I had been laying there for hours, basking in the dozy, afternoon sun.
The day was turning cold, but I knew I couldn’t go back to my [[burrow]], not anymore.
“Get out” she had screamed at me with such malice that, for once, I obeyed.
I had gone [[too]] far this time.
I never really fit in there, I didn’t hop for a start, I used four legs, hopping wasn’t civilised to me.
But they all hop, they think I’m simple, that something went [[wrong]] with me.
I never really cared what they thought.
I’m okay being on four legs,
I’m okay having a long tail.
I’m okay having this craving, this [[need]] for fresh meat.
It took me a long time to accept it.
But I did.
I often contemplated, back when the guilt would keep me up at night, what [[made]] me this way.
Perhaps it was growing up in a burrow like mine, oppressive and abrasive.
That chapter is closed now, I [[never]] have to go back.
Something shocks me back to reality.
A shine, a light, a [[flicker]].
I had been so caught up, obsessing over a childhood I couldn’t change, that I hadn’t seen this thing, this glowing, white [[orb]] arrive.
It suddenly begins moving westward.
What do I have to lose by [[following]]? The orb stayed just within eyeshot, moving slowly, [[gracefully]] somehow.
I followed for a long time, days, months, I lost track.
My fur grew heavy with mud and dust.
But I followed [[still]].
Over grassy hills and rocky mountains, through burning deserts and icy arctic caves.
I didn’t eat, nor drink, but the desire for the orb drove me forward.
The orb seemed to look after my needs, it kept me [[safe]].Then it stopped.
So [[suddenly]].It stopped by a misty, green lake.
I recognised this lake.
My mind searched back to a time and place beyond my childhood [[memories]].Then they appeared, three grey ferrets, shyly poking their noses out of their burrow.
"You're home" They siad "We knew you would be".