5. Ylfa
I’m running througha bright, snow-lit forest. Dark tendrils of hair whip about my face as I escape a group of vicious predators.
They’re gaining on me fast. A wild pack of wolves. I’ve trudged too far from my tribe. It’s cold, my feet are wet, and I’m far from home, but I have to keep running.
I’m carrying an infant in my arms after all, one who has long stopped crying. He lays frozen, but I won’t stop. I can’t stop.
I won’t let those monsters get him.
Those beasts... If only my tribe had slaughtered them, but they only got the best of us in the end. They attacked in the night when we least expected. They killed my husband, and all I could do was watch in horror as I held onto my crying son.
With his last dying breath, my husband told me to get our son away, and that’s what I did. But he’s still not breathing.
I will hold on to hope. Those wolves won’t get the best of me.
They emerge from the bushes, surrounding me on all sides, and I hug my son closer. I won’t let him become wolf chow.
The alpha wolf snaps his teeth, cornering me against a tree. I curl in on myself, waiting to be slaughtered.
That way, they won’t expect me to attack.
One wolf rips at my pants and I kick it away. Another bites my leg and I cry out. Gritting my teeth, I reach for my belt, letting my fingers brush over my flint knife.
Any moment now...
The alpha loses his patience, lunging straight in for the kill, but before he can get his teeth around my neck, I grab the knife and stab him right between the eyes.
He dies immediately.
This only angers the other wolves, but I’ve had enough. They will not make a meal out of me or my son.
I will fight.
I do the only thing I can think of. I scream and lash out, acting crazy. I’m not sure if it will work. It’s suicidal, but I’ve watched these predators for years.
They pick out the weakest in any herd. But they stray far away from the feisty ones.
They go for easy prey, after all. The only way I can survive now is by showing them that I am not weak.
I’m not easy prey. I’m crazy, a grieving mother who not only lost her husband and tribe, but her son, too.
He’s still not breathing...
The wolves back off. Why stay and fight? Their alpha is dead, and I’m one crazy hominid bitch.
I scream and curse, creating as much noise as I can. They don’t know what to make of the sudden change of behavior. After all, I may have eaten something poisonous. If they eat me, they will only get sick too.
They will never get the best of me.
They finally vanish, deciding that I’m not worth the effort. When they’re gone, I drop to my knees in the snow, squeezing my eyes.
My son is cold to the touch. He is no longer of this world.
I truly am alone now.
...
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