My mother was shaking. Her voice trembled from the cold and the sobs. She held me tightly as water streamed on top of her. I assured her we would be fine. That following day we would find the village. I fell asleep out of exhaustion. I still heard her sobbing and listened to the thunder in the sky and the sound of rain falling on the mud.
“Mom, are you awake?” - I said when I came to my senses the next morning.
It was maybe an hour before dawn. The sky was turning from black to grey. She was still hugging me, but she was stiff and cold. I shook her and got out of her grip. Her lips had turned blue from the cold, but she was still breathing.
“Mom, wake up!” - I yelled - “Mom!”
I cried and shook her, but she only made inarticulate noises. She was unresponsive but alive. I had to find help. The only piece of hope I clung to was that the village was close. We couldn’t be lost. I covered her with the blankets and kissed her cold forehead.
“I love you, mom. I’ll find help. I’ll save you!” - I said, then turned around and ran.
Suddenly, the pain of hunger was insignificant. The blisters on my feet didn’t matter, and the fatigue evaporated instantly. I ran through the forest, hoping to see a wooden house show up between the trees. I ran, wishing that I could save her.
But hope can blind you. Maybe it was the shadows in the early morning. Maybe it was the tiredness. Maybe it was me being a naive child. But on one of my steps, I suddenly became weightless. The ground spun around me, the grass rose, and I felt a flash of pain in my foot. I tripped and flew down a hill. My vision went dark, and I heard a crunch as my head bashed against a rock. I rolled to the bottom and fell on my face.
I was in agony. My nose was broken, and I couldn’t breathe. I tried to blow it to get the blood out, but it was stuck, and the only way it could go was back. My throat filled with blood, the rest of it made my eye swollen as it went up. I touched my face and felt my nose. It was crooked, leaning to the side. I tried to get up, but then it all went dark.
My father made me tough, though. I wasn’t one to give in easily, even to death. So I kept on fighting. I had to get up. I had to find help. I breathed through my mouth because my nose was stuck. But each time I blinked, the scenery changed.
Blink.
I was lying on the ground in a puddle of blood streaming from my nose. Next moment someone was dragging me.
“How long has he been here?”
“At least a day. It will be a miracle if he lives.”
Blink.
Grey sky and a man looming over me. I saw the man’s lips move but only heard the sound of a cart. What was he saying? I need to tell them about my mother.
Blink.
Dragged again. A door creaked.
“Any wounds, was he attacked by an animal?”
“He’s dehydrated. Look at his lips.”
“We need to fix his nose while the fracture is still fresh. Bite on this, boy. It will hurt.”
A hand grabbed my face and twisted my crooked nose. A flash of pain.
Blink. I’m lying in front of a hearth, curled like a newborn child. The flames gently caressed me with their touch, breathing life into me. My nose hurt, but I felt air going through it. The thought of my mother flashed in my mind again.
“Mother, did you find my mother?” - I yelled.
“Calm down, boy!”
“You have to go back. You have to find her!” - I continued.
“Your mother is gone. She’s dead.”
Blink.
I hear an old lady talking to me. I feel her lifting my head with her bony fingers. I feel the wooden touch of a cup on my lips, then hot liquid spills down my throat. There are herbs, and it burns.
Blink.
The taste of herbs is still in my mouth. I looked around, finally able to remain conscious for more than a minute. I was inside a house. Two children looked at me from the other side of the room. One of them held a lamb in her hands, hugging the animal tightly.
“We need to take care of the boy. He could help you with your work” - a woman’s voice came from outside.
“I don’t want another throat to feed. I’ll take him to the church, they take care of orphans, and that’s that.” - a man replied.
I had no idea where I was or how much time had passed. I only wanted to know about my mother. The thought of her in the cold haunted me. I stood up, but my legs were weak. The world spun around me, and everything went dark.
Blink.