Melony jolted awake in her bedroom, drenched in sweat. But the cries still echoed in her head—this wasn’t just a nightmare. Her heart pounded fast.

There was a strange feeling deep inside her, as if something was warning her—Hamby was in danger.

Melony grabbed her cloth bag and ran out of the house at once.

When she arrived beneath the giant tree… everything was eerily silent. No hiccupping sounds. No fireflies. Not even the faint breath of the mother dog from the hollow.

“Hamby… Mama dog… Hamby!” Melony called out, circling around the tree in panic. She searched the forest, but found no trace. Her knees gave out and she sank into the damp earth—an aching emptiness seeping into her chest.

“Hamby, where are you?” she whispered, tears rolling down her cheeks. “Did you all leave me?”

Around her, there was only the sound of her own breathing—and a silence that made the world feel frozen in time.

The sky began to darken. Melony trudged back home in exhaustion. A gentle rain began to fall again. She sat down on the bench outside, covered her face, and let her tears fall quietly.

Then—scratch, scratch—a soft sound came from the narrow path beside the house.

Melony looked up and saw a gray figure staggering toward her. Droplets of pale red marked the path behind it.

It was Hamby’s mother.

She stumbled all the way to the front porch and collapsed before Melony. Her light gray fur was soaked, now darkened with blood. Her body was covered in wounds.

“Mama dog!” Melony cried out in shock. She couldn’t believe her eyes.

“Mom! Dad! Help!” she shouted desperately.

Her parents rushed out of the house.

“What happened, sweetheart?” her father asked, scanning the scene—Melony sitting tearfully beside the gravely injured dog. He said nothing more and gently scooped the dog into his arms, carrying her to shelter beneath the porch roof.

Melony’s mother gasped and ran to grab the first-aid kit.

“Oh no… who did this to you, poor thing? How cruel…” she muttered as she cleaned and bandaged the wounds. “It’s alright now, Mama Hamby.”

The mother dog slowly closed her eyes. A single tear welled up and slipped out.

In the silence that offered no answers… one small heart began to hear what no one else could.