The young fawn blinked.
She had gotten tired of walking.
Everything felt too big, too loud, too confusing and unfamiliar. The trees, the roads, the people, none of it felt like home. So she had changed, just like she always did when she didn't know what to do, trading away her soft furs and hooves for tiny hands and wobbly feet.
Humans walked like this too.
So maybe… if she walked like them, she'd find where she was supposed to go.
But she didn't.
No one stopped her, or called her.
No warm place opened its doors for her to come in.
So she kept going.
And going.
Until her feet hurt.
Until her tummy hurt more.
She pressed a small hand against her stomach, her steps slowing as the empty feeling twisted inside her. She didn't know where to go anymore. Didn't know who to seek help from.
She just kept walking.
But then she stopped, sniffing something smokey in the air.
Like… fire.
