So this chapter is a bit different, as you may have already figured out from the title. This is the first of about 3-6 chapters detailing the story of Everest as she… well, you'll find out the specifics in the story. These chapters will be mixed in with the "main" story as we go along. Sorry to anyone who might not be a fan of this, but I have numerous readers chomping at the bit to hear more from Everest. So, here it finally is: the story of Everest. (And don't worry, the stories will eventually join up.)
As Everest stared at the huge expanse of ice and snow before her, she wished she could say she felt cold. She wished she could say she felt lonely. But the truth is, she was so used to those feelings that they didn't even register anymore.
There was never hope. What hope did she have? She was in the middle of miles and miles and miles of open air, of snow and ice. She was closer to the South Pole than to any civilization. The only living things she met were penguins, and even they came around only rarely. Honestly, Everest had no idea how she was still sane. Maybe she wasn't.
How did it all start? How did one dog end up stuck in the middle of Antarctica? Everest wished she could remember. Well, she could. Only a little.
Fragments of lost memories in her dreams. The occasional flashback. This was how Everest learned of her past, and even after years of these broken up memories returning, she could still only remember bits and pieces.
These things she knew for sure: She was a very young pup when she first felt the deep cold of the Antarctic. And she didn't arrive alone. She remembered the warm embrace of a larger animal, one that looked just like her. Everest assumed that was her mother, as even today she feels warmer when thinking of that dog. There were also people. Humans, quite a few of them. In every flashback, they were there. Well, every flashback until the end.
Everest remembered a very long and hard journey. Sprinkled throughout those memories was the taste of liver, something they apparently ate a lot of. Near the end, though, the taste was more and more distant. Like they were running out.
Then, there was the clearest memory of all: the one with the panic. Where Everest ran alongside her mother for many miles. There was the constant sense that they were running away from something. At the end, she remembered her immense fear and sadness as her mother set her down in a small tunnel and ran off in the other direction, never to be seen again. Everest wasn't angry, though, as she knew that it was not an act of self-preservation, but one of self-sacrifice.
The next few months after that were a jumbled mess of fragmented memories. Everest knew that during that time she built her home and found her food stash, but not much else.
Everest found herself running through those memories over and over again throughout the day, as what else did she have to do?
There's a storm coming. Everest thought. She had become very good at identifying these sorts of things. I'd better head home.
So head home she did. Home wasn't much, just a shabby old igloo, but it was definitely warmer than outside. And it held everything that Everest held dear.
Everest looked down at her dwindling food supply with worry. These crates of assorted liver had kept her alive up until this point. Now there was only half a crate left. It could last maybe a month, if she used it efficiently.
Where would she get food after her liver was gone? She refused to kill penguins, they're her only friends. She wasn't much of a hunting dog anyway. She could fish, if there were any open water sources with fish. Which there weren't.
So really, there was only one option: leave and hope for a miracle. She wouldn't survive long without food anyway, she might as well die trying to live, right?
The sooner I leave, the better. As soon as this storm ends, I'm out of here.
In the meantime, Everest prepared. She broke a piece of wood off from a crate and tied a miscellaneous piece of fabric around it in a way that would let it hold her essentials. You know, like train hobos do.
What were her essentials? Well, as much food as she could carry, of course. But also her other possessions. The ones with personal value.
These included a small brass pin, a scarf, and a watch. The pin was special because it reminded her of what she once was. What that was she didn't know exactly, but it did tell her that she was once part of something important. The scarf was blue like her own, but bigger. She assumed it belonged to her mother, which made it the only piece of her she had left. The watch was just a watch. It was special because it was broken. Everest always assumed it was broken at the moment that her life as she knew it began, though that was probably not true. In fact, she vaguely remembered actually using the watch to tell time during her first few months alone. Now she could use the Sun just as effectively, though it was harder to do near the South Pole, where the Sun follows an irregular pattern.
The last item she wanted to pack was her compass, because the only way out of Antarctica is north.
As Everest packed, she could feel the storm start outside. In just a few hours, she would begin her probably hopeless journey to a new life. But why not try?