FSE

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As soon as the first rays of dawn made the snow on the ground sparkle like icy diamonds, the little wolf got up and set off. He had had a series of confusing, panicky dreams, and his body still felt stiff from the nightly cold and the blow he had taken yesterday, but he did not let that deter him. He shook his head to fling away the residue of desperation and instead focused on his surroundings--his hunting territory.

There were no scents of potential prey in the air, but he was still quite close to the stream. The little wolf remembered that some prey included water into their territories, so they could bathe and drink whenever they wished. Maybe if I follow it, I'll find prey that's a little... easier to catch.

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Despite his sore body, the little wolf travelled far in a short amount of time. The land became rockier, and the river gurgled louder the farther he followed it upstream. The restless, flowing waters made him feel restless as well. Water wasn't really his thing, and he wondered how wild the river was up in the highlands, where its source was undoubtedly hidden. At last he couldn't stand it anymore. With a frown, the little wolf paused on a flat rock and looked down into the water, as if to silence it with an angry glare.

Upon seeing his own reflection, the frown melted away. 'Golly, I look like a porcupine!' he said, noticing the coat of pine needles that still stuck out of his muddy fur. 'Let's do something about that.'

The little wolf stepped into the icy cold water. Immediately he felt his paws slip over the smooth, round pebbles on the riverbed. Yet, he managed to keep standing. He continued more carefully, taking care to stay as far away from the deep end as he could, and started washing the sticky mud and needles out of his fur.

What the little wolf did not know, was that he was not too far away from the waterfall that fed the river. The waterfall was almost completely frozen, but there was still enough water cascading down to make the river flow. Unfortunately, the beautiful sight of the half-frozen wall of water was about to come to an end. Without a warning, the thick sheet of ice broke off at the top and plunged into the river. The waves that came to life, compressed by the narrow banks, turned the river into an angry snake of white water rushing down, down, down.

The little wolf did not have time to even let out a yelp as the water grabbed him and took him along for the ride. Kicking his legs this way and that, he tried desperately to keep his head above the surface. The air got knocked out of his lungs when he scraped against a rock. He swallowed a muzzlefull of water. There seemed to come no end to this mad, watery rollercoaster.

Then things got even worse! As the little wolf went under again, the river pushed him underneath a sheet of ice. When the little wolf swam upwards, he found with a shock that there was no way to resurface.

His chest was burning with fire. Desperately, he clawed at the icy ceiling, but it was of no use. The little wolf closed his eyes and hung his head low. This was the end of his ordeal, he thought.

Until a faint tapping sound made his ears prick up. The little wolf opened his eyes and swivelled his ears in all directions, searching for the noise. There was a loud crack. A ray of light shone like a golden column into the water. There was no time to think about the why or the how, as the little wolf's survival instincts kicked in. With his last ounce of strength and a few adrenaline-fuelled kicks, he swam towards the breathing hole. His head burst through the surface. Winter air had never tasted so warm and sweet.

He climbed out of the frozen stream, and lay gasping on the ice for a good while. High above, there were some eagles circling around. The little wolf frowned. Those birds of prey were probably waiting for an afternoon snack. Well, they would have to wait. Forcing his stiff and frozen legs into motion, the little wolf scrambled up.

A few clumsy steps later, he was off the ice and back into the winter forest. Even after thoroughly shaking himself dry, he found that he was still trembling from the cold. The little wolf decided there and then to call it a day. However much he wanted to continue his quest for glory, the cold water had made him come to his senses, so he focused his energy now on finding a place to sleep. After a long, cold hour of trudging, it seemed that the forest finally decided to cooperate. Up ahead appeared a large fallen log, and yes, it was hollow. The little wolf curled himself up inside and tried to suppress the shivering in his body until sleep allowed him to finally have a break.