𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 @Shiro_youya !! 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴! 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨! 𝘒𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘚𝘶𝘨𝘢𝘳 𝘊𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘦!!

ϕ҂⋆*ღ⊀ ❝Collete PᴥV ❞ ⊁≬≭೨⋆*

The walk from my house to the market this time felt shorter than usual. Birds chirped and sang as if they had finally been freed for the first time in years. Their songs echoed through the woods, rebounding off of the tall, green trees that shielded us from the rising sun. Baby Bread and I shuffled through the snow. Now, it was just a thin, icy layer that blanketed the land rather than a fresh, heavy, winter snow like how it once was. Winter was coming to an end, which meant less snow. Soon, we'd be walking on the dirt path to town that grandma and grandpa had created themselves before my mother was even born.

A breath left my mouth. Surprise coded my face as I came to realize the lack of gray steam. Once upon a time my breath was warm against the cold, it came out in gray puffs that symbolized winter. My eyes hyper focused for a minute on the dirty, off-white looking frost on the path. The paths under the sun sparkled early in the morning before they melted away. It didn't take long before Baby Bread ran into my line of sight, running and rolling around as he chased bunnies from the path.

"Oh, Baby!" I called out to him. The tiny fox stopped in his tracks in the middle of the path, looking over at me as he titled his head. I quickly jogged over to him, scooping him up in my arms as I did so.

Gently, I caressed the fur on the top of his small head. His fur was so silky and soft, but mostly because I gave him a bath not too long ago. He didn't enjoy it much, but it's alright since it got the job done. Poor Baby had dirt stains in his fur from acting like the little crackhead he is.

The more I thought about it, the more foreign the memory felt. That was back in early January, so it's only been less than a month. I haven't been keeping track of time recently. Usually Chan helped me keep track. He always knew what day it was. Now that he's gone, it's been hard to adjust. He only left a week ago, why am I acting so hopeless?

Before I could finish my thought, the shops came into my view. Their old, worn out wood caught my attention. Why haven't I noticed that before? These shops are so old, they've been here for such a long time and haven't even broken down or been repaired. I remember when I was younger, my grandma used to go there for the news. Not like a newspaper, but a very nosy storekeeper who loved to gossip and knew just about everything on anyone within a 32 kilometer (20 mile) radius.

She was the same woman I went to visit last time. Last time she told me about the invasive wolves that had recently come into the area. Apparently they were going to start killing them off or try driving them back up to the north. Such a cruel punishment, but it's not like we can continue letting them feed off livestock.

Before I knew it, we had reached the line of shops. Most of them weren't open, although it was okay since we didn't need much. Only a couple vegetables, more meat, and maybe fruit if it's in season. Strawberries should be in season around this time of year.

My feet, tired and aching, continued to walk until I finally entered the first shop. Baby Bread squirmed a little in my arms. It was my first grocery run with him, which means he's never seen a farmer's market before. Typically Chan used to go and come back soon after with everything. Now, I was once again left to do all the grocery runs. I still remember the time Grandma and I did those runs together. It'd be quite difficult for her to do all that now, especially considering her conditions. Admittedly, leaving her home alone was also a bad idea, but she was asleep right now, and I doubt she'd ever do anything to hurt herself.

"Collete! How are you?" The woman asked me as I entered the shop. I gave her a warm smile.

"Half decent, Mrs. Lee. How are you?" She smiled back at me.

"Not bad. The weather's much better than it was a few weeks ago! Let's hope the heat drives those damn wolves back up North!" She exclaimed in an exaggerated manner.

"Yeah..." I muttered, not paying much attention.

"I heard they're starting an Act," Mrs. Lee vocalized, smiling at me with her big, intense eyes.

I furrowed my brows in confusion. "An Act?"

"Yeah! An Act that allows us to get rid of these wolves since they're an invasive species. Soon, the price for meat will go down! I've been forced to go vegan because of it," She let out a mischievous chuckle.

Something about what she said made me feel so unsettled. Whether it was the merciless urge to murder an entire species of animals, or the fact she was happy about it, I don't know. All I could say for certain is that something else was going on- something much bigger that no one was saying out loud.

Suddenly a light bulb went off in my mind. My gaze shot towards Baby Bread, who was hiding in the corner of the store. He had jumped out of my arms the moment we stepped in to avoid scaring the poor elderly woman. "Baby Bread!" I cooed innocently to him. He tilted his head at me, then smiled in the most bizarre way you could ever imagine.

"Baby Bread? What's that?" She asked me. I looked at her with a smile before shifting my vision back to the baby Fox.

"Come here, Baby Bread," I called in a friendly tone. At first the Fox refused to move, but after a minute or two of consideration, decided to finally get up. He ran over to me, quickly pushing off on his hind legs as he propelled forward, landing gracefully in my arms.

Mrs. Lee flinched as she gasped instantaneously. It sounded almost as if she had never seen a fox before in her entire life, which was shocking considering our surroundings.

"Speaking of meat, I need to get this little fella some food," I changed the subject. "Do you know where I can get some?"

The woman remained silent. I kept my smile on my face in an attempt to get her to speak; or at least calm down enough to stop hyperventilating.

"I-It's a wolf..." She spoke under her breath in disbelief, her tone growing louder with every sentence. "IT'S A WOLF!"

"No, no! Baby Bread is a Baby Fox!" I tried to clarify.

Mrs. Lee her head. "What's the difference!? It's going to grow up and eat us all!"

Now I've had it. "You scared my poor Baby more than he's scaring you! Look at him right now! He's terrified!"

I gestured to Baby Bread, who covered his face with his paws as he laid in my arms. The Fox let out a few whimpers before turning over in my arms so he was facing away from Mrs. Lee.

"Awww... well I guess he isn't that bad..." She thought out loud. "Fine.. you can find some cheap chicken at Jim's stand. He's further down, about half a mile from here on the left. Rumor has it he keeps his Chicken indoors so they're safe from the wolves,"

"Thank you," I pursed my lips. "I will find a way to repay you handsomely," I promised, skipping out of the tiny shop. Although I had come for vegetables, I decided that getting meat should be a top priority since both Baby Bread and I ate it. I can always find a way to grow vegetables and fruit, meat on the other hand wasn't so easy to keep.

ϕ҂⋆*ღ⊀҂⋆*ღ ⊁҂⋆*≬҂ϕ⋆*⋆*ღ

I trudged home, Baby Bread hopped and ran and danced around me. If only I had the energy he did. The sound of birds flying away echoed throughout the woods for a minute, animals around us running around. The crunch and snap of twigs and dead leaves crackled like fire in the forest around. I continued to walk, trying not to think anything of it. However, I couldn't help but stop in my tracks as I happened to notice Baby Bread's reaction. He had stopped jumping around, his ears remained perked up as if sensing a foreboding aura quickly approaching us.

The Fox shot his head around in my direction. "What's wrong?" I asked the on-edge little creature. He strengthened his stance, his teeth flashing as he growled at me. "What's going on..? B-Baby Bread...?" I tried to calm him down and get a reason for his sudden anger but nothing came to mind. Slowly, I began taking a few steps back. Maybe Mrs. Lee was right. He was going to turn on me.

Just as I couldn't feel stupider, Baby Bread let out a loud and aggressive bark; something I never knew foxes could do. The growling grew continuously louder; Suddenly and unexpectedly, I froze. The growling wasn't coming from Baby Bread. Oh, no it wasn't. I turned, my hair standing on end due to the suspense of the situation. There, in front of me now, were three giant wolves. Scarred, messy, angry, and most importantly- looking for their next meal. A silent scream tried to force itself out of my lungs and into the atmosphere but I just couldn't manage to voice anything.

Before I knew it, the wolves were charging at me. My heart beat increased, blood pumping vigorously through my veins. Panic-stricken, I began to back up now, getting ready to run. Even if I ran I wouldn't be able to escape them. My mind was racing so quickly, so much went through it yet I couldn't think of what to do. Now the wolves were only feet away from me, yet I couldn't move since I was paralyzed in fear.

I closed my eyes tightly, bracing myself for death. The sound of their paws thumping against the dirt-covered Earthy floor of the woods sounded as if it were mimicking my heart beat; fast and inconsistent. A loud and ferocious growl sounded only inches- no, centimeters from my face.

This is it.

This is the death of me.