Snowy Forest

It was cold.

My body uncontrollably shivered.

I was also hungry.

Very hungry.

My eyes slowly opened to reveal a snowy forest. The only thing I had was my pink shirt and blue shorts. The winds howled, blowing snow and cold air into my already thin clothes.

I could only see so far ahead, but I could still make out countless trees. They were all very tall and thin. If I looked up, they would only disappear into the snowy fog.

I wrapped my arms around myself and crouched down. The cold was unbearable, but there was no shelter. The cold made me want to curl up into a ball.

However, the hunger was also unbearable.

Though there probably wasn't going to be any food in a snowy forest, I was desperate for any solution.

And so, with my arms wrapped around me, I began walking through this forest.

The wind came in waves, and when it did, the cold made me grit my teeth. I tried to hide behind trees, but the wind would always come in the direction that the tree wasn't blocking, blowing my hair aside.

I eventually gave up on that and just continued walking forward.

Each step forward felt monotonous and painful. In the back of my mind, I felt all this struggle was pointless. After all, what was I expecting in the middle of a snowy forest?

Would there just be a bag of bread just randomly on the ground?

Suddenly, I froze.

I blinked several times, to confirm that my eyes weren't deceiving me.

Because there was a bag of bread randomly on the ground.

There was only the end piece of the bread still wrapped up in a plastic bag. Although I wished for more, anything would do at this point.

I ran over to it and fell to my knees. A wave of cold washed over me, several times worse than before, but I didn't care about that now. I tried to open the bag, but my fingers wouldn't listen to me because of how cold they were.

In a fit of desperation, I ripped the bag open.

I took the piece of bread with a trembling hand, before raising it up to my mouth. I was about to take a bite, but...

"Wait!"

I saw a young woman reach out to me. She was wearing a worn coat and looked really thin.

"P-Please. I haven't eaten anything in so long. Can I have that bread?"

My heart dropped.

I looked down at myself. As hungry as I was, my condition was nothing close to the woman's. She was probably far hungrier than me.

After a few seconds of hesitation, I slowly reached out with the bread.

The woman's eyes lit up.

But that was when I caught a little boy also in ragged clothes peeking out from behind a tree. His condition was even worse. The boy walked over with trembling steps. He opened his mouth, but other than making a few soft groans, nothing came out.

The boy was definitely trying to say something, but just didn't have the strength to do so.

My hand froze.

The woman furrowed her brows. She looked in the direction I was, then realized what was going on.

"Don't give it to that boy! He's going to die anyway, his clothes won't protect him from the cold!"

The boy trembled slightly when he heard that and cowered behind the tree once more. My heart ached when I saw him cower behind like that.

Was I supposed to make a choice?

Seeing that I was unresponsive, the woman's eyes became bloodshot.

"Give me the bread!"

I pulled back, getting a little afraid of the woman.

"B-But-"

The woman ran over to me.

"No buts!"

She pulled onto the bread hard, but I tightened my grip so that it stayed within my grasp. The woman's breathing became heavier.

"You're ruining the bread! Stop!"

I closed my eyes tightly.

"But the boy is also starving!"

Suddenly, the woman grew huge, becoming a giant black monster. Then, it reached out with its hand, grabbing my shoulder.

...But then the hand became super tiny and shook me.

"What boy? Just give me the bread, Sayori!"

I snapped awake, gasping for air and blinking rapidly. My eyes slowly adjusted to the light. As my vision cleared up, I saw Natsuki holding onto one end of a piece of bread. As for me, my fingers tightly pinched on the other end, deforming it.

"N-Natsuki?!"

Natsuki's eyes were bloodshot and half open.

"What? You've been looking at me all this time. Why are you greeting me now?"

I shook my head, then looked at my surroundings.

I was on my knees, resting on the kitchen floor. In front of me was my open fridge. Currently, it was the middle of the night. The only thing that provided light was the one that came from my fridge. On the floor below me was a torn plastic bag.

I uncontrollably shivered from the cold, then sneezed.

Natsuki gasped.

"Sayori! You're going to catch a cold, go get your jacket! What are you even doing down here this late at night?"

I held onto the side of my head with my hand.

"I... I don't know."

Natsuki sighed.

"Just go get your jacket first!"

I nodded and stood up, then awkwardly looked at Natsuki.

Because my hand was still pinching on one side of the bread.

She pouted angrily.

"What are you doing! Let go!"

I laughed awkwardly.

"I'm really hungry... can you give this to me?"

Natsuki furrowed her brows.

"No! It is still cold, which will only double your chances of getting sick! Now go get your jacket, I will make something warm for you to eat."

In a fluster, I nodded.

"O-Ok."

Then I reluctantly let go of the bread before running to get my jacket.