hazy thoughts.

The female picked her way through the forest, taking care not to dirty her coat any more than it currently was. She tried to recall what had happened before she'd come here and got little information. She'd blacked out, that much was certain. When she woke, she was lying on her side at the foot of a steep ravine. The possibility that she had fallen was simply a possibility; she couldn't remember being at the top, nor could she remember falling, although her body was aching. Everything of her life before the "fall" was a blank, a deep dark void with no trace of memories. All she was left with was her name. Maren. It was all she knew and she was clinging to that one fact like her life depended on it.



This sense of self-importance was striking. She couldn't remember her old self, she didn't know if she'd always felt this way or if this was a new development in her personality. If this wasn't how I truly was, I would know. It would feel wrong, and this feels normal to me. For a moment, she wondered if anyone had been with her when the thing had happened. If they had been, they weren't anymore. The area was silent when she'd come back to herself. It was still quiet, to some extent. Most of the sound being made was from her, the rest was from the birds and squirrels.



Not knowing was frightening but it also annoyed her. When she tried to think about her past, it was like there was a mental block between her conscious and the memories she was hoping to reach. Another thing that bothered her was the fact that she seemed so tired. Like the dead reanimated, a skeleton in a fur coat. Her eyes burned from fatigue but she would not lay down and sleep, at least for now. She had things to do.



She came to a stop underneath a maple tree, a stream weaving its way around it and its neighbors. Will I recognize myself? she wondered. As she took in her reflection, she was pleased to note that she was still the same as she'd originally thought herself to look. There was a matted area on her left temple, presumably blood. The area was sore, and Maren assumed she'd hit her head on a rock somehow. There were a few other areas that were sore - her hip and her shoulder - but she couldn't bring herself to be interested. The fatigue was getting to her.



Tired, she lay down beneath the maple, resting her head on her paws. There was so much more to think about, so much more to try to understand, but it would have to wait until later. The sore spot on her skull was bothering her less and less. Sleep was taking over, darkening her sight. It would take her under its wings. It would take good care of her.