Whoever was almost breaking my spine pulled my head up and I suddenly felt something cold and sharp pressed against my throat. A knife? Did they find me after all?!

"You. Will Never. Ever. Again. Try. To kill. Any! Animals here. Got it?", a female voice whispered right next to my ear. I swallowed hard and nodded. The person got off me. I quickly got up and in front of me, there was a girl around my age that stared at me in anger and mistrust. She looked quite pretty with her black ponytail, her green eyes and the wild look. I felt like justifying myself.

"I- I'm sorry, I was just hungry and wanted to—"
"I don't care." What?!
"Are you always that polite and warm-hearted?", I asked with irony in my voice.
"Only when there are kind guests like you."
"What else should I eat?!"
"Ever heard of plants?"
"I would never get enough protein from them."
"Well, I haven't been eating the dead bodies of animals since I live here - eight years - and I'm still alive and just knocked you down." This girl was absolutely savage.
"Are you trying to tell me that you're only eating the plants that grow here? Sorry, but I can't believe you."
"Of course not, duh. I sometimes steal something from the village nearby. I don't know where they get their food, but it's good."

I tried to save myself even though I was sinking in the ocean of her arguments. Or her eyes?! God damn it, Nic, what was that?! „You may be right, but I didn't know this before and just wanted to have some food."
"You didn't know? You don't know anything. I mean, you don't even know animals aren't food." She walked over to the bird I had tried to shoot like a minute ago and sat down next to it. "Are you okay, Dexter?" She gives the animals names and talks to them like they were humans?! Is there anything more crazy? "Dexter" seemed to like it. He hopped on her lap and let her stroke him gently. Okay, maybe she can solve a little problem of mine.

"Hey. Can you tell me how to get to that village you told me about? I need a place to live for at least a while."
"I can, but they don't like strangers. Mostly not people like you."
"Oh." We didn't say anything in a while.
"How long are you still going to stand there and stare at me?", she asked. Damn. I should have known.
"Uh... I don't know. Probably until I find a solution. What's your name, by the way?"
"None of your business."
"Alright, None of your business. Nice name."
She turned her head and looked at me. "You do know you're annoying, right?"
"Thank you." This was the moment when she just stood up and went away. "Wait!", I shouted. But she had already vanished between the dry trees. What a weird girl...
I sighed and sat down. Looked at the vegetation she had just disappeared in. Only a few green leaves were left. They were almost dead but didn't seem like they wanted to die. They were fighting to survive. Just like me.

I still remembered the stories my mother had told me when I was little. They were about the times when all the trees were still green in spring and summer. About the times when ice and snow weren't strangers on this planet. Ice, the white, cold, hard material. Snow, the white, soft flakes falling from the sky in winter. Back when the kids were still building snowmen and throwing snowballs. But none of this existed anymore. It was all gone thanks to the humans.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————

A/N:

Word count: 625! Hello, you there! Glad you also read this part ans didn't go like: Nah, that's too boring... After the first chapter. Please always remember to give me some feedback in the comments! Thanks and lots of love!

-Lilia