A crimson glimmered beneath its jaws in the moonlight. It latched onto Silas’ neck and thrashed until he stilled.

Aries’ eyes widened in shock – processing.

The jaws crunched on its prey, salivating and indulging. Suddenly, the wolf stopped. It looked up. Its eyes glowing red with fury and desire.

“Aries!” His mother’s hooves thundered as she dragged him away and abandoned their friend to his fate.

The cold, brisk headwind grazed their faces as their hooves struggled through the deep snow. The wolf howled behind them, the malicious sound echoing throughout the entire mountain range.

Several moons had passed since the incident, yet Aries remained stuck there. He recounted the events, picking it apart piece by piece, bargaining, begging, despairing.

The afternoon sun acted only as a light in the hazy sky, selfishly withholding its warmth as though it were a child withholding candy. What a joke, thought Aries to himself.

He glanced at the flock of sheep struggling to graze at the half-thawed grass plain. Their numbers dwindled by the day. Would they ever survive this excruciatingly long winter? Will there be anyone left when it’s over? What will become of me then? These malignant questions had taken up residence in his mind like cancer.

“Mom? Why are we here?” asked Aries, interrupting his mother’s attempts at grazing.

His mother looked up at him as though he had a third eye.

“Because the grass is edible?” She began to worry.

Aries shook his head. “No, Mom. Are we here only to satisfy the hunger of wolves? Why did Silas have to die?”

His mother stopped munching and looked into his eyes. The gold-rimmed pupils stared back in determination. She stammered.

“Is there more to life than simply surviving, assuming our role as prey, reproducing then dying?” he asked, gesturing to the tired flock with his head.

“Aries…” her soothing voice a disguise for her uncertainty. Slowly, she said, “Yes… yes there is.”

His eyes perked up, eager for an answer.

“Our purpose is to bring forth more of our kind-”

“Oh, don’t give me that!-”

“No, listen to me-”

“Mom, I know that. But why?” he thundered.

She fell silent.

“I’m sorry…” he said as he looked down. “I’m tired, mama,” his voice cracked, “I want, I need to know if there’s more to it than this.”

A moment passed between them before her voice broke the silence.

She looked up. “To spread love, Aries.”

Another pause.

“You and I both know of the cruelty… the injustice, and the wickedness that claims our world. Our only hope to rebel against that is to defy it with love. We love in spite of it all.”

Aries’ head dropped, his eyebrows furrowing tightly. Then, he looked up with glassy eyes.

“But how do you know that?” his voice fractured, emotion spilling through.

“I don’t know, but I feel it.”

They embraced each other, but were interrupted by the resonance of a howl reverberating in the mountains, stealing away their moment.

– Yasmeen Karim