I was shivering from the cold, but I couldn’t bring myself to move away. Her scent lingered faintly in the air — the only thing that still felt safe. I curled up beside her, trembling, confused. Every time I tried to lick her face, I hoped she’d wake up… just once more. I didn’t understand why she wouldn’t move, why she no longer responded to my cries.

I laid my tiny head on her chest, listening for the heartbeat that had always comforted me — but there was only silence. So I cried until my voice gave out and sleep pulled me under. I didn’t want food. I didn’t want water. I only wanted her back.

But she never came back.

People passed by, some with pity in their eyes, but no one stopped. Until one human knelt beside me. I felt his hands wrap around me — gentle, warm. I didn’t fight. Maybe because his touch reminded me of her, or maybe because my tiny heart was just too tired to keep hurting.

He whispered softly and held me close. I didn’t know where we were going, but in that moment, I felt something I thought I’d lost forever — the beginning of hope.