In a small town in the mountains lived a young, poor man and his aged mother. One day, after coming back up the mountain, he found his mother lying sick in bed, looking as if she had a very strong cold. He put down the things he had brought with him after hiking four hours to reach the village and another four hours to get back home.

Seeing his mother’s sickly state, he looked at her with saddened eyes, took her hand, and held it to his face. Then he covered her with a blanket, got up, and hurried out once again down the mountain, hoping to find the town doctor. As he walked down the snowy path, the wind began to pick up and the snow began to fall harder. 

The young man pushed forward, fighting against the cold storm. He looked back to where he had come from and saw his home in the distance—smoke from the fireplace rising into the sky, and the candlelight glowing in the windows. "Just hold on, Mother," he whispered to himself.

Eventually, he reached a building and shouted, “Is there any doctor available to help me? My mother is old and sick—please!” Inside, an old physician, who had been helping a patient seat in the waiting room, noticed the snow-covered young man. 

The man saw the doctor and pleaded, “Please… there's no way to reach my home by car. We’ll have to go by foot, and the sun will be setting soon. She’s not doing well. When I left her in the morning, she was fine—but when I came back…!” "Please." Moved by what he saw, the doctor's expression turned serious. He called for his assistant to bring his bag. She looked worried and said, “You can’t possibly go out in this weather.” 

The aged doctor gave her a disapproving look, and without another word, she handed him his things. Then we immediately see the young man and the doctor standing at the steps of his cabin, both now covered in snow.Inside, the mother lies lifeless. The young man froze at the sight of her. 

The doctor rushed in, took out his stethoscope, and listened for a heartbeat, then checked her wrist for a pulse. Nothing. He solemnly lifted his instrument, rested it on his shoulders, and looked at the young man. He slowly shook his head. 

 She was gone. 

The young man bent over, arms stretched over his mother, and wept, while the doctor stood quietly, heartbroken by the scene.

The next day, the doctor, the young man, and the priest stood before a small grave marked by a wooden cross. The young man placed a small carving on the grave. One by one, the doctor and the priest silently disappeared, leaving the young man alone on his knees in that solemn moment.

 As the young man stood up, he heard a sound—he knew it was a wild animal. He picked up the axe he had used to carve his mother’s burial cross and prepared himself. 

Following the sound, he discovered an injured mother wolf with her cub. A second wolf lay dead beside her, and a small pack of wolves fled into the trees. The mother wolf, weakened by her injured state, saw the man. With the little strength she has left, she gently picks up her cub in her mouth, walks toward the man, places the cub in front of him, and collapses, succumbing to her injuries. 

Moved by the sight, the young man, seeing the newborn cub shivering and stained by the blood of its mother in the cold, carefully picks it up and tucks it inside his sweater, near his chest. He tightens his coat, looks into the trees—half expecting the wolves to return—and hurries back home.

 As he passes his mother's grave again, he pauses. He looks at it, then down at the small pup in his chest—both with sadness and wonder. Now, having stepped inside his home, the living room was dark except for the glow of the fireplace. 

The man takes a pillow from a chair and places it on the floor in front of the fireplace. He places the wolf pup onto it, then takes a blanket from a chair nearby and gently lays it over the pup. 

We then see him sitting cross-legged next to the pup in front of the fireplace. Taking a metal rod, he stokes the fire. As he does this, the light of the flames reflects on his face. He then sets the rod aside and stares into the fire.

 Tears fall silently from his eyes, though his face remains expressionless.

 We see him sitting quietly beside the pup, still curled on the pillow with nothing but firelight in the dark room.

The end.

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