It was morning in the log house. Rays of sunlight shone through window next to the bed Luke lay on. As the sun rose higher in the sky, the light rays shifted direction till they fell upon his face, piercing through his eyelids and disrupting his sleep.

The peaceful expression on Luke's face faded and his eyebrows furrowed as he stirred awake. After a short battle to ignore the bright light and drift back into sleep, he finally gave in and opened his eyes.

Where is this? The log house? Why, we were so close. Luke shot up to a sitting position and jumps off the bed and sprints out of the room but is startled by the figure blocking his way to the door of the house.

There was a stranger in their house, sitting cross-legged on the floor. He had fair skin and the strangest hair Luke had ever seen. Was he a relative?

There was an open book in front of him but he had his eyes on Luke.

"Who are you sir? Did mama tell you to take me back home? I must’ve fallen on the way. Please take me back, I can make it this time.” pleaded Luke, eager to get back to the journey.

The stranger doesn't respond but his expression was a bit worried now.

"Please?”

"No, your mother didn’t send me.” he said

"Then why are you here, why did you enter our house? Are you a thief? If mama didn’t send you, who brought me here then?”

"I did.” replied Yuga.

"Then were are mama, papa and the baby?” asked Luke.

"You’re the only one left” replied Yuga in a low voice.

"Only one left what?” Luke questioned, starting to lose his patience.

"Alive. Everyone else.... is gone.”

"What, what are you saying? How can everyone be gone, we were all together."

"You couldn’t get through the cold and fell one by one. When I got there you were the only one still alive. Just barely breathing." Yuga replied.

"That’s a lie! Mama and Papa are strong, if I’m alive then they’re definitely fine. You broke into our house and now you lie too.” screamed Luke in anger.

Yuga doesn't respond and just shook his head at boy's outrage.

Luke ran past Yuga, out of the log house, fuming as he went. He needed to catch up with the rest, he wanted to see his cousins too. He wasn’t sure how he got back home or who the man was but he wasn’t going to be left behind.

Did mama send him and tell him to lie? But she wouldn’t say something that horrible. Maybe he picked me up when I fell, they must be looking for me. I have to get back.

He ran into the forest not so sure of where to go, but if he kept heading in one direction he’d find his way somehow. His body was still recovering and he barely had the strength to move but he didn’t stop, pushing himself with pure determination. But determination and adrenaline could only take you so far. After ten minutes of running he had tired out and had to take a rest.

He sat on the root of a large tree, breathing heavily to recover his strength. He had run till he couldn’t see the log house anymore but there was still a very long way to go. After resting for a minute, he got up, ready for another sprint. He ran for about ten seconds before coming to a sharp halt.

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Luke stood still as a statue and held his breath, trying his best to not make a sound, not even letting a drop of sweat fall. He’d run into a wild beast. It was feeding on a carcass. It hadn’t noticed him or it just wasn’t interested. Hopefully it would stay that way.

The beast was similar to a wolf aside having three tails and red fur that glistened in the sun. It kept on eating before suddenly pausing and sniffed. It put its head up and sniffed the air severally then snapped it in the Luke's direction. It had noticed him and without a second thought, he turned and fled.

He ran as fast as he could, trying his best to escape the beast but he knew it was futile, in very few seconds it would catch up to him and it’ll be over. But then it didn’t, the sound of the beast's running had stopped.

He turned back to check what happened and he saw the beast, dangling in the air, held up with one arm by the man with strange hair. He tossed it away with little effort and then walked towards Luke. He picked him up, held him under his arm and ran. Before Luke could protest they’d already arrived back at the log house in the blink of an eye.

"You can’t leave by yourself. Aside the beasts, it doesn’t look like you know the way and you won’t make it on your own in the snow.” said Yuga calmly before walking into the log house.

Luke trailed behind, still shaken from his encounter. He’d never seen a beast in the forest before, but he’d never gone in alone or followed that path either. He couldn’t leave right now but he wouldn’t give up. He’d try again later.

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It was evening now. Luke had just woken up from sleep and he found himself in his room again. He’d fallen asleep immediately he got back to the log house against his will. His body wasn’t recovered from the snow and needed rest.

Luke gets off the bed, walks up to the room door and slowly opens, just enough for him to peek through. He could see stranger sitting in the living room reading the same book from earlier. He closed the book then walked up to the shelf to return it and pick another one.

"Leave those alone, those are papa’s books” commanded Luke. He'd swung the door fully open now and stood in the doorway.

"You’re awake.” Yuga said. "I will, I'm just borrowing them for while. Most of these are books about voyagers, was your papa a voyager?” asked Yuga, still making his pick of books from the shelf.

"No, but he likes to read about them” Luke replied in a softer tone. “Are you a voyager sir?”

"Yes."

That’s how he got to the log house so fast. "Have you been to the stars?" asked Luke, allowing his curiosity to overshadow his anger.

"No. More like I don’t know.”replied Yuga.

"You don’t know?” asked Luke.

"I woke up on Lehrone some weeks ago, I don’t remember anything before that.”

"You don’t even remember anything but yet you say mama and papa are gone.” retorted Luke.

Yuga was confused at this remark. What did that have to do with what he said?. He’d finally decided on what book to read this time. He pulled it out from its place in the shelf and turned to face Luke. "What’s your name?”

"My name is Luke Mannas.”

"How old are you?”

"I am thirteen years old. Old enough to cut logs.” answered Luke. “What’s your name, sir?”

"Yuga.”

"Why is your hair green, or is it blue?” asked Luke.

"It’s always like that, I think.”replied Yuga.

"You’re a weird person.... Will you let me see them now?” requested Luke.

Yuga’s expression turns dark again. “You can’t do that, they’re-“

"Stop lying!” screamed Luke and he ran back into his room.

This wasn’t going to be easy Yuga thought. But of course it wasn’t, no one would like to wake up to face a reality like that, much less a young boy.

He closed his book and dropped it on the floor then left the log house. Several minutes later he was back with a few items in hand.

He opened the door to Luke's room and found him lying on the floor clutching his stomach. He must’ve been incredibly hungry. It was shocking how he could even move at all.

"You haven’t eaten for nearly two days. I knew you’d be hungry so I brought some food." said Yuga as he threw something in Luke’s direction. It bounced twice on the floor before rolling to a stop.

"Fruit? This isn’t proper food, this is dessert.”said Luke.

"I don’t even know where I came from, how would I know how to cook?” responds Yuga with a shrug.

Luke picked up the fruit, he sniffed it and turned it over to check if anything was wrong with it. He probably shouldn’t have been eating things from people he didn’t know but he was too hungry to care so he ate it anyway. He ate ravenously and was done with it in less than a minute. He was still hungry for more. Once he finished with the first one Yuga threw the rest at him.

"Thank you” said Luke before picking up another fruit to eat.

They sat in silence as Luke ate the fruits. After a while, Yuga spoke. “Do you want to see them?” he asked.

On hearing this, Luke sat for a second staring at nothing as if his mind couldn’t process what he heard. He blinked himself back into focus and responded with excitement, "Really?! You’ll really let me see them?!”

"Yeah, but tomorrow. You need to rest.”

"Ok!” Luke agreed happily.

"Try to sleep, tomorrow will be a tough day." said Yuga as he gets up to leave. Much harder than Luke thought it will be.

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It was very early into the next day and the sun hadn’t risen yet but Luke was already up, waiting for the daylight to come. He couldn’t wait to see his family again after a whole day of not knowing how they were. Thankfully the strange man, Yuga, had finally given in and would let him see them.

Mama must’ve told Yuga to take him home. Was he one of his uncles? If he was, he was a mean one, he lied about his family dying.

He sat idly through the hours till day broke properly, watching in anticipation for the sun to show up on the horizon. And after a long wait, his devotion was rewarded and the sun rose, shining its golden light on all. He sat by the window, watching the sunrise till he felt it was bright enough for them to leave. He ran out of the room to tell Yuga that he was ready to go.

Yuga was sitting on the floor, back against a wall with his eyes closed. He opened his eyes as he heard Luke enter.

"I’m ready to leave.” said Luke.

"Now? I never said when we’d leave.” replied Yuga.

"So we’re not leaving now?” asked Luke, disappointment already creeping into his voice.

"In an hour.”said Yuga

"Ok….”

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An hour later, Yuga was up and ready to leave. It was time to confront the inevitable. He stepped outside the log house. Luke was already waiting for him, his face filled with excitement.

"Time to go. I’ll carry you. It'll be much faster like that." said Yuga. He picks up Luke, carries him in his arms and sprints off.