the second night after @Piety 's disappearance.
07/16 - Clear skies, 55 °F, 7 PM
Not that he had slept at all, and perhaps that was an excuse he could use for his weakness. For by now, he was past crying, the tears having already run themselves dry through the passing of the day. It had crossed his mind to seek out another adult, his father in particular, but the pale boy was unable to bring himself to leave the area immediately outside of the small family's den. What if she came back, and he wasn't there? What if she left again to look for him and disappeared all over again? What if she came running back, desperately needing help? After all, she couldn't possibly be gone this long from him by choice. Something had to be keeping her.
The thought seized his chest, making it hard to breathe and even more difficult to think clearly. The child knew nothing of the real evils that existed in the world, but he had enough imagination, and the religion his mother loved so much and imparted on him came with it's own share of horrors. It wasn't that he thought about her succumbing to another wolf, but rather of monsters that crept through the branches of the trees, grinning with rows upon rows of needle sharp teeth as it prepared to launch itself down upon his mother and tear her apart as he had so many mice and injured chicks.
A low wail escaped his throat as the vision passed through his mind, and his body collapsed into the dirt, displacing a plume of fine dust into the darkening air. Pure white forepaws covered his eyes, and he fought to keep the violent images at bay. Despite how outcasted his family was, avoided by others like the plague, despite the unnatural freedoms granted to him, the consistently high lack of supervision, never before had Sven felt so utterly alone. He had always known that Piety was there for him, even if she could not be seen or scented. Until now. Now, that assurance was gone. Now, he was convinced that his mother was never coming back to him.
Sobs that were now so painfully familiar to him rampaged through his chest, his eyes burning as tears once more wet them. He was beyond exhausted, but the panic kept his mind awake, refusing to let him escape for any amount of time. Once more a moan escape him, then another, before the grievous sounds escalated into howling as hysteria finally, fully gripped him.
"MOMMY!! DADDY!!" he screamed at the fading sun as it lit the horizon ablaze, abandoning the sense of maturity he had begun to diligently try to maintain each time his father's presence was a possibility. At this moment, it was beyond even his comprehension. He was but a baby, forsaken without a single whispering of why, and thoroughly unable to shoulder the pain that such abandonment branded him with.
"Please... come back..."