Penguin's Diary

-Day One-

I’M GOING TO DIE.

That was the only thought that flashed across my mind at this moment.

Skua.

The deadliest predator of an emperor penguin chick was standing right in front of me.

She tilted her head, her greedy little eyes glistening with evil thoughts.

The creature had a look in her eyes as if I were a furry little drop of penguin snack, meant to fill her empty stomach on a cold stormy day like this.

The storm—right! The storm!

My entire body tightened. I dropped back a step, feeling as rigid as an iceberg.

I had almost forgotten about the storm.

By now, the sky had darkened. Snowflakes patter down my feathers. I was the happiest when I saw snowfall for the first time. I tapped my father’s big feet, couldn’t wait to take my first steps. Unlike the rest of us, I was not afraid.

But the snow here was nothing like the soft, miraculous flakes that melted on my beak or the ones I gulped down when I was thirsty. The snow here was relentless and rough. It clung to my eyes and back, hardening into ice layers. There was nothing miraculous about it, but cold and cruel.

I was long lost before the skua found me. I had walked in the far back of my creche, getting carried away by the snow, unaware of the approaching danger.

Soon, my creche disappeared from sight.

The sun had vanished.

It had been absent for a while now.

The wind grew stronger and more unforgiving.

I called out for Iva and Rian, my closest friends, desperately hoping they were nearby.

But the wind carried away my voice.

The snow blurred my vision.

Even the silhouette of a small hill looked like the figures of my friends.

I just wished the storm would stop, but I had to keep going if I ever wanted to find my creche and the rest of our colony.

With time came the scariest blizzard I had ever experienced in my short life. The temperature kept dropping, reaching new lows. Ice formed around my feathers. The penetrating wind made me shiver

As my eyes met with the gaze of the huge and very hungry skua right in front of me, I realized I had just wasted the little time I had overthinking about the storm.

Death stared back at me as the skua squinted her eyes, fluttering in delight to have found an easy meal.

We both knew this was it.

Run! Pete! Run! You still have a chance!

I heard my own voice screaming from within, but my feet remained rooted to the ground. Every hair on my body stood up in alarm, and a knot formed in my stomach.

I felt nauseous.

I always thought I would be a hero, just like my dad, a true warrior who could defend himself from skuas. But the reality was different—I couldn’t even raise my wings or utter a single sound.

Both Mom and Dad had gone hunting in the ocean, and they wouldn’t return for another week. Yet, I clung to hope as if they were my savior.

How could I die now? I hadn’t seen the summer sun or learned how to swim.

I was still a baby, and I didn’t want to die.

I watched in horror as the skua lift her claws off the ground. My throat involuntarily gulped. I felt my weight shifted backward, and my tail touched the snow.

Time seemed to stretch into an endless collage of seconds.

The skua spread her wings, her beak slightly open, and charged toward me.

My body twisted backward. I raised my flappers to fend off the skua. My beak slightly opened.

Just then, the snow beneath me collapsed, and the earth crumbled as the skua’s sharp beak pecked at my soft baby flappers.

She missed!

I tumbled, falling downhill like a rolling snowball. I bumped into several ice blocks, and it hurt, but I kept rolling, faster and faster.

The snow joined alongside me, tugging me into a giant snowball until I finally hit flat land.

Immediately, a splash of rocks hit my face, followed by a fresh rush of snow pouring onto my belly. Something hard and heavy struck my head, and everything went dark.

That was it.

That was the last thing I remembered.

-Day Two-

WHEN I OPENED MY EYES, the world was enveloped in darkness.

I found myself lying on the ground, half covered in snow. I shook my head and raised my flappers, twitching my feet, and managed to flip myself onto my stomach. Then, I got on my feet.

Surrounding me were large and small ice rocks, like a frozen waterfall extended to my toes. And I was standing amidst a heap of snow that had followed me to this place.

I looked back over both my shoulders and twirled my head in a full circle, relieved to find myself unharmed, aside from feeling a bit dizzy. I traced the path of the waterfall until my gaze met a wall comprised of giant ice blocks.

Confused, I titled my head, my flappers fluttering by my side. I twirled my head once more, searching for a hint of warmth, but cold, icy darkness persisted in every direction.

The sun was nowhere to be found.

The blizzard had disappeared.

Was I dead?

I wobbled over to a corner and gazed up at the smooth, round ceiling radiating a beautiful light blue glow. It felt as though I were inside an icy bubble, except for the side that consisted of towering blocks of ice. I suspected that was the spot from which both the snow and I had fallen.

I tottered toward the ugly