I find myself drawn to the forest once more. My large figure moves fluidly through the trees at an easy jog as rain drizzles down from through the canopies. I’ve always felt at home within the forest, perhaps because of my birthplace, and even now I am put at ease.
Blood of a recent kill stains my lush coat around the jaws and plushness of my neck and chest. My tongue flicks out once or twice to try and clean myself of the cruor as I slow my pace to a walk. My belly was sated and my mind was calmed, only the sound of rain hitting the remaining autumn leaves cascading around me.
I continue on a well-traveled path, its surface worn to nothing but dirt, as I trek all by my lonesome. By now I was used to being solitary yet that does not mean I liked it any better. I yearned for the company of another and with winter on the horizon I began to feel a different longing beginning to take place. I had never imagined being a mother to any children, much less at such an early age, but the instinct was there and it was driving my emotions insane.
I would daydream about what it would be like to have a real family – something I had never been given since birth – and how happy it would make me. But these were all dreams and assumptions; what if it didn’t really make me happy like I thought it would? What if I was just meant to be all alone for the entirety of my lifetime? I physically shook the thoughts from my head as I ridded my pelt of the droplets that had accumulated upon it. Ahead there was a small break in the trees and the soft sound of running water.
My steps kept even as I sauntered up to the source, a small brook, and crouched down so that I may lap at the cool water.
kaliska