Alone wrote:Day 5/Entry 1
Hey. I’m not dead… yeah…
It’s been roughly five days since I got lost…. Turns out I had been running all night… the only thing I know is that I was running in the wrong direction… I don’t know where I am… I think on the side of a mountain, overlooking a little valley... but it’s not my old valley…Yeah, anywho, I didn’t die. I seriously thought that after I closed my eyes, I was gonna meet my maker… but I guess not. So I guess that’s good… but being religious I guess that’s bad too? Actually I think it would have been a win win either way. Well, no matter. After I woke up I tried to find any familiar landmarks, and that didn’t work out well, but I did find a small den. There is a large bolder, and at one point an animal decided to dig underneath it for a snug little den. Its currently empty, so that’s where I have been sleeping for the past five days. It’s a little too snug for me, but I’m small for a viscet so I guess I’m lucky I’m not any bigger. I found a small berry bush, so that’s how I have been keeping myself alive for the past few days. So, because I have no one to talk to, I’m starting this log to keep myself company. Besides, when my pack finds me, I’ll be able to tell them what happened word for word… and before you correct me from log to diary, no, this is literally a log. There is an old dead tree besides the den, so I’m carving this into the side of the tree. So yeah. The weather has been oddly nice since the storm.
Other than berries, I haven’t been eating anything else. So I think I’m gonna have try out hunting. I’ve watched the hunters a few times, it looks kinda easy. Now I just need to find something to catch…
Day 6/Entry 2
Okay, I take it back. Hunting IS NOT easy… the snow crunches softly underneath my paws when I walk, and turns out, snowshoe hares have really good hearing. I think it somehow smelled me way before I got anywhere near it. It must have a really good sense of smell too.
Other than that… it’s been a pretty quiet day. I miss my family… I miss my mother… I miss her a lot. I miss my friends too… none of the viscling are my age though… I was the only viscling to survive last winter… so all the other viscelings are either a lot older or a lot younger… I still miss them all though. On the bright side, I’m sure my pack will find me soon. Besides, I have plenty of time to practice my writing. I’m sorry this is kind of short… I, I just need to sleep. It’s been a long, and somewhat disappointing day sooo… yeah, talk to you tomorrow log.
Day 7/Entry 3
Greetings, I’m still alive. I visited the berry bush that has been keeping me alive but turns out a little bird has been eating them all. Anywho, I was originally gonna try to eat it, but honestly the little bird is just so cute. I have named them Sky. They are gray with a white chest, with black markings on their face. I’m not sure what kind of bird it is… but right now they are sitting in the tree’s branches. It’s nice to have company, but I’m a little nervous to have a full bird sitting directly above my head… now that I think of it I’m just gonna go somewhere else… I found where the rabbit I chased before lives, so I think I should go see if I can catch them.
Day 7/Entry 4
Hey again, Sky just left. I hope they come back; I need a friend that isn’t a tree… Anywho, I couldn’t catch the rabbit… turns out the wind was blowing on me, than drifting to the rabbit. That’s how it smelled me before. I know this because I saw a coyote hunting. They made sure that didn’t happen, they crept up to it sooo slowly, it took a really long time for them to get close. The coyote almost caught it too! I would have tried to find another rabbit to catch it the same way… but the sky is looking a little dark… I think there may be another storm. Im honestly so scared… I think I may have developed a fear of snow storms… Well tree, if I don’t check back in, you know what happened… -that awkward moment when you try to make a joke but just end of scaring yourself even more..
Day 10/Entry 5
Yup. It snowed... a lot… for almost three days straight. Sure, it was pretty much just a light snow, I just couldn’t bring myself to venture out of the den… needless to say, after three days, im super hungry. In fact, I haven’t had a proper meal since my pack left our old home… I am going to explore a bit. Maybe I can find something at least somewhat edible… Also, I’ve been thinking, that little bird, Sky, has to be surviving on something right? So next time I see them, I’m going to follow them to see if I can find where they are getting their food.
Day 15/Entry 6
Well. There is both good and bad news…
I found a river, so when winter is over I can fish there…My pack will find me before then. I also found elk tracks. I followed them. I kinda forgot it took all of our hunters in my pack to take down an elk… I tried to chase one, I felt great, and I thought maybe tonight I would have a full stomach. Not to mention it felt good to run after being cooped up for so long… I didn’t realize I could run so fast even! I felt like I was flying. I managed to bite the Elk’s heel, but then suddenly, out of nowhere I felt a huge blow to my side and I topple over. As I lay on my back I see a HUGE bull elk that had butted into me. It was rearing on on its hind legs to probably crush my ribcage. I roll out of the way for the most part but its hoof slammed down on my side. I swear I’ve never been in so much pain in my entire life. I just barely managed to get up and run away. I collapsed in my den and prayed that I wouldn’t die, and if I did, make it quickly. I’ve honestly never been in a place like that in my all life. Not in the entire epoch of my life was I in so much pain I thought I was going to die. Not truly. I remember once, when I was really little, (well, littler) I stepped on a thorn and cried my eyes out. I remember thinking I was gonna die then, and the whole pack was babying me. Wow… I was so clueless and spoiled, wasn’t I? Oh, but I do miss my pack… I would go find them, but I need to stay where I am, otherwise they won’t be able to find me… But I need to stay alive until then as well. So, I need to focus more on hunting than ever. I’ve been laying here for five days. And frankly, I’m going to die if I don’t get anything to eat… I am literally starving to death. I need to stop waiting for my pack. Even if they do come soon (and they will) I need to plan for the worst. I admit, that’s not something I usually do, I am an optimist. I always find a bright side, but that doesn’t mean I can sit around all day on my tail and say it will all get better soon without doing anything. Tomorrow, no matter how I feel, I am going to go hunting, and I am NOT going to give up until I catch something… (I am by no means going to hunt an elk though, I guess I’ll try to get some rabbits or something) but that also means I’ll have less time to write here. So yeah, I’ll talk to you later and hopefully I’ll have only good news to report.
Day 21/Entry 7
I did it. I finally did it. I caught a rabbit. Actually, I have a lot of big news to share. First off, the rabbit. I did everything I observed the coyote doing before. I kept low to the ground, I avoided the green grassy patches of earth and kept to the snow, so my fur would blend in better, I kept downwind of the rabbit (Is it downwind or upwind…? I’m, I’m not sure…. Well, anywho, it didn’t smell me) and I moved very slow and made no sudden moves until I was roughly 14 feet away before I picked up speed going faster and faster until the rabbit noticed me, then I moved into a sprint and then leaped at it. It worked. Trust me, it took a insanely long to time figure out this strategy. Im writing this down in detail so I remember it all. Okay, so the next bit of news is a little surprising. Turns out the coyote followed me back here and tried to steal my food! The little imp almost succeeded too! If it wasn’t for Sky, I would have starved. You see, Sky has made a nest in the tree and when they saw a coyote near my den while I was out trying to find some berries to go with the rabbit, they started making a racket. Well, not a racket, but I notice whenever Sky sees something that makes her scared or uneasy they start chirping really nervously, it’s only a little different than their normal chips, but I can tell. (It makes a great alarm if anything dangerous is nearby) So I was able to chase off the coyote. I think I’m going to name the coyote Blizzard. Let’s hope I won’t be seeing much of them. Another thing, I heard what I thought may be wolves last night. I mean, there was a storm last night so it may have been the wind howling… but…
Well, I may just be paranoid, so don’t mind me, tree. We are probably perfectly fine.
Day 30/Entry 8
Wolves, definitely. A few days back, I was going to see if the elk heard was still there and maybe if there were any new born elk I could go after (yeah, yeah I know its barbaric, but I’m hungry, so morals go out the window) when I saw a large pack of wolves attacking the bull elk (I can’t say I feel bad for the bull, I mean, it did break my shoulder that only just started healing) but honestly right now, I’m extremely scared. Im not even full grown, so I can’t defend myself properly…. Wow… maybe this is payback for me trying to eat a defenseless young calf… anyway… I’ve been watching them carefully and they have been getting closer and closer to my den… I remember the pack used to deal with wolves every once in a while. Sometimes a wolf pack would try to challenge them, but our fighters would drive them off. My pack really needs to hurry up and find me already. And when I say find me, I mean me. Not my pitiful remains. When it comes right down to it, if I need to fight them… I’m not going to do so well. But on the bright side, I’ve grown a bit, and I’m a lot stronger, and a lot faster then I used to be… but my shoulder where the elk kicked me is very stiff, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to move my left shoulder and arm without pain again. It’s very hard to bend as well.
On a different note;
You know, looking around, where I am right now, it’s beautiful. The sun rises about a two mountains and shines right into my den in the morning. It wakes me up and greets me with a dazzling display of light. Sky chirps a lovely little song, and I set about hunting. I’m actually rather good at it, if I have enough patience. Also, I no longer mind it when it snows. It’s not scary for me anymore. I know what happens, happens. If it turns into a huge blizzard and freeze to death, then yeah, that would stink, but I can’t do anything about it. For now, I just enjoy the slowly falling snowflakes as they drift to earth. Its awe inspiring, actually. There is a little ledge overlooking the little valley. I like to sit on it and pretend my pack is down there. I sometimes pretend I see my mother, and she is waving to me, inviting me to come and join the pack. I also like to just remember some of the good times my pack and I shared... I really was spoiled. I mean, I had it good. My pack cared for me, and I cared for my pack. I miss them.
Day 34/Entry 9
Yep, that does it. I’ve went insane. I’ve started having conversations with Sky… the bird… who can’t talk… at least they listen.
Day 35/Entry 10
I Saw Blizzard today. I actually stumbled upon her den while hunting. She nearly ripped my face off. Turns out she has a den of really young coyote pups. I didn’t get a good look before Blizzard chased me off, but they sure looked cute. Now I see why Blizzard tried to steal the rabbit from me, she was trying to get enough to eat to feed her pups.
Day 50/Entry 11
Sorry I haven’t checked in for a while. I’ve been pretty busy hunting and such. I found a dead elk yesterday, so I’m able to take a break from hunting for a bit. However, the reason the elk is dead is because of the wolves. They are moving closer. I know I said I wanted some company, but that’s not what I had in mind. Sky and Blizzard have been on edge too. Well, mostly Blizzard. Sky can fly away if they need too. I let Blizzard ‘steal’ some food I caught so she can feed her pups. I also saw a bear yesterday. Not as worried about them. I could probably outrun them, besides, I’ve never seen the bear before, so it must just be passing through, so it’s not going to be as territorial as the wolves.
Day 69/Entry 12
Wow. Okay. Deep breaths, Sloane. Deep breaths.
I-I-I honestly am, well, speechless, almost. And that is exceedingly rare for me.
Wolves. I was out hunting yesterday and I was close to Blizzard’s den when I heard a screech. It was so sudden I jumped straight up in the air. I ran towards the scream to find Blizzard being attacked by the wolves. (I know wolves aren’t cold blooded killers, they are just super territorial with coyotes) She could have run away, but she had to protect her pups hidden in the den. There had to be at least seven large wolves, but I wanted to charge right at them… and to my surprise… I did. I think the wolves where pretty surprised too. The fight didn't last long. One adolescent, short viscet VS seven strong, agile wolves? I killed one of them though… even though I was taking most of the painful blows, it scared me. I killed the wolf, not for prey, a wolf that was just defending their territory… it feels terrible…. But, out here, Sky and Blizzard are my pack, my family. I’m not about to lose them. So I guess that’s what had to happen. Sadly, when I realized the wolves where too much for me (even though injured Blizzard tried to help) I had to run. But before I did, I reached inside the small den and grabbed one of Blizzard’s pups by the scruff of their neck. I didn’t look back. I just retreated to my own den… so I don’t know what happened…
Who am I kidding?
Yes I do. I don’t even need to look. I waited all day for Blizzard to perhaps come crawling of the mountain to my den with her two other pups in tow, and we would all be alright. But she never came. I know it sounds like nothing good could ever come of this, but that’s not true. There is good in this. I’m determined to find it. One of Blizzard’s pups survived. In fact, he is cuddled next to me, snoring. As if nothing had ever happened. Innocent and ignorant. It’s night time now. The star are shining in amazing brilliance. I know Blizzard and her pups are in a beautiful place now. Filled with goodness and light. Where there is no such thing as predators and no such thing as prey.
I look around now. I wonder where the pack is now… are they looking at the same stars I am? You know, I started this log to record everything for them, so I could tell them all the amazing things I’ve overcome… but now I just feel I am writing this to keep myself company, to remind me of all the amazing things I have overcome… by now, I know in my heart the pack has given up looking for me. It hurts, writing that… but it’s the truth. They love me, and I love them. There will always be a part of me that still has a bit of hope that they will come look for me… but even if they do come here, I won’t be here. I need to go… I need to find a safe place. Without wolves, a safe place for me, and a safe place for Blizzard’s pup. I’m going to leave when the snow melt from the ground and summer is here. It’s the safest time to travel, and by then I won’t have to carry Blizzard’s pup. Hmm, I need to find a name for him, don’t I? Looking up at the stars, Galaxy is the only name that seems fitting… it attests the amazing wonders of this world and beyond, a wonderful hope. Bright stars shining, even when the night is dark and the sun has disappeared. I wonder is Blizzard would like it? I know Blizzard and I weren’t friends, not really. But I always enjoyed seeing her out and about, catching rabbits and lemmings, sometimes stopping to run about and play in the snow.
Day 75/Entry 13
Vandalism! A woodpecker just drilled through day 15 – 21… bound to happen sometime I suppose. Geez, I hope I didn’t have any important notes written down there…
Anyway, Galaxy and I are fine for now. Galaxy has a great set of ears; he can hear a small little mouse through 2 paw of snow! So I take him along on my hunting trips. He listens, and I catch them once I notice him staring at a certain spot for a while.
Although sometimes helpful, Galaxy is quite an imp at times.
Day 79/Entry 14
I caught an elk. It was pretty old, and was limping. I managed to run by i’s side, rather than behind it, so I couldn’t get kicked, or caught off guard by another elk. It took a rather long time to take it down but eventually it grew tired and couldn’t go on. Yes, it’s almost sad to watch, but necessary. I brought back some meat to Galaxy and he loved it. But we are going to have to leave sooner than I thought. The wolves ate the elk by the time went back to get more.
I suppose the real reason I’ve been staying is because I hope the pack will still come to find me… and I guess I’ll miss my den too… and the lovely view of the valley. I hate change.
Day 100/Entry 15
I’ve been here for a hundred days… wow… well. Today, I’m leaving. I had a since big meal, and I have some mice packed in a small sack (the same one I had filled with scrolls when I first came here) for Galaxy on the way. I don’t know how long I’ll travel, or to where. But just far enough away to be rid of the wolves. I’m sad to leave my home…
You know, I just read all I wrote, and I just realized… when I first came here I called it “The den” but eventually it became “my den” then “my home”
Also, the beginning I called the pack “My pack” but it somehow became just “The pack”…. Have I really become that removed? I miss them… I really do…
I don’t know why this all happened. Why did I have to go through this all? Why is my life so difficult? Why was my loving family torn away from me? I’m, I’m just trying to figure it all out. I overcame a lot. At least I’m still alive (I think) and still sane (I think, but probably not…)
I wonder if someone will ever find this old tree and read my story… and if they do, will they think I made it up?
Well I didn’t.
This is Sloane. I formally belonged to the ArticLight pack, I am now a loner. My only friends are a bird, a coyote pup and my shadow. The only one I have to talk to is my echo. And I think, over time, I can accept that.