The little one took a few minutes to react. She processed everything in slow motion. A strong anguish pressed against her diaphragm, and a lump formed in his throat. She could hardly breathe. She was scared. She was alone.

She did not want to understand what she had just heard. She did not want to accept everything she had just experienced. It was too painful for her so small heart.

As she did not want to continue to see those trees where she had lost sight of her brother, she slowly hurried to run, aimlessly, looking for some way out of the forest, chased by an invisible terror that pressed on her chest and forced her to move forward. She stumbled over a root and fell. She got up again, in a hurry, in a clumsy way and continued with the race.

She fell exhausted into a small clearing, not too big, created by a large tree that had fallen and had not yet been replaced by any other. She advanced with difficulty, out of breath, panting, to near the great moss-covered trunk that lay, dead, in the center. She leaned back and tried to protect herself from the fears that frightened her by hugging her knees, as if she were a ball.

Her heart was beating extremely fast, and she was starting to see blurry. The tears that had ceased to fall on her now came back to her again. That distressing and terrifying sensation distorted her perception of time. Memories and experiences with her parents and brother passed through her head, incessantly and with exasperating speed. At her age, she had not had time to do many, but the few she had were intense moments indeed.

At the same time, however, the boy's last words also resounded. She did not want to understand it, she tried not to think about it, but her subconscious betrayed her. Deep down, she was well aware of what she had heard.

With incredible pain, the perception of the memories she had of her parents was slowly changing. The love she felt for them was in conflict with the cold reality.

There came a moment when she could no longer bear it, and all her anguish cleared her throat, causing the tears, which were already running down her cheeks, to be joined by cries of suffering. Her stomach was starting to hurt due to sobs and accumulated stress, and she was tired as well. She was so upset that she fell asleep without realizing it.

When she woke up at night, a feeling of unreality enveloped her. The first thing she felt was cold, and she curled up, pressing her legs against her body, in a fruitless attempt to protect herself. She looked around, wondering where she was. Despite being dark, as the sun had not yet moved too far in its translation, the wake of the star king projected enough light to see the trees around it. Beyond, however, light played with darkness, creating shadows that moved in line with the leaves and branches.

She would normally have been scared. She was alone, she was dark, and behind that darkness, one may find out what horrors she could hide. But at that moment she felt nothing. She looked around again. What was she doing there? She got up. She had a little headache, and swollen eyes, but she no longer felt the need to cry. In fact, at that moment she felt nothing; no fear, no loneliness, no sadness… just cold. Cold and hunger.

At that moment, her stomach reminded her of the characteristic noise of one who had not eaten for more than twenty hours. This forced her to start walking, looking, with an expressionless gaze, for anything that seemed edible to her.

She walked for a long time, until suddenly the trees ran out and she came to a large plain dedicated to grazing. Those groves were like little drops of wax falling into a huge immense meadow. Above her head was the sky full of stars and constellations, the names of which she did not know. The sun, still visible, was now only a small tear in the sky, a little smaller than a chickpea. Luckily for the girl, the few clouds that were there were not enough to block the little light that came off. Far away, on the horizon, she located another grove and, without thinking too much, began to walk there.

A little more than halfway there, she fell to the ground, exhausted. Her legs burned as if she had been running for her life the day before. She lay with her face up. She felt a very big void. It was as if she was missing something, but she could not remember what it was. She stared at the sky, counting stars, until she fell asleep again.

She had a restless sleep, with some bad sleep that she was unable to remember. She awoke trembling, more from the cold than from the bad night, and found herself more tired than when she fell asleep. She was grateful, however, that the sun, now approaching, was beginning to raise the temperature. She sat down. Despite the cold, she felt hot, and at first, she had a hard time staring. Her mind was clouded and everything hurt.

She looked around. She did not know what to do or where to go. While she saw the two woods, she did not remember which one she had originally come from, so she had no reference to recognizing them. Her belly rustled and she put her hand on her stomach. It took her a few minutes to make up her mind and she finally got up and started walking west, just because she was upset about the sun. She did not know it, but it was the same forest she had come from the day before.

Even though it was summer, there was a light cool breeze that helped her get there as the heat began to tighten. She crossed the first trees without strength and with a lot of headache. She was already thirsty. She leaned her back against one of the trees that protected her from the direct impact of the sunlight and let herself slide until she was seated.

The sound of the leaves rocked her and made her head go away from where she was. She took refuge in that tranquility, letting herself be embraced by the sound of nature. In that state it seemed to her that the wind was saying her name, and she listened intently, curiously, for she did not remember it. She finally fell asleep again.