Into the Unknown
In all the stories their father had told him and his siblings of the near mythical land he had fled from never once had he mentioned a desert. He had mentioned humid forests with leaves so thick they could smother a wolf, and the breathtaking sunsets on the mangrove he had once called home, but never any desert. The young male had in fact never seen a desert before in his life which made him unaware of all the hardships that came with the barren lands. He had run from the beach into the wastelands headlong, confident that as he raced over the dunes lush meadows would be waiting for him on the other side. When that failed to come to pass he hadn’t lost assurance and had only run faster and harder as the sun bore down on him. He sprinted through the night but as the sun rose on his second day and the desert continued to stretch impossibly before him his confidence began to dwindle.
He had stopped to rest but the harsh sun gave him no quarter and continued to beat down on his golden fur mercilessly. Only when his lungs began to burn and his tongue stick to the roof of his mouth did he realize there had been no sign of water for hours. Delirious, he had chased the silvery glints of mirages only to have them fade before his eyes and travel several miles ahead of him, unreachable. Dehydrated, hungry, tired, and desperate he had followed the faint scent of water and wolves, unsure if it was real or another trick of the harsh environment he had landed on but was no longer able to turn the faint chance of survival away . Without even realizing it he had collapsed on the hard-cracked earth, air whistling into his lungs with every breath. Why had he even come here? He knew there had been a good reason as his blue eyes squinted against the shadows of circling buzzards, but as darkness closed in around him mere feet from the pack’s border any motives he had for leaving his home behind seemed distant and foolish. "Help..." He wheezed into the silence. "Talk" "Thought" "You" |