So hungry... Where was she now? "Hello?" her hoarse voice whispered. Pull yourself together! You're better than this! Was she better than this? Where had she been yesterday? Could she remember yesterday? Yes, she'd forgotten everything two days ago. Or was it one? Or three? She had lost count. But the scent of magnolias was too powerful to miss. A memory surfaced...
She was in a field sprinkled with magnolias... Koss was there... Everything was sunny... and happy... and perfect... Sinking to her knees, Anika tried with all her might to hold on to the memory. But like everything else, it slipped away, and was gone. Magnolias... A pack lived here. Did she belong to this pack? I don't smell like magnolias... Should she call for a leader? Or maybe their healer would be better... Either way, she threw her head back and howled for help. The chocolate lass didn't care who came. One thought burned crystal clear in the empty void of her mind: I need help.
When her feeble and not very graceful howl wobbled to a close, the lady allowed her lids to slide shut. If she could just think... If she could just, have time, to gather her thoughts... But whoever she called to was surely coming now, she could not look so weak. She would not look so weak! No one liked a weakling... Anika rocked to a standing position, swaying dangerously as she did so. The world spun in circles so that everything blurred, and then it was over as quickly as it had begun.