Going Home

• Abiha Raheel, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2022

Natsuki hurried over the snow, shivering, weary, and hungry. She looked behind her. The relentless snow kept falling. Her footprints were all covered up. Icicles had already started forming on her eyelashes and her breath was coming out in a frosty cloud. The black trees, against the white environment, were becoming more abundant. And she was becoming more and more hypothermic. Her skin was pale and waxy, her eyes two blue silts. At this rate, she was not going to last.
Natsuki cradled up between two boulders. They were made of smooth granite, but comfortingly warm. Not wanting to take off her jacket and sun herself on the smooth rocks under her, she started to shiver. She realized she was in serious danger of dying. Hypothermic, starving, tired from the lack of sleep; she knew it was time to fight for her life.
A sound of paw steps echoed through the silent forest. Slowly, the wolves stalked their prey, until they were close enough to attack. She saw them, their dilapidated fur hanging mangily down the sides of their flank, narrowed eyes, yellow sharp teeth bared at her face. Natsuki gasped, tears escaping her eyes, running down her sallow cheeks and freezing to the skin. Mopping her bloodshot eyes, she stared at the wolves. Her stomach dropping, she got up and backed away. To her horror, the wolves leaped.
The world became blurry. The sounds of howls and the wolves gloating over their victory faded into soft humming. She heard a voice, maybe her own, calling to her.
‘You’re dying,’
She opened her eyes.
It was a long hallway, with a door at the end, her footsteps echoing quietly off the walls, a soft, and red carpet underneath her bare feet. There was a gateway ahead, open for her. She brushed her hands against the wall and felt it. It was grey, soft and familiar… and bloodstained.
The world was coming back; Natsuki was slowly resuming her consciousness. Behind her, the freedom was fading. She ran, the floor slowly became white and her torn shoes were reappearing. The snow started crunching. The walls became trees. She was going to be free. She had to reach the gates.
Natsuki opened her eyes only a crack to see her surroundings. The wolves weren’t gone, but hiding dastardly behind the trees. She got up, once again feeling the sharp pangs of hunger clawing at her insides. Shuffling through the snow, she threw a nearby snow-covered tree branch at the monstrous wolves. The leader of the pack yelped and bounded away and seemingly, the rest of the pack backed off, snarling. She hissed back. She turned to go, taking one last glance at the torn-apart wolves. Running again she was greeted by a warm zephyr.
As she ran into the familiar clearing, a small cottage was credible. She saw a woman standing at the gates, tears of joy running down her cheeks.
Natsuki ran straight into the arms of her waiting mother.
At last, she had found home.