Far out in the woods of Alaska, there was a pack of wolves. In this pack, there were four wolves. These wolves were very high functioning with each other's help. Everyday they would all go hunting together. After doing so, they would always have a nice walk back to their separate caves that they lived in. They would start this daily routine after dawn.

On the rare occasion that one of the wolves missed this activity due to sickness, The other wolves would always miss their friend. That was the only time that one of them would miss their daily hunting trips. 

Each of the wolves had their own names.

There was Will.

There was Thom.

There was Elliott.

And there was “Blank”.

“Blank” got his name by always keeping to himself. All of the other wolves in his pack would always say how he just reminds them of the word “blank”. Blank was always the best performing hunter in his pack. There were points where the others worried it was all he enjoyed doing. 

After their daily hunting trip, they would all return to their respective caves.

Will would go back to his wife and two kids.

Thom would go back to his roommate who was also his best friend.

Elliott would go back to spend time writing his own novel. 

But Blank… Blank would go home to no one and nothing. The others never thought this bothered him. Well, the others never knew what he went home to. They always just thought that they all had perfect lifes with no problems. 

One day after dawn, The wolves were all ready to go hunting. However, something felt off today. Blank seemed to have little to no energy. The night before today's trip, Blank had not eaten any food. The other wolves did not know this. They also kept quiet, not knowing what was happening. 

Their trip that day felt lackluster. Blank had been underperforming on his hunting that day. The other wolves didn't see anything wrong with this and had come to the conclusion that Blank was probably “Just tired”. 

When Blank got home that day to his cave, he stared up at his ceiling with a straight face. He couldn't feel himself slipping away. He never knew he was slipping.

The next day after dawn, They all left their caves to go hunting. All of the wolves were raving about the nights they just had.

Will made a lovely dinner for him and his family.

Thom and his roommate had a wonderful time talking to each other.

Elliott got lots of writing done.

And Blank…Blank kept quiet. Blank didn't share anything about his night. He had nothing to share about his night unlike the rest. Again, the wolves didn't think anything of it. They all went on with their hunting.

Blank, for the second day in a row, underperformed. This began to spark an inquiry among the other wolves. They thought this was very unlike Blank. He would always hunt the best.
When Blank got home that night, he did nothing again. He would lay down and stare into his ceiling. Not thinking about anything, Not eating anything, Not sleeping at all, and not caring about anything.

These sleepless nights for Blank continued. At this rate, Blank was getting a measly five hours of sleep a week. This was scary for him. He had never experienced this kind of lackluster of sleep. The lack of appetite Blank had was also scaring him. 

The next morning when Blank woke up from his one hour of sleep, he experienced the worst stomach pains. When he stood up he became light headed and nearly passed out. Instead of getting something to eat to help his hunger pains, he laid back down just to stare into his ceiling.

When dawn broke, all of the wolves met up to go on their daily trip.

Will was there.

Thom was there.

Elliott was there.

Blank wasn't there. Blank was at home laying in his bed staring at the ceiling. The wolves moved on and went on their trip. They thought nothing about Blank's absence. They just assumed he was sick.
When the other wolves got done with their trip that day, Blank peered out the crack in his cave to see them. Blank saw the smiles on their faces, the immense amount of meat they all gathered, and most importantly, the fun they were having with each other. This made Blank feel replaceable. He began to go lay back down to stare at his ceiling again.

These days of Blank staying home and skipping the hunting trips repeated. His life was just staring at his ceiling everyday. Blank had no strength, no energy, no happiness, and no motivation to even get up anymore.

As Blank missed more and more days, The wolves became seriously worried. They all conjured up a plan to check up on Blank. They felt that he couldn't have been sick for this long. Since the wolves had no idea what was actually happening to Blank they thought they could wait it out and just maybe Blank would return soon.

Everyday that Blank had to hear the laughter that was ensuing amongst the other wolves without him, he would feel worse and worse and worse. Blank had nearly had enough. His life was hanging on by a thread. All he needed was for someone, anyone to check on him. Someone to give him that push or that motivation to get out of bed and eat.

The next day Blank was still laying down at home. Today marked a month of Blank not showing up to any of the hunting trips. The others were now officially worried. Instead of going on their trip today, they all showed up to Blank’s cave. 

When they walked into the cave, they were immediately greeted by the foul smell of Blank. He hasn't got up and bathed or even cared for his body at all in weeks. What the wolves saw next changed their outlook on life very drastically. Blank was covered in blood from his own injuries. He was lying there in his own blood and sweat. The wolves still did not understand what was wrong with Blank.

After what felt like ages of the other wolves asking what happened to Blank, they eventually understood Blank's problem. He had his own personal struggles. Blank was fighting with his own mental problems. None of the other wolves knew he was suffering in silence. 

The wolves would frequently visit Blank daily. They would make sure he eats, bathes, and pays attention to his feelings. They decided to do this until Blank was stable enough to leave his cave.

After weeks and weeks of caring for Blank, the wolves felt it was time to get him out of his cave. When Blank stepped out of the cave he felt reborn. He appreciated the clouds in the bright blue sky, He appreciated the way the trees would blow in the wind, and most importantly he appreciated his pack. He appreciated them for being there for him.

Blank felt he was well enough to go on his first hunting trip in months. He stepped out of his cave to see his friends all ready to go on the trip.

Will was present.

Thom was present.

Elliot was present.

And most importantly, Blank was present. He was there for the first time in months.

The trip went on. Blank still hunted the best. This surprised the other wolves as his absence was for an abundance of time. Blank wasn't surprised at all. He was just glad to be back hunting with his pack.

Blank knew he never showed his emotions ever. But what he did know is that he loved his pack and he wouldn't trade them for anything. He knew that they really cared about him and understood him. Blank knew he never spoke. He never felt the need to. But he knew the wolves would understand him without him even speaking now.

     The pack now understood Blank. They acknowledged his feelings. T They also were so happy to have Blank back up and running.

Will was happy 

Thom was happy

Elliot was happy

And most importantly, Blank was feeling happy and back to normal now that his friends got him back on his feet again.