Slipping Through My Fingers

I watch him stumble through my woods, his limbs flailing. The he's only two-legged creature I ever see in these woods, my woods.

Suddenly, he jerks and his head crashes into a tree trunk. He doesn't move again. My ears prick up as they pick up on sounds, the two-legged ones, panicked. I think they are searching for the one in front of me.

Out of the blue, my brain recognizes him, from some other time, before my wolf life. I owe him something. And, if he was desperate to escape the other two-legged ones, I should help him.

I silently make my way to him, my padded paws not making a sound on the damp ground. Nudging one of his limbs, I attempt to wake him. But he does not move. The other ones are coming closer, and I know I must get him away.

I grip the back of something around his body... Clothes some part of me says... in my teeth and begin to drag him away. It's a slow process, and it's a long way to my den, but something inside me senses the forest is no longer safe, and I can not leave this, this... Human... here to die.

Squirrels watch me from above, hanging from the trees. Birds squawk a warning of my approach. I ignore it, and work twice as hard, digging my paws into the dirt. These humans are heavy.

I make to my den, really just a hole, hidden amongst some rocks. But, the wetness from the sky...rain... can't get through the cracks.

I could not comprehend these new thoughts, where they were coming from. The back of my mind whispers, "You were once like him. You were part of him, and still are."

I look down at the human in front of me, sitting back on my haunches. He stirs, moaning slightly, and rubs his forehead. Grumbling, he turns his head towards me, and opens his eyes. I see the shock, the fear, the sadness. Does he think I will hurt him? Well, I won't.

To prove my point, I trot forward, and lick his face gently. Then, the oddest thing happens. He makes this throaty noise, a, a, laugh, my new brain tells me.

I tilt my head to the side, showing my confusion. "I must be dead. You can't be Grace," his voice drops lower, and says, "But those eyes, oh, your eyes."

He reaches towards me, and I let him place his hand in my fur, and I never could have imagines how right it felt. I shut my eyes, showing my trust. And then, I realize I understood his words.

A voice inside my head reminds me, "You were like them. You just have to remember."