where do i begin?

4/11/1993

It was the usual night just like any other. I decided to take a walk because I couldn't sleep then. Took a walk along the river, the usual road I usually take when I go hunting, I didn't bring anything much with me since I was only planning to walk around and then hit the bed when I'm tired enough.

The sky was clear, no clouds covering the starry night. A beautiful sight that never gets old really, not like the cities in the western region.

It was quiet as well, there weren't many wildlife that makes noise at that night in the path that I took, so the only thing I heard was the sound of Yakutsk river beside me.

The silence went around for roughly an hour? When it was broken by a faint cry in the background, sounded like a fawn crying for it's mother or something like that. Those fawn cries sounds very similar to a baby crying which can be rather eerie if you don't know about it.

I shrugged it off initially, not wanting to deal with it simply because I'm too tired to care about it and just wanting to walk off my bitter past events.

But the cry continued for a while and well, it finally took my interest. So I decided to listen closer and inspect it as well, I mean there's no harm in that. Yes there could be a bear waiting at the corner, but I know this place quite well and I haven't seen anything menacing prowling in the area yesterday.

I silently crept closer so that I don't spook the mysterious sound, but as I got closer I realized that it wasn't a fawn, rather it sounded like a baby.

I immediately quicken my pace and getting myself ready while not making too much noise, fearing if there was a wildlife attack or something worse like violent altercation.

I slowed my pace when I was nearing the supposed noise, I started to silently walk through the nearby shrubs. As I got closer, there were nothing of note nearby, no animals, nobody else in particular other than the mysterious noise nearby.

I slowly peered through the bush and saw a figure with a rather bright clothing laying down at the forest floor, which is currently holding a crying baby. At first glance it was weird enough, I mean nobody in their right mind would just bring their crying infant to lay down together in a cold night in the forest floor. But the lack of awareness or rather common sense the mysterious individual had of it's current situation made me to inspect them closer.

As I got closer I noticed the figure had a feminine form and a blue hair with white tips. She is also wearing some sort of a robe? a white and a blue cloth with intricate markings down the middle of the outfit. It reminded me of clothing that belonged to asian origins something like that.

And her skin, the color of white. It's not the white tone that we slavics had or in most europeans had but rather it was the color of white snow. And the hair too was white with blue color on its tip, also it wasn't like the grey hair that an aging person would had it was white too, perhaps dyed that is.

I would've kept staring like an absolute idiot if it weren't the fact that she had large wounds and blood covering almost her entire body. The wound mark was vicious, reminded me of a bear, yet it was too clean of a swipe and too precise as well. She didn't even notice that I was obviously nearby looking at her, making me to assume that her condition was very critical.

I immediately asked her "Maam, are you alright? Do you need help?"

She then jolted in surprise, seemingly unaware that I was next to her staring perhaps because of her current condition. She didn't respond immediately of course, so I repeated my question again.

And I'm sure that she heard me correctly the second time yet her face only portrayed the expression of a confused person. I then repeated the question again and only got the same response, confusion. Perhaps, she had hearing issues as well I thought. So I went closer to her to get a better look at her situation.

As I got closer her face showed relief and then said the word "help", in english.

A forest in Yakutsk region of Russia is the last place on earth I would have expect the english language to be used at. I mean you would be sooner getting killed by nature itself rather than hearing the english language spoken by a stranger in this region. I had thought that this situation couldn't get any stranger. I suppose I was wrong.

I forgot how long I was stunned hearing her words, long enough that I would have been easily plucked by a drunkard I'm sure. And I barely know english, I can understand them but definitely not speak them.

But duty calls, so I said to her "How I help?" in english.

Thankfully she understood my words. Because her next answer did not grant me relief.

She said "take him, please, take my child"

I am very much unqualified in the field of taking care a kid. But what can i do? Call the police? Everyone is desperate enough trying to stay alive through the economic crisis, there is no service that is likely to respond to this. And I can't drag the both of them, the woman's face even looked like she was soon meeting death himself.

But there is still a chance, so I took it. I'm not goi-

I carefully cradled the cloth that blankets the crying baby to my arm from the woman. The baby was, strange like the mother, white skin and white hair.

I was so focused at the strange appearance that the baby had, similar to the woman. That I forgot the mysterious woman said something, I was about to ask her to repeat what she said but it seems that fate once again claimed another person.

At least she went out not with a blank stare but an expression of hope and relief.

I stopped contemplating and started to head back to town with the baby cradled in my arms. This entire situation, straight out of fantasy, requires a 'delicate' help from a close and trusted friend of mine.

I feared what would happen to the baby if the 'officials' gets their hands involved in this mess.