The sunlight peeked through the leaves, creating a dappled pattern on the forest floor. A soft wind blew, stirring the grass around the young body known as Oliva. Her hazel eyes stared up at the azure sky that could be viewed through the gaps in the leaves and branches, before blinking, then slowly closing again. "I know this place..." she thought, listening to the sound of the rustling leaves, "... But where am I?"

The question bounced around in her mind, as it had many times before. Indeed, she did know the area she lay peacefully in now, but only because she had visited it in dreams over the years... However, the dreams of this place were becoming more and more frequent, and well as more realistic. Oliva brushed a hand over the grass, admiring it's softness. Was this just another dream? ... It couldn't be, everything was just too real. She inhaled deeply, breathing in the scents of the forest. No, it couldn't be just another dream.

Then suddenly she felt cold. If it wasn't a dream, how did she get there? Where was she? She opened her eyes again, but was forced to squint at the bright sunlight that shone in her eyes. She rolled onto her side and looked at the trees, fascinated by the texture on their bark, and just how detailed they were. Now her hazel gaze wandered past the trees, to a grey-and-greenish blob that sat in the shadows.

... What was that? It looked awfully out of place. Oliva bit her lip, that greyish thing had never been there before. Or had it? She looked around the warm, relaxing clearing in the trees, then back into the dimmer lit area where the greyish blob resided. It would probably be a good idea to get a closer look, to see if it was dangerous, whatever it was.

Quietly, she rose to her feet and quickly brushed herself off before moving as silently as she could towards the greyish blob. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dimmer light, but as they did she gasped. The greyish blob was actually a statue of a wolf, and obviously it had been there for awhile because moss was finding it's way up the legs of the statue. Oliva moved closer to it, but felt uncomfortable as it seemed it's stone gaze was locked on her. Carefully, she reached out, and drew her fingers down it's muzzle. It was so smooth... But incredibly cold. She pulled her hand back and held her fingers with her other hand in an attempt to warm them. She backed away from the statue, suddenly feeling afraid of it, and stumbled backwards into the sunlit clearing, breathing harder as her heart pounded, almost feeling like it was trying to escape from it's bone prison. Then she turned, and ran, moving as fast as she could to get away from the wolf statue.

Long red hair flowed behind her as she dodged trees and jumped over bushes, but she did not stop, for the gaze of the stone wolf was burned into her mind. She had to escape it's horrible stare! The horrible stone stare! She continued to run deeper and deeper into the woods, and around her the forest became older and older. Trunks of trees were covered in moss, or vines attempting to creep closer to the sun, and rocks had a thin covering of lichen on their surfaces. There was one stone, however, that stood out from the rest. The stone wolf.

The wolf statue stared at Oliva from the log in which it now stood. At the mere sight of the thing, Oliva froze up, almost stopping on the spot out of fear. She watched as the stone wolf swished it's tail, then raised it's snout towards the sky, and howled. The sound sent a shiver running down her spine, as the noise was absolutely dreadful. However, it also held a tone of sadness, anger, and fear. The young woman held herself and watched with wide eyes as the wolf sang out it's emotions to the sky.

Slowly, the howl quietened, and the stone wolf lowered it's muzzle once again to stare at the trembling girl. It's smooth canine face held no emotion as it studied her, so different from Oliva's fearful expression. Then the creature took a step towards her, and she felt rooted to the spot as it moved closer, and was soon close enough to stare up into Oliva's hazel eyes for a moment, before casting it's gaze downwards.

Carefully, Oliva reached down and rested her shaking hand on the lowered head of the stone wolf, feeling the coldness seeping up her arm, a coldness that reminded her of death. Quickly, she pulled her hand away again and stared at the strange creature, and it now returned her stare. "Cold.", the stone wolf spoke, and the young woman's expression changed from fearful, to shocked, then disbelief. "Cold...?" She echoed, sure she had heard the word but not entirely sure where it had come from. The wolf swung it's head to the side and stared at the trees. "Cold, like stone." it growled, "Cold, like ice." It turned back to her, locking it's eyes with hers, "Cold, like death."

The words this creature spoke made her back away, but she stopped moving as she was caught in it's gaze once more. "... What's cold?", Oliva whispered, her voice trembling. The stone wolf regarded her for a moment, then turned away from her, "You."

That statement made her stare after the wolf as it walked away, and she suddenly felt her temperature drop, and the cold air pressing against her skin, stealing what little warmth she had left. She caught movement out of the corner of her eye, and turned her head to see a brown butterfly, resting on the trunk of a tree while it fanned it's large wings. It was almost invisible against the bark, matching the colors almost perfectly. Then a sudden wind blew, and shifted the leaves, allowing a beam of sunlight to break the dim gloom, and it struck the butterfly, causing such brightness it almost seemed the insect was on fire.

Oliva gasped, it was on fire! She watched as the poor thing fell from the tree, crackling and popping as it burned. Tears filled her eyes as she witnessed it die, but how had simple sunlight caught it on fire? The wind blew again, and the fire went out, then Oliva slowly approached the remains, hands over her mouth as she stared down at the butterfly.

She caught her breath, it had just moved! She watched closely, but saw no other movement, then sighed and closed her eyes, "I'm sorry, little butterfly, that your life had to end like this." Oliva reopened her eyes at the sound of footsteps and turned to see the stone wolf beside her. It stared down at the butterfly, the wolf's eyes never leaving it. "The end not always end," the wolf growled, and Oliva looked back at the butterfly, "watch."

A group of ants had appeared and were now working on carrying the butterfly back to their nest. The young woman glared at the ants, how dare they! She lifted a foot to step on them, but a snarl from the wolf stopped her in her tracks. She looked at the wolf, nervous, " But... They'll eat it." The stone wolf stared at her, then snarled again. "Exactly! They eat butterfly, butterfly lives on in them. Butterfly granted them life by being food."

Oliva paused, then looked back at the ants, understanding the words of the wolf. After a moment, she turned her hazel gaze to the wolf next to her. "Who are you... And why are you telling me this?" She watched the wolf, waiting for an answer, but begain to think the creature hadn't heard her. Then the wolf stared at her with stone eyes. "I have no name." It continued to hold her frozen in it's gaze, before turning and walking away, leaving one of the questions unanswered.

She stood there, not entirely aware of how much time was passing, and simply stared at the spot she had last seen the wolf. Then, as if her wandering mind snapped back into her body, she looked to where the butterfly was, and became confused as she failed to see it. A sudden chill made her remember the warm sunny clearing, and she decided to return to it. Her walk turned into a jog, then into a run, in an attempt to escape the coldness that seemed to be closing in on her, and the thumping of the feet of another creating following her only made her run faster.

Panic set in, where was the clearing? What was the thing chasing her? She listened, but then discovered she could no longer hear it. Oliva's pace slowed until she stopped, and she looked around as her chest heaved, struggling for air. She was alone, it seemed. Her thoughts now returned to wondering where the clearing was, it almost seemed as if it had never existed. The words of the wolf now echoed in her mind. Was she going to be cold forever? The stone wolf had said she was cold, and she certainly was now.

The sound of crunching twigs awoke her from her thoughts, and she turned, but only to set her eyes upon the stone wolf before it leapt. Oliva only saw sharp, pointed teeth before her vision blurred. The young woman saw various shades of red, but felt no pain, and soon found herself on the ground, wide eyes staring up at the sky through the branches. It was night, she noted, as the wolf backed away from her, the shades of red she had seen smeared over the creature's muzzle. Oliva took no note of it, however, as she wondered at the strange sensation she felt now. It was like something was leaving her, draining away until there was nothing left. Was she dying? She had always imagined death would be more frightening, but she didn't feel very much of anything right now. A sudden smile curved the edges of her lips up, the end was not always the end.

She sighed, closing her eyes, feeling now that whatever was draining away from her was almost gone. The breath she had just exhaled swirled and danced through the air, a fog like substance becoming more solid by the second. Paper thin wings fluttered, and the stone wolf watched as the tanish brown butterfly, which had been born on the last breath of the young woman, flew up, though an opening in the leaves, and into the star painted sky.

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A butterfly, almost a light brown in color, settled on the windowsill, fanning it's wings and walking a few steps towards the dim light of the room. Hospitals were never that well lit, but the brightly shining sun that hovered in the azure sky outside could make any light appear dim. The three people who stood in the room took no note of the insect visitor, but instead gave their attention to the young red-haired woman who lay motionless in her bed. Two of the humans held each other as they stared at their daughter, unable to believe she was gone, forever. "The cancer finally won," the docter said, looking at the girl sadly, "such a shame, she was so young." The father held his wife, his eyes never leaving his daughter. "She was only seventeen... She had her whole life ahead of her." He took a shuttered sigh, trying to remain strong. His wife was already crying, though not making a sound. "Look," she said, "she's smiling... It's almost as if she's only dreaming..."