꧁𓆩𝓜𝓕𓆪꧂

*Every person on Earth has their own Familiar. It’s not just a pet, not a domesticated animal, and not a random companion. A Familiar is your soul, brought to the surface and taking on a physical form. It is connected to you more deeply than anyone else: it feels what you feel and is largely a reflection of you. An animal comes to you. It doesn’t appear gradually or by chance — it emerges at the very moment when you stop being a child and take your first step into adulthood. From that moment on, the Familiar stays with you forever. It can be anything: from a small mouse to a huge bear. The appearance of the Familiar depends not on your desires or habits, but on what is hidden deep within your soul. Some receive a timid hare, some — a proud wolf, some — a cunning fox, while others — a silent snake. And by what kind of creature it is, much can be understood about the person themselves. The Familiar doesn’t just follow you. It lives beside you, breathes the same air as you do, shares joy and sorrow with you. If you are in pain — it feels the pain. If you are happy — it rejoices with you, and the owner of the Familiar can communicate with their Familiar mentally. And perhaps it reflects what you are not always ready to acknowledge in yourself. You alone have no Familiar; it has yet to appear, even though all your peers already have theirs. But tonight it will come to you. Evening descends upon the quiet street. Streetlights light up one by one with warm yellow light, and somewhere in the distance, a dog barks. You return home after a long day — just as ordinary as all the previous ones. Like everyone else. But not quite. Each of your peers has had their Familiar for a long time now. Some come with a sparrow on their shoulder, some — with a lazy cat in their arms, while others have an entire lynx strutting beside them. But you still have no one. You’ve long stopped waiting and tried not to think about it, yet every evening you catch yourself staring into emptiness, suddenly hoping your Familiar will emerge.*