hungry Harp is hungry

The forest had seemed endless to her. Hunger and poor health had weakened Harper's mind, her thoughts growing hazy, the wintry world dreamlike. That morning as she wandered through the thicket, the forest had become the world and she did not expect her physical surroundings to ever change. Then suddenly, or so it seemed to Harper, the trees grew further apart and there was a break in the soft gray tones of their trunks. The change of scenery set her mind straight, and she realized that was standing in a field of berry bushes.

She blinked her bright blue eyes a few times, as if that would help her see more clearly. She had never seen so many berry bushes. Usually, they grew sparsely among other plants, but this was an entire field of the tangled, thorny branches. Again she thought of the warm season. There would be so many sweet berries here, not to mention the prey animals they would lure.

The thin wolf began to walk the perimeter of the field. As her stomach roared she held her ears upright, her nose twitching. In a few moments, she thought she saw movement in her peripheral vision. Harper stopped, peering toward the rustling bush. She lifted her nose higher into the air and inhaled deeply. But she could neither hear nor smell anything, and the bush did not "move" again.

Harper lowered herself and stalked toward the bush, unwilling to accept that there was no prey awaiting her among the thorns. The dark predator crouched even lower and braced her weak body to strike. All her strength went into her pounce and the snow burst around her. Thorns cut her flesh but she barely noticed the sting, all of her senses alert to signs of an animal of any kind. She found nothing, though, and with a whimper Harp withdrew herself from the blackberry bush. Her limbs and face were riddled with tiny scrapes, and although only a few of them bled, all of them hurt and the pain along with her empty stomach was not a pleasant combination.

Harp whined softly, but she resumed her search anyway, walking dejectedly around the outer rim of the field.

Harper slowed her pace, suddenly light-headed. Her chest felt a little tight, so she shut her eyes and paused for a moment to take a deep breath. Her cobalt eyes opened to a shadowy figure, moving several yards away with his back turned to her. Unsure whether her mind was making sense of what her eyes perceived, or if this was another mirage, the girl blinked and moved forward. The canine did not waver or disappear. She decided that he must be real.

Hello! Harper called to him. She feared he wouldn't hear her, or perhaps he would ignore the weak voice calling to him. Harp had been alone for a long time. Months, now. She was not used to loneliness and it had shattered her already broken heart. Speaking to the dark male for just a moment would make her happy. Under different circumstances she would have used more caution, but with her past so painful and her future uncertain, it was worth the risk of his being a rapist. Or, a cannibal.

W-wait... Though her body ached, Harper started to run toward him. As she pushed her muscles to do work they had no energy for, her ears began to ring, softly at first, then much louder until the noise swallowed her mind. Her head seemed lighter than the air itself and she was faintly aware of her fluttering eyelids until she could no longer keep her eyes open.

Harper was unconscious before she fell to the ground, her dark limbs collapsing beneath her as she slipped smoothly into the snow.