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completely irrational, but I am powerless to stop it.  She says something to him that I cannot hear.  He laughs, and the flame is replaced with an odd sense of loss.  But when he speaks and says the word “Mom” loudly, I am heartened.  The woman turns and faces the woods, where I am. Her face is creased, and she looks similar to the boy I have been watching. 
    She continues to focus on the spot where I stand.  I think about going to them.  My muscles twitch as I debate.  But something inside me keeps my feet rooted where they are.  Just envisioning myself approaching them, speaking to them, to the older boy in particular, makes my breath short and shallow and my stomach free-fall.  I try to slide a foot forward, but my muscles are tense, too tense.  They begin walking toward an opening in the craggy shore and opportunity slips from my grasp like grains of sand.  I am left standing, watching the lakeshore, and feeling a pang of remorse. 
    But my regret is quickly trumped by pure excitement.  I have seen human being s, others like me and June!  I press my back against the tree trunk and close my eyes.  I clinch my mouth with my hand and curb the elated yelp begging to be released.  I have not killed a meal for us and the sun is dipping fast.  I need to head back to the cave right away.  The hike here was long.  The hike back may be longer if I lose my way.  A potentially risky situation is looming, yet I am almost giddy. 
    I spring to my feet and bound back, deep into the forest.
    As I walk, I am lost in thought.  The older boy’s face is imprinted on my brain, and no matter how hard I try, I cannot seem to focus on anything else.  I make a lame attempt at surveying the riot of tangled bramble all around me.
    A tuft of glossy, russet fur ca tches my eye.  My concentration shifts from the boy at the lake and grinds to a razor-sharp point.  I train my gaze on it, watching it, stalking it.  The fur jerks then bounces, edging out of concealment.  That’s when I see a puffy tail, downy and round, popping from a cluster of weeds.  I unsheathe my spear as silently as possible, then creep toward it slowly, clutching my weapon, careful not to spook my dinner.  I move in to kill the rabbit.
    I am just seven or eight paces from it, poised and prepared to skewer it, when it turns on me unexpectedly; whipping its small head so that I swear it is looking at me.  Large eyes, more forward-facing and predatory than I have ever seen, watch me.  A deep growl rumbles from its chest and its thin, black lips snarl back and reveal oversized, pointed teeth.  It hops away from me, a small cautious move that is not in keeping with its threatening demeanor.   I remain where I am, holding fast to my spear.  Its nose tics then it is perfectly still for a moment.  I prepare to strike, but am caught off-guard when it leaps into the air without warning, lunging at me with its jaw wide.  I do not delay and launch my spear at it.  The spike lodges right into its open mouth and pitches it backward until it sticks into the trunk of a tree.
    The rabbit does not move, and it is no longer growling.  A small flash of triumph flickers inside me.  June and I will eat well tonight.  I w alk over and pull my spear, with the rabbit attached, from the tree.  I slide the carcass from my weapon and place it into a satchel made of animal skin then toss it over my shoulder.  I continue my journey to the cave, to June and the only home I’ve known, hiking at an energetic pace.  Tonight, I will sleep well.  My belly will be full, and for the first time in as long as I can remember, I feel hope. 
     

Chapter 4
     
    When I reach the woods near the cave, my cheeks ache from smiling.  I cannot recall the last time a smile born of genuine joy made me feel as I do now.  My insides hum and buzz with a trembling sensation, giving me a weird, jittery energy I have never felt before.  I have forgotten how hungry and tired I am and do