them to go one or two nights without so she got a share for three nights already and a share that made her bursting with strength she never knew she had. The moon made his turn but Imya ignored it. She realized that the moon would not guide her. After all he brought her to the man's village where it was dangerous. She tried to trust him and he betrayed her. At least that was what she felt.

But when she looked outside into the plain towards the end of the night she saw something else than the moon. A bright star with a long tail, brighter than any other star and nearly as bright as the moon, was there. It did move very slowly to a direction cross the plain. Imya never had seen such a star but it was beautiful and caught her heart in a flash. Imya turned and stepped outside the forest. Without even thinking about it she followed into the direction of the star. In this cold and dangerous world, this star seemed to be her only friend. She wondered if it was sent by someone else to guide her. Maybe this star was a real god who wanted to show her the way home. The light of that star sparked hope in the heart of Imya. She forgot her fears of not reaching home. She forgot her fear of the coverless plain. A little pile of snow, or so it seems, started to move across the snow-covered fields and meadows. The mind of Imya changed from somehow reaching home to following this star. She believed that it would bring her to a place where she would not be alone. A place where she was safe and her mother was with her. She was sure it would bring her home.

The star mesmerized her and like a sleep walker she followed it until the sun got up and the light of the start was overpowered by the bright and blinding sun. Just now Imya noticed that she was out in the open and that the day was already beginning. In the distance, she saw a few horses, big creatures that were intimidating, play on a snow-covered meadow. The buildings of the humans were further away now and Imya could only see their silhouette and the smoke that was over them like clouds. This picture still had something frightening to Imya and she looked around for a place to hide.

She found a big tree with roots that built a small hole. It was covered in snow but Imya dug a den out of the snow and snuggled against the roots of the tree. They were a bit warmer than the frozen ground. The snow hid her from the eyes of others and kept the light of the sun outside. Imya closed her eyes. She did not feel as exhausted as the day before but she was tired. This day she felt nearly as warm as the last night and her dreams were nice ones of the star that would lead her into safety. Her soul was sure that this star was here just for her.