Running With Wolves

I am running. I don’t know why. Dark forest encases me in its blackness. The only light is a shaft coming down ahead of me from the moon. Howls echo from behind me and suddenly I know why I am running. I run faster. They are getting closer. Those thick padded feet of the wolves beat like my heart, fast and rhythmic. I look down, my bare feet are covered in mud, and I am sinking into the wet forest floor. I look behind me. All I see is the darkness. Happy yelps erupt from their chests as they realize that I can’t see them, but I know they’re there. I look ahead again, grateful to see that the shaft of light is still ahead of me, and a shadow of something is forming in the distance. Hope that I will be safe in a few short moments floods my consciousness. I grasp it with all my strength and push myself harder. Huffs of air form clouds escaping from my mouth.

A growl escapes the lips of one of the beasts. I look back behind me to see a huge pack of wolves closing in on my heels. The ground slips out from under my feet and I fall into wet leaves. Wolves are completely surrounding me now. I take them in with wide green eyes. One steps ever so closely to me and I shiver as it licks my face, its wet, dangerous teeth millimeters from my face. I look into its eyes, childlike and gentle. The seemingly lone wolf retreats. I am alone. Out of the darkness ascends seven more wolves. They give me the same greeting, a lick on the face, their childlike eyes staring into mine. I keep myself calm by reciting poems, stupid childhood poems. But then again, I am a stupid child. They run circles around me now. Their motions create a strong wind that whips the skirt of my dress and my dark hair around, pulling it up and down as it pleases. I try to hold it down, but to no use. The wolves move faster and faster like we are in some kind of dance. I breathe in the midnight air, its scent mingled with the wolves’. My hands, which are at my hips, lift up. I begin to spin and sing, howl really; I feel myself sink deeper into the wolves’ mystery and excitement. My lips curl back to reveal my strong, white teeth, and my eyelids pull wide to now large, black pupils in the green.

Low growls come from somewhere in the forest around me. I stop spinning; stop breathing. The dance with the wolves has stopped. They all look around. I notice that their tails are tucked between their legs. They whimper. I close my eyes, listening. I look around; no more wolves. I hear a heavy pant behind me.

I turn around and find that two large wolves sit behind me. Their eyes, cutting through the darkness and glaring into mine, are not childlike, but devilish. They are dark, almost black and I can barely see them as they move towards me. They lick their lips. Red blotches there are revealed by the moon. Whimpers escape my lips as I realize that it is blood on their lips and that they are galloping towards me. I collapse like a ballet dancer at the end of a performance, lifting my hands over my head, my legs bending, and my lips silently praying. The prayers do me no good. The wolves bite at me, ripping my skin and dress. Hot, sticky blood drips onto the leaves beneath me. One of the wolves mistakenly goes for my leg, which I thrust out at it and I hear a bone crunch. I watch, horrified, as it recovers quickly and bites me again…

I scream. It’s dark, but I’m inside now. The moonlight turned silver my bed sheets and the sheets of my brothers and sisters. I stare at their faces, calm and deep in slumber. Relief flashes through me. I am safe inside my little house with no wolves or unknown darkness. I close my eyes again, and I am fast back to sleep.