[EXT. EDGE OF THE FOREST – EARLY MORNING]
She saw him for the first time behind her grandmother’s cottage — a frail fox, fur patchy from mange, ribs visible under his thinning coat. He didn’t run when he saw her.
Just stared.
And sneezed.
LILA, 13, stared back. She knew fear when she saw it.
But also something else: hope.
[INT. COTTAGE – THAT NIGHT]
She read on her phone by candlelight: homemade food, treatment ointment, slow movements. Mange was painful, but not a death sentence — not if someone cared.
So, every day after school, she brought out bits of food, a dish of clean water, and left a small cloth dipped in coconut oil.
She never got closer than a few feet. But each day, he got closer to her.
[EXT. FOREST PATH – ONE MONTH LATER]
The fox looked different now. His fur was returning, thickening. His eyes were brighter. His limp had faded.
And one day, instead of just eating and leaving, he sat near her. Quiet. Watching the sunset beside her like a friend who never learned how to say thank you.
Lila smiled. That was enough.
[EPILOGUE – SPRINGTIME]
Weeks passed. The fox disappeared — as wild things do.
Until one morning, Lila stepped outside and froze.
At the edge of the trees stood the fox… and beside him, two tiny kits — his pups.
He looked at her for a long moment.
Then turned, guiding them back into the forest.
The sick, broken fox she once saved… had come back to show her what she helped create.
