As Midwest Furfest 2014 was coming up, I saw that they sometimes did a thing where some short stories would be published in the con book if submitted, so I decided to write my own but realized to my dismay they hadn't done it this year. Still, I worked hard on the story (as it fitted the convention's theme), and now have decided to put it on here :) I hope you like it.

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“Keep going…”

I didn’t stop holding onto my older brother’s paw, struggling to not lose his voice to the snowstorm. I kept my other paw tucked in my coat pocket away from the cold. It felt numb. My bushy tail behind me was now feeling like a pine tree against my ankles.

I wiped my cold muzzle. “W-Where are we going?” I managed to ask.

His muzzle looked down at me as we walked. “We’re going to a…special place…for shelter,” he reassured me warmly with his auburn eyes. I saw his tail barely swish as me gripped my paw tighter. “Please keep holding onto me. Don’t let go.”

We continued moving hastily through the deep snow, he and I almost blind to the white haze that blocked our sights. What we did know was that we were walking down an empty street with empty people. Once in a while, faint lights glided by us with distant drivers, and the glow of passing houses seemed like dreams. I imagined me and my brother in those houses, like we used to be before.

“Over here!”

The next thing I knew, me and my brother were under the freeway, a moldy concrete structure that sheltered us from the constant snowfall. Littered around us were rotting trash bags, burning my muzzle shut. It hurt to even smell.

We rested ourselves by a concrete column that shielded us from the direction of the wind. “Here,” while sitting next to me, my older brother dove into his backpack and pulled out something. “Christmas dinner, champ.”

Inside a plastic bag rested two cut pieces of peanut butter and jelly. “T-Thanks,” I grinned with a watering muzzle and perked ears. I took a piece and inhaled the amazing and delicate smell through my nose. “Hm…it’s still warm.”

“Best we’ve g-got so far,” he breathed heavily. I saw him attempt a smile and even curl his tail against my leg. “Dig in.” He then took a bite in, and so did I.

Ever since we started living on the streets together, me and my older brother have learned to not eat everything at once; just savor every crumb on our paws until it was gone. While I barely chewed on the small bites of food, my numb muzzle pleaded to devour it all and silence my growling stomach. It took a lot of strength to stop me.

“So how did you get this?” I asked in between nibbles. “Trade something?”

“Yeah,” he answered deadpan. “My watch.”

“Dang,” I sighed for him. He could have gotten more, but the watch was only a few years old. “Well, at l-least we’ve got some food to eat. I-It can’t get worse c-can it?”

“Yeah…”

After the last of the PB & J were devoured, we just sat there under the freeway, our bodies close together for warmth. I felt my brother’s tail curl up closely to my form, and his strong arms wrap around my chest. “You’re trembling,” he whispered into my icy ear. “Are you gonna be alright, champ?” Even with coats on, I felt his warmth.

I shifted my bitter figure to him, stared into his auburn eyes with my green. He looked scared, just like I was. “I…I want to go h-home,” I whined. “I-I want to live at ho-home again…”

He hugged me tighter. Even with the temperature, I felt his warmth through my thinning coat. “I do too,” he choked out. “I do too.” He looked again at me, and I saw a tear fall on his cheek. “But we can’t, n-not since…since…”

A car passed by us, but immediately forgot our existence. My brother turned down to me again. “Come here, champ,” he pulled my head closer and rested my muzzle on his shoulder, the one with no snow on it. I felt a paw caress the back of my head. “Don’t be afraid, okay? We’ll g-get through t-this, champ.”

I felt my own tears falling, become frozen rain. “I’m-I’m not a-afraid,” I lied with a weak tone. I could no longer feel my fingers or footpaws, only cold.

For a while, we listened to the ambience of winter’s wrath on the city, until my brother decided to speak up. “Hey, I have an idea,” he suggested. “Champ, can you tell me your most favorite memory? You know, before everything went…bad? Can you?”

I slowly looked up at him. “O-Okay,” I breathed in deeply.

For a long time, we drove through the hazy memory that was our childhoos, all while the night got colder and the winds howled like feral wolves. Me and my brother reminisced about the time I fell on my bike and Daddy comforted me, the time Mommy helped out with my brother’s first school dance, when we were all happy.

Pretty soon, we fell into each other’s arms, all alone under that freeway, waiting for anything to happen. I didn’t feel anything at all, not until I stirred from winter’s cold paws, and saw some kind of bright, angelic light engulf me and my older brother, but maybe it was only the morning rise.