Winter

Ajal didn’t dare move. His prey was right in front of him, unknowing of the danger behind it. Ajal was about to make his move when an acorn fell, hitting the ground with a distinctive SMACK! before rolling to a stop at Ajal’s foot.

And—curse it—his prey turned its head at the noise. The rabbit’s eyes widened in surprise as it saw Ajal, and before Ajal could act with his spear, it had hopped away with lightning speed into the forest undergrowth.

Ajal growled in frustration. He loved nature, but not when it scared away his lunch.

He set off through the woods to find another target. Rabbit wasn’t the most satisfying to the taste, but it would be greedy to wish for something more. Deer venison was always in Ajal’s dreams, but he didn’t have enough experience to be able to kill a deer.

Normally, there would be no reason for a boy such as himself to go hunting. Fourteen-year-olds would not be tasked with a job such as that. The men handled the food for the tribe, and fifteen-year-olds would babysit, make campfires, roast food, etcetera.

But Ajal’s tribe had all perished in a devastating volcanic eruption a year and a half ago. Ajal had been in the highlands collecting flowers for the children. He was the only survivor. His old homeland was now a barren wasteland of ash. Black and white was all that showed.

The first few nights were rough for Ajal. He didn’t have much experience hunting, and he hadn’t found a stream or pond yet. He didn’t have a bed, shelter, or warmth. He was cold, hungry, tired, and thirsty.

Finally, the next day he found a cold, clean stream, full of fish. He drank and drank and drank, and then finally set to work trying to catch the fish. Nothing was working until he remembered what one of the elders of his tribe had said. Trap the fish in a tight, enclosed space, and then pick them off one by one. So Ajal created a small enclosure with stones in the water, and then scared the fish one by one into it. Finally, he blocked the hole with another stone. Sure enough, it was much easier to catch them, and soon he had a row of five fish on the ground.

But then he was faced with the challenge of a fire. He’d seen the hunters do it before, and he had received a bit of training before the eruption. He knew you needed small tinder, like twigs, wood shavings, and pine needles, and then you needed to light them with sparks created with flint and steel. If no flint and steel was available, which was Ajal’s case, you needed to use two stones.

It took Ajal all morning to get enough sparks to start the fire. Then, finally, he got it to start smoldering. He almost got too hasty. He almost smothered his hard work. But he caught himself, and carefully added small twigs and bark to keep it going. It got big enough for him to add bigger sticks, and then finally his fire was steady, big, and warm. He sat by it for a long time, just soaking in its heat. It even gave him a sense of security and safety.

Finally, he worked up the courage to leave the fire in search of more food. Miraculously, he found a grove of raspberry bushes, and ate ravenously. Then he gathered as much as he could to bring back to his camp.

And he had survived in that say up until the present. Winters were much harder, because there were no berries, and less live game. But he managed, and by now he was accustomed to life in the wilderness.

The only thing he could ever wish for was company. A traveling companion. Someone that could be with him. Ajal had never liked being alone. It made him feel distant and unwanted. However, he knew there was nobody left. He had to survive, even if there was no one to survive with him.

In the present, Ajal scanned the forest for prey that could replace the rabbit that had gotten away. Then he spotted something in the distance. A flash of brown . . . and far from the ground, too. Could it be . . . ?

Ajal crept closer, peeking through a layer of bushes to get a closer look. And yes! It was a deer!

But he was too hasty. Excitement and hunger overpowered stealth. Before he knew it, his clumsiness caused him to fumble with his spear. The tip smacked a tree, and hard. The deer’s head perked up in alarm, and then it took off.

But it was disabled, or injured. Its back left leg seemed to be lame. It limped through the forest, still going at an exceptional pace for a deer, but much slower than average.

Ajal took the opportunity. He took off as well, in pursuit of the deer. He crashed through bushes and spider webs, not letting himself lose sight of the deer. He was catching up! He ran at full speed, trying so hard to catch it—

Oop! Ajal’s foot landed in a hole. Not a big hole, just the burrow of a groundhog that had mostly caved in. But it was big enough to trip Ajal when his foot stuck into it.

Before he knew it, he had landed painfully on the forest floor at an awkward angle. His left arm screamed in pain. It was twisted terribly, and was definitely broken, if not something worse.

The deer scampered out of sight and Ajal groaned in agony. His vision swam. The pain was greater than he had ever felt. He tried to do something, anything, to stand up, but despite the fact that his leg wasn’t the thing that broke, the pain from his arm was so great it seemed to have encompassed his entire body. He tried to use his right arm to brace himself against a tree, but after standing on wobbly legs for barely a second, his joints gave out and he collapsed again. The pain was too great. Ajal couldn’t fight it. He moaned softly, and then his world faded out.