Hard Life Growing Up

by Artistic Fox

Abandoned

I never knew my parents. The last thing I ever remembered was screaming, crying for my mother. She never came though. It could have been hours for all I knew, I wasn’t very self aware from the start.

I eventually came to a stop, but only after realizing I was alone. Surprisingly, being alone didn’t make me start to cry again. I don’t know what happened to my parents, why they weren’t around. I was only a pup, or a filly, or whatever I was.

Propped up against a swayed tree, it was a great source of shelter. Unfortunately, it also covered me from the rain. Normally, that would have been a good thing. But when you’re so young and alone with no one to feed you, what else could you get but water?

Food was not an option. I could barely roll over, let alone walk and if I even managed to catch anything, it would need to be tiny, my teeth hadn’t come in at all. Probably the only reason I survived was due to the small trench that ran past me. When it did rain, only during heavy rains, it would fill with water and rush past me. I could barely reach my hoof into it to get a little bit of moisture.

It was only a couple of weeks before I began to walk. I don’t know if that was sooner than normal, but I didn’t really have any choice. It was hard though, first I had to master, rolling. It took a lot of effort just to roll onto my chest, even more to support my weight on my hooves. It was a struggle, I failed countless times, but I never gave up, nor did I shed a single tear since that day I was alone.

Walking wasn’t too difficult. After managing to support my own weight, which was quite easy, I was very skinny. Next came the harder part. Moving forward and keeping my balance. To protect myself, I would wrap my tail under my belly as each step I attempted, ended with falling forward onto my chest. As hard as I tried, I just kept falling forward. I tried to lean back as I stepped, but in the end my face hit the ground.

It was becoming more difficult, each day I was getting weaker, hungrier. I couldn’t survive on water alone. I took to eating the grass around the tree’s roots. It kept me alive, but didn’t help my energy. I did manage to walk eventually, in case you were wondering. Not quite knowing the secrets of my body, I realized my tail kept my balance, so I kept it stretched out any time I walked. It was an odd site, but I soon let it sway instead.

Now that I was able to walk, food was on the list. My teeth were barely out, not much use for anything big, but enough for something small. I laid claim to small bugs everywhere, but I was never fast enough to catch them. I had to resort to smaller bugs.

Ants were everywhere. I set myself up by a small ant hill. When any left the top, I would be there, ready to lick them up. Probably should feel sorry for them, unable to leave their home under threat of being eaten alive, but unable to stay with the threat of starving to death.

It wasn’t my concern. Survival was my priority. The ants gave me some energy the grass couldn’t. Next came the bigger prey. Quickly honing my skills on walking, I was able to slow trot now, making catching bugs such as beetles, much easier.

They were too large to swallow whole like the ants and their squirming made me sick. As minuscule as my teeth were, I chewed them up. They hurt with every bite, their thick shells, cutting into my soft gums. It was just another trial I had to over come.

Next came something that had I not corrected then, it might have been permanent. Cleaning myself… Of course, over so many weeks, ‘things’ were stuck to my fur in placed… I’d rather not mention. Sure there was a little bit of mud here and there, but as a small baby, there’s some places the parents are meant to help clean.

I wasn’t too sure how it worked, but I had seen other creatures do it. I once came across a lake, or a puddle, it was hard to tell at my size. There were a couple of creatures there, taking a drink. From what I saw of myself, being my black hooves and fluffy tail, they too looked like me.

When I approached them, they noticed me. One moment they’re staring at me, the next they’re off, running into the forest. I remember wondering, why not come to my aid? I was one of them, do they not help their own. That’s when I saw my reflection for the first time in the water. Of course it scared me at first, but I soon learned it was only me. But what really set me off was how my face, looked so much different to theirs.

The markings were almost identical, but their snouts were thin while mine was thick. They had narrow eyes while mine were large and round. Even looking at my hooves, I noticed theirs were thinner, and had many tiny appendages on the ends. Oddly enough, a lump protruded from my head, I had not idea what it was.

I may not have gotten them to help me, but I did see one lick themselves. I might not be one of them, but I was close enough to resemble one. So I gave myself a lick, starting with the easiest spot, my hoof.

The taste alone made me want to throw up right there and then. I didn’t even want to waste the time to move my hoof out of the way; having my snout so close only helped me notice the smell too.

Not wanting to go for another lick, I turned to leave, but my tail had stumbled under my hoof. The pain wasn’t the issue; it was the lost balance that tipped me over into the puddle. It was a lucky break; the water had washed away a lot of the dirt on my fur, so much so that the clear puddle was brown in a few seconds.

I learned an important lesson about grooming then and there. I’m not a fan of licking myself still, I do sometimes but, only as a last resort. It still leaves a bad taste in my mouth.