[ WP ] `` At first they came back with nothing , and then they did n't come back at all . ''

Katiya remembered when the men of her tribe used to don their heavy furs and thick soled boots, seeking food for the mouths of the hungry. It seemed so long ago when they would come back, sleds laden with thick cuts of meat, luxurious furs and bright silks and sweets that would melt away in her mouth quicker than a snowflake. There was laughter and celebrations all the time, thanks to the hunters and the tradesmen. Katiya remembers. 
 
 But the world became meaner, striping away the love it used to dole out. First, the men would come come back will less and less. The meat that used to taste so delicious became nothing more than fat and gristle. Furs and silks were few and far between and Katiya only had the memory of sweets. 
 
 `` Why is there no laughter, Papa?'' she had asked, noticing his face was lined with worry. `` Why are things changing?'' 
 
 Her father had placed a tired smile on his lips. 
 
 `` It will be okay soon, myshka,'' he assured her, patting her head and she had believed him. 
 
 But it was never okay again. 
 
 Finally then hunters and tradesmen would come back empty handed. The air around them would fill with the cries of the hungry. And with the hunger sometimes came sickness. Katiya saw too many of her tribe members fade away into nothing. She feared she would be the only one left. 
 
 Every day, she would wake up with her father and watch him disappear into the darkness with the other tribesmen, desperate. And every evening, she would see the disappointment and despair etched onto their faces. Eventually, the world began to turn on them. Instead of being the hunters, they became the hunted. Beasts stalked them with new found confidence, waiting for the perfect time to pick them off -- finally high enough on the evolutionary ladder to take revenge. 
 
 The first day they had come back one man short, the stares of the tribesmen were hollow and their clothes were painted in blood of their friend. After that, there would always be one or two less men with them when the returned. Instead of silently watch her father go into the unknown, Katiya began to cry and beg him not to leave. 
 
 `` Hush, myshka,'' he would say, wiping away her tears. `` Papa will always return to you.'' 
 
 And then, one day, he did n't. No one did. And then she was alone.
