The wind howled ferociously into the night as swirling snowflakes danced through the crisp air. The usually bustling street was vacant, yet felt filled to the brim with an eerie silence. It felt almost as if the breath of everyone in the city was being held; as though they were huddled in the safety of their homes. Watching. Wondering. Waiting. Like they knew that something was about to happen. A small figure now appeared out from the shadows of a lengthy, dark alleyway. As it drew closer, it uttered a small mewing sound like that of a cat- yes, a cat it appeared to be. He grimaced and turned his head away from the driving, powerful wind as he staggered forward; the tremendous force of the gale nearly knocking him to the ground several times. The frost bit at his paws and nose until he could barely feel them. The bitter cold forced him to squint his water-filled eyes until he could hardly see at all; so that the world was all a blur. He desperately wanted this all to be a dream. He wanted to wake up to a warm bed and satisfying- really filling meal… something he hadn’t had the fortune of having in a long time. His whole body ached. Every breath, every step was a tremendous effort. His thin, white tail and back legs lay limp on the ground as they were dragged forward by the last bit of will he had in him. He wanted- he needed to stop; but he pressed forward. After what must have felt like an eternity, he reached a large set of stone steps. With a deep shuddering breath, he began to climb up; digging his claws into small patches of ice so he could pull himself up to the next step. Two colossal statues towered over him as he came to the last step. He lurched himself forward toward the nearest statue- a lion. He curled up into a tight ball between the lion’s gigantic paws. As soon as he rested his heavy head on his own paws, he fell asleep and the deep, aching cold he felt all the way in his bones immediately washed away.