ʜɪꜱ ᴘʀᴇʏ || вαηg ¢нαη

Chapter 16: Attack

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 @Shiro_youya !! 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴! 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨! 𝘒𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘚𝘶𝘨𝘢𝘳 𝘊𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘦!!

ϕ҂⋆*ღ⊀ ❝Collete PᴥV ❞ ⊁≬≭೨⋆*

The walk from my house to the market this time felt shorter than usual. Birds chirped and sang as if they had finally been freed for the first time in years. Their songs echoed through the woods, rebounding off of the tall, green trees that shielded us from the rising sun. Baby Bread and I shuffled through the snow. Now, it was just a thin, icy layer that blanketed the land rather than a fresh, heavy, winter snow like how it once was. Winter was coming to an end, which meant less snow. Soon, we'd be walking on the dirt path to town that grandma and grandpa had created themselves before my mother was even born.

A breath left my mouth. Surprise coded my face as I came to realize the lack of gray steam. Once upon a time my breath was warm against the cold, it came out in gray puffs that symbolized winter. My eyes hyper focused for a minute on the dirty, off-white looking frost on the path. The paths under the sun sparkled early in the morning before they melted away. It didn't take long before Baby Bread ran into my line of sight, running and rolling around as he chased bunnies from the path.

"Oh, Baby!" I called out to him. The tiny fox stopped in his tracks in the middle of the path, looking over at me as he titled his head. I quickly jogged over to him, scooping him up in my arms as I did so.

Gently, I caressed the fur on the top of his small head. His fur was so silky and soft, but mostly because I gave him a bath not too long ago. He didn't enjoy it much, but it's alright since it got the job done. Poor Baby had dirt stains in his fur from acting like the little crackhead he is.

The more I thought about it, the more foreign the memory felt. That was back in early January, so it's only been less than a month. I haven't been keeping track of time recently. Usually Chan helped me keep track. He always knew what day it was. Now that he's gone, it's been hard to adjust. He only left a week ago, why am I acting so hopeless?

Before I could finish my thought, the shops came into my view. Their old, worn out wood caught my attention. Why haven't I noticed that before? These shops are so old, they've been here for such a long time and haven't even broken down or been repaired. I remember when I was younger, my grandma used to go there for the news. Not like a newspaper, but a very nosy storekeeper who loved to gossip and knew just about everything on anyone within a 32 kilometer (20 mile) radius.

She was the same woman I went to visit last time. Last time she told me about the invasive wolves that had recently come into the area. Apparently they were going to start killing them off or try driving them back up to the north. Such a cruel punishment, but it's not like we can continue letting them feed off livestock.

Before I knew it, we had reached the line of shops. Most of them weren't open, although it was okay since we didn't need much. Only a couple vegetables, more meat, and maybe fruit if it's in season. Strawberries should be in season around this time of year.

My feet, tired and aching, continued to walk until I finally entered the first shop. Baby Bread squirmed a little in my arms. It was my first grocery run with him, which means he's never seen a farmer's market before. Typically Chan used to go and come back soon after with everything. Now, I was once again left to do all the grocery runs. I still remember the time Grandma and I did those runs together. It'd be quite difficult for her to do all that now, especially considering her conditions. Admittedly, leaving her home alone was also a bad idea, but she was asleep right now, and I doubt she'd ever do anything to hurt herself.