BTT1: Lost

He was just a pup when he was torn away from his mother. And it was like any other ordinary day when it happened, late in the morning to be exact. The pup was snoozing away from the safety of the stall he was in, close to his mother. Both he and his mother were nocturnal, which meant they had to sleep during the day while doing things at night. Like eating. And playing. Not that he played much, though. Being an only pup, there were no other young kukuris to play with and so he had to play alone most of the time. The sunlight streamed through the crack of the door but was unable to penetrate the stall wall that surrounded him and his mother.

The pup, known as Alee, opened his eyes blearily and yawned. Rubbing his eyes with a hand, he looked over to his sleeping mother for a moment before looking around. He had a dream, which was why he woke up. But he could not remember what the dream was about. Oh well, it was not like it was important or anything. Quietly, he nuzzled his mother’s face, hoping for a reaction. He found none; she was dead to the world. He wiggled his body, itching to say something. But he had to be quiet, Mother was sleeping. And he wanted to do something now that he was awake.

He turned his head to the outside of the stall. He was always by his mother’s side, being young and all. It had only been a few weeks since he was born and he had not really explored much because he stuck close to his mother all the time. She did want to protect him, after all, though from what, he had no clue. But this could only go on for so long before he got curious about the outside world, the one where he was not protected by his mother. He wanted to experience it, if only for a short amount of time. Glancing back at his mother, he slowly got up and snuck away from her, making his way to the door that was ajar. Pushing it open lightly, he shielded his eyes from the sudden bright light and found himself blinking away as his vision readjusted. So this what day was like. It was very…well, bright. Taking a few moments to steel himself, he pushed past the door and out into the open.

He had no clue where to start exploring. There was so many places to go, so many sights to see. He did not realize that everything became alive at this point in time. He could hear strange twittering noises that he had never heard before. With a burst of bravery, he began to run towards the twittering, straight into a forest.

His ears twitched as he listened to the birds talk to each other while he craned his neck to try and find them. They were up top, somewhere. He squinted at the very fuzzy trees. The albino puppy could not see well, especially at this time of day. Then he saw a blob of something with fur dart past him. He had never seen a squirrel before and he barked as he chased after it. It quickly climbed up a tree, causing him to slam headfirst into it. He whined pitifully as he rubbed at his head before glancing up. He could no longer see the squirrel. Whining some more, he decided to move away from the tree and continue onward to…somewhere. He was not sure where at the moment.

He had not gotten far when he saw another squirrel blob dart out from a bush. Barking excitedly, he chased after the little critter until it veered to the right. He did not know why, at first. It was only when he ran straight off the edge a ledge that he found out why the squirrel had turned the way it did. He yelped as he landed with a splash into a fast flowing river. His yelps were cut off into coughing as he tried to move to somewhere, anywhere. But he found himself being jolted left and right by the current, rushing him down as he flailed wildly.

Eventually the wild currents tapered off and he found himself dumped at the edge of the river. Coughing and sputtering, the young kukuri tried to catch his breath as he shook himself dry. He was shivering uncontrollably, eyes wide with shock and fright. He never wanted to experience something like that ever again. Ever. He scrambled away from the water as fast as he could, tripping and stumbling over his feet as he ran towards something familiar, the forest. He ignored how the rough stone was nicking at him and making his feet hurt, but he did not care. He just wanted to be away from the water.

The little kukuri ran and ran and ran until he could run no longer. Panting and wheezing, he flopped down onto the ground to catch his breath. Everything was so fuzzy and darkening around the edges, but at least his ears were still able to pick up the twittering of birds. Then a thought occurred to him. Where was home? He staggered back onto his feet and looked around. There were tall trees everywhere, and home was not near tall trees. Panic began to set in. Where was home? Where was the field of grass and the stable, where his mother was now? Crying out, he began to run again, trying to look for something, anything that resembled his home.

The further he went, the more trees he saw and the more he panicked. His cries were incredibly loud now, trying to reach out to his mother as he ran through the woods. Where was she? Could she hear him? Where was Mother? He stumbled on a tree root and toppled onto the ground. Whining loudly, he picked himself up and once more looked around. He was nowhere near home. But he had to try, right? He had to try and find it. Starting up his call again, the albino kukuri began to run through the woods, trying to search for his mother and his home. All the while, fear was coursing through his veins.

This continued for a good portion of the day and his cries got weaker and weaker the longer he searched. The sun was sinking in the sky by the time he stopped and flopped onto the ground once more. He began to whine as he tried to catch his breath. He was tired and hungry and where was his home he wanted to go home where was it where was it where was it?! He sniffled and whimpered as his hope plummeted. He…was never going to go home ever again, was he? The sudden thought made him wail weakly before darkness overcame him and he passed out. When he awoke, thinking that was all a dream, he saw that he was indeed, lost. The little kukuri began to whine and cry as he laid there, so far from the home he was never going to see again.