Home was in the snow.

Her home was innocent and happy. There was warmth from her home that fought off the cold weather of the mountains. She was born to a litter of six and had both her mother and father. All of them were healthy, happy. Alive. Every morning, she would wake up with her brothers and sisters to go play in the snow, tramping around in the thick frost and sometimes, disappearing completely when the snow reached past her head. It was cold but it was fun.

Her mother told her about the stars, told stories about the constellations and how certain constellations will guide creatures to their home. She told her stories about the moon, about the waning and waxing, about the different tales regarding the pale silver disk in the sky. She also spoke of the sun, though not nearly as much as she did about the night sky. Her tales about the sun was always warnings; don’t look at the sun. Don’t stay too long in the sun. Don’t hunt in the sun. Her mother favored the night and all the wonder and mysteries it could bring to the world. The pup loved hearing her mother speak.

Her father was a gentle and loving man who adored his wife. But he was barely around. He was barely home. He went on long trips to faraway, though he wouldn’t say where. To bring necessities and presents, he told the pups each time he asked. Taiao was her name then. It meant Constellation, in another language. Her father had told her this. Her father loved languages and dialect. He could speak several and knew dozens of words in a handful of more. Taiao loved hearing him and mother speak. Her mother would ask for the different names of things and he would whisper them to her underneath the night sky. Taiao would stay up at night, listening to them speak in secret, wistful and comforted by the sound of their voices. They were very much in love and she, along with her siblings, were the product of that love. It was a comforting feeling. And her mother and father were generous with their whispered words of affection and devotion, extending their soft voices to their children. Taiao knew she was loved from the beginning. And she thought she would never forget that loved feeling, even if she died.

Taiao wasn’t the youngest in the litter or the smallest. But she was the happiest. It wasn’t possible to be happier than her, surely anyone who claimed to be would be lying. Her siblings were kind, though sometimes bratty. It is what siblings do, her father had told her during one of his more longer stays at home. All she needed to do was love and trust her family, regardless of behavior. She was born into the world with them by her side; it was too lonely to die without them in her heart and her in theirs. Taiao fully agreed that that did sound terribly lonely.

It was a bright, cloudless day when it happened. She had been playing in the snow with her siblings, with her mother smiling at them from their den. A usual day, breakfast finished and lunch soon to come. Nothing to give tell of what was to come. Strangers approached. Mother was standing up, calling. The strangers were silhouetted by the sun on top of the hill. Taiao couldn’t see their faces and, as they rushed down the hill towards them, she didn’t have a chance to try again. Something knocked into her from behind, knocking her down their own hill. She rolled and rolled and rolled. Her head smacked into something, the light became bright, and then her world went black. She didn’t know that those strangers were punishing her father. She didn’t know her mother and siblings were murdered. She didn’t know that by falling and landing in the thick snow, she had been saved.

When she woke up, she didn’t know anything. When she stumbled back up the hill, hurting and confused, she didn’t recognized the bloodied bodies and faces. Five dogs not quite pups anymore. One adult. Terror filled her at the sight of blood but beyond that, she did not know them. And she needed to get away. But to where, she didn’t know. Just away from the red on white. The red on faces she should know but didn’t.

The first night in the white wilderness nearly killed her. Hungry and tired. Confused. Alone. She fell asleep underneath a tree, unaware of the dangers of sleeping out in the cold. Of the dangers of freezing. She had forgotten her family and their teachings.

A dream came to her. Wake up, someone said. A lady’s voice. Wake up, love. You cannot sleep here. Wake up, it continued. The adolescent that could not remember her name was confused. Was she sleeping? Wake up, the voice tried again and the female tore at her sleep, attempting to escape the dream world. When she had awoken, she thought she could no longer see. But no… she could see her nose. Her front paws. The temperature had dropped considerably. And… it wasn’t dark. But white everywhere. The wind gusted. A word floated in her mind. Blizzard. Confusion had her by the throat still, however.

And yet… a feeling soared through her. She needed to move. She needed to find a cave. But she needed to be careful. Getting to her feet, she moved in the white blizzard. She was led by instinct, looking for shelter. It was hopeless. She could not see in this world devoid of color, of sight. She was going to die. She couldn’t keep going. Giving up was an option. An option she was considering. She couldn’t make it.

And then, snow gave away to stone and hope swelled within her. Following the stone, she found it was the bottom of a cliff. Maybe… maybe she should be so lucky. She looked carefully. And then, she saw it. A hole big enough to crawl in. Safety.