Lake Rodney snow cones

She was exhausted. Her memory reset each day out of necessity, and Owl focused only on surviving the next twenty-four hours. Remembering that it had been too long since she had eaten or slept made the pain of both unbearable, and so each day that the yearling awoke from a fitful and restless sleep, she focused only on what she could control. The past was useless, here, though it certainly had its hold on her.

I will eat today. I will live today.

These thoughts were not borne of some "Power of Positive Thinking" ethos, but rather of her own conviction. Whatever it took, she would make them happen. If she failed, well... either way she would soon forget.

She paused in her desperate trek over the cold landscape, looking over her shoulder. Owl was at high alert, searching the view hungrily for prey or pursuers. When neither were forthcoming, the she-wolf shuddered and moved on. It was some hours of this paranoid travel before the female came upon a large and frozen shore. She would not risk her life to stand upon it in search of water, but there were piles of snow more prevelant there.

Snow melted to water, and water abated some of the hunger. Owl moved to it, ravenously swallowing mouthfuls of the small drifts, her eyes darting in suspicion of her safety.