The Wolf

This is a story about a wolf, a beautiful black and grey timber wolf, young and lithe, nothing noble, just scrapping for his meat in the pack. Having left his clan he needed to find his own place in the world, a contest with the alpha male had defeated the old male, but the sight and the look in the old man’s eyes had turned his ferocious heart and with that he left, it was time to walk the path alone.

He wandered the forests, constantly wary of the encroach of man, steering clear of them, he hunted alone, times were more and more often lean, and from time to time he would drift closer to the encampments, scrounging and scavenging scraps. There were times when there were great finds, a chicken left unwatched, a pie left to cool and he would sneak in, and take off without anyone knowing better, well until dinner time of course. Then times would be really bad and he would pick through leftovers, running a lot of risk at being caught, or worse, shot.

Time passed and being alone was good, but hunting alone without a pack made it hard going, and no matter how much time and hard work he put into the hunt, he was often left hungry. He sometimes yearned for company, as is the nature in a most wolves, but being a lone wolf he knew this was not to be his life choice, but still, now and then he felt loneliness tug at his heart, and with this he would once again get in earshot of man and just listen, and it appeased the little hole.

One day while roaming and hunting he heard sounds that he had never heard before, in curious trepidation, he got closer and closer to the noise. It brought him closer and closer to the river’s steep embankment, still the sounds persisted, he could not see anything, but then the smell came, and he knew, it was man. Cautiously he got to the edge to find a man, hanging from fingertips, clawing at rock to keep himself from falling, yelling and pleading. The wolf turned and as he was about to leave, he found he could not, so he returned and laying flat to the ground he edged closer to the lip, and biting hard into the leather of mans sleeve he got a good hold. He then began to push with his hind quarters, slowly, inch by in until the man started to move, then in strong jerking motions lifting the man higher and higher up, and over the edge to safety. Elated he spun and leaped into the air but was suddenly struck with a rock, to his surprise the man began stoning him, and he fled, feeling confused, hurt by the stones, but much more by man’s reaction. It took every ounce of faith in his own nature not to return and retaliate and kill the man and feed from his corpse. Instead the wolf shadowed the man, making sure he got back to the encampment safe and sound, and getting close as he dared he lay hidden and watched, watched as man recovered, and slowly ventured out again.

As the man would often go out into the forest for firewood, or hunt, the wolf, always out of the man's sight followed, watching, learning, trying to understand.

It was several months later.  Man was out hunting, and in his carelessness wounded a wild pig, out here wild pigs are huge, even a wolf pack will be sure to have him good and exhausted before closing in, and even then, speed is of the essence, but man was noisy and slow and gave off all these floral smells and the pig turned and chased him down, and had him cornered, the wolf without a thought to his own safety tore in and locked in battle, the pig was taken by surprise by the attack and the strength and agility of the lone wolf and was no match.

At this man was stunned, he recognised the wolf, and recognised it had been the second time he had been saved by the lone wolf, as he fell to the ground the wolf lay next to him and they slept. When man awoke the wolf was awake but now stood at a safe distance. Man then spoke to the wolf, told him that from then on, they had a pact that he would take care of him from then on, that they were bonded together like no other. The man told the wolf to come live in his compound, where he would be fed and kept and safe, he would build him a kennel where he would be safe and where he would be protected from all the other men, together they would make a formidable team, where they could hunt and gather and live well. The wolf was unsure, he had been hurt badly by the man before, but he relented, and it they did become a formidable team, and once while the wolf was sick, the man cared for him and fed him back to health, and the man began to prosper from the friendship. In time though the wolf became ill again, and this time the man admonished the wolf and forced him out into the wilderness to hunt, and slowly the wolf recovered, but he had noticed a change in the man. One night the man returned stumbling in the dark and cursing, he yelled at the wolf and then fell against the wall and slept, from a distance the wolf smelt the man was different, and it made him uneasy. The morning brought the man to his senses and even though in a foul mood the team hunted well, but the night brought the same, and as it went on, the yelling turned to beatings and after a while the wolf realised the kennel was not for his protection but for his imprisonment, and with that his mind was made up, on the following hunt the wolf just kept on going, he fled, never wanting to see man again. For weeks he could hear the man calling for him, crying for him, promising he had changed, but the wolf had been hurt to often, and vowed never to return.

Though he was getting older and a little greyer, the wolf was in great shape, being alone again in the wilderness had made him strong and powerful, and he hunted well, as he rebuild his territory, this had not gone un-noticed, he was first befriended by two weasels, they would follow him around, and to the wolf’s credit, he allowed them to do so, and they dined on, for the wolf would leave for them, but they squabbled amongst each other, as weasels do, but were always together when stealing, or taking more than their share, and this the wolf would not stand for, so with a terrifying growl, had made them understand that they were no longer welcome. In time he met a few more animals, there was the great big wild sow, he at first contemplated eating her, but as she was old, her meat tough and fatty, it barely seemed like much of a challenge, besides, he liked her company. They walked some way together, spending time together but it didn’t take long for the pig to show her true colours and her greed pushed her to challenge the wolf, baring her tusks and charging, but she was no match for the wolf, and in one swift tear, he tore through her throat, she died instantly, it brought him no pleasure and he didn’t even feed from her, just leaving her to the forest floor and critters to feed from her.

He had also met a rat, like all rats he had a lot of friends and the wolf used them to find good prey, they had a huge network and communicated well, leading the wolf to the prey. He hunted well, and fed well, always giving the rats their fair share of the hunt, but the rat was rotten with jealousy, he had a Napoleonic complex that blinded him to the reality of his station. The rat also listened to the bad advise of others, especially an ugly old toad that filled his head with lies.

Disillusioned by the encounters the wolf returned to what had made him happy, being alone, hunting alone. Time passed and he got older, but still had the cunning and prowess of a great wolf, though he was not as strong and fit as he used to be. One day while scavenging through the woods he smelled a familiar smell again, it lingered, but he could not quite remember where it came from.

Days passed and the wolf was once again hunting, this time the smell was stronger he followed it when suddenly he was trapped, a net had sprung and he struggled and fought snarling and biting but to no avail, and now he remembered the smell, man, man was back and he felt afraid again. They put something into him and he slept, fitful, angry dreams, all the encounters and betrayals that had happened, but eventually they subsided and the sleep was deep as death. At first it was just a sound, a drone that kept on an on, and slowly as the wolf awoke he found himself in darkness, unable to move, caged so tightly that even turning was impossible. He’s first reaction was to tear and lash out, but he could not move, he grew more and more afraid, and angry. The droning stopped and all of a sudden blinding light, and that smell, man, why had man done this? But before any answer came they put something in him, and sleep overcame him once more.

The wolf awoke from a wonderful dream of hunting in the wilderness; he had been chasing a dear through a clearing and about to pounce for the kill, when he woke with a jolt, as one often does in a dream. Slowly he began to focus, and lift his head, and the memories of the kennel came flooding back, the wolf was enraged he leapt up and tore at the cage and scratched at it, but nothing, nothing moved, he fought and tried to dig, but nothing. Suddenly one side opened and he took his chance and made for the opening, fleeing the kennel to freedom and the sunlight that poured in from the opening, only to be hit by loud noise and the intense smell of man.  He looked about, and it was a forest, he was elated, he ran as hard as he could, and after a few meters the forest ended, the wolf was baffled, and the noise and smell just grew louder, he turned and took off in the opposite direction into the forest but in a very short time again the forest seemed to go on but didn’t, he turned to the sound of water and ran towards it to find the creak, and then he saw it, the wall, the men, the cage. A large cage, made to look like the forest, but still a cage and man, lots of them, a never-ending stream of them.

As time passed and the wolf grew older, he became accustomed to his new cage, he was well fed, and though he had lost his wilderness, he still had those memories man could never steal, and late at night, when the full moon rose, he would still climb to the highest point and howl, long mournful howls, the kind of howls he knew ate at mans heart, he may be older, grey and less a tooth or two, but the lone wolf was still alive within his heart, and no cage or man could ever take that away.