Cry My Wolves Divine
21:41 Apr 14 2006
Times Read: 520
Cry My Wolves Divine
By: Sonya Haas
It happened one day
That I should come to misfortune
Hunting deer for my family
When the first signs of winter fell upon me
It was soft and powdery at first
Then it became angry and imposing
The white swirls clouding the scents and my vision
The icy shards piercing and nipping the coat I wore
So I sought desperately for shelter
Any small niche to cover my body
The cave hidden amidst pines was small
But then, I was never very big
There was no fire, no soft covering on the ground
But I never much needed fire or blankets
I never had need for any of it
I had myself to comfort me
The wind whistling in the cave was cold
It’s howling voice whispering to me
At first I thought it was my family
But it was merely the wind and fretfully that night I slept
I woke on the morrow to a startling sense
The frost bitten air prickled my nose
And my face and coat were sparkling
I rose achingly to see what had befallen
What met me at first was like a sword slash to the eyes
The white stuff glared in my face, blinding my keen eyes
I could not register what was around me
But as my pained eyes adjusted they saw
A world changed onto the one I used to know
A white blanket spread over the earth
The trees, grass, sounds, gone into a vowed silence
The sky was gray and unheeding yet it mocked my disposition
I knew not where I was
The paths I had traced were covered by the white stuff
And the chill made my limbs immobile
But through all the confusion and awe I felt I must move
My family would be waiting for news
Had I been successful in my hunt or had I failed?
I must hurry, a bad feeling registered in my mind
It itched at me like fleas and was demanding like hunger
All my hopes were crushed, everyone was gone
Nothing left save for a few prints and scrapes of my family’s last meal
Mere blood and bone strewn about the cave floor
I whimpered in fear and huddled in a corner of the shelter, filled with fear
I slept uncomfortably without my family’s warmth and love
I had only myself that night, alone and cold from outside
But somehow I made it through the night
But my dreams evoked strange sounds from my chapped lips
The next morning I knew I had to move
My family would be far by now; I had to catch up
There was not much time
The cold making their pace ever quicker to escape it
I followed, past marks
Past half indented prints by the white blanket
From a sound, to the unaiding sky above
Which mocked me in my fruitless journey for companionship
I followed until my limbs were sore and my soul weary
My nose was frozen like the saliva that came from my mouth
I was young, inexperienced
So with my wounded pride I made a small groove in the white stuff and slept
It was not long after in the twilight that I arose stiff
From my sleeping position and my eyes widened
Another storm had touched the earth
And my coat was covered in it so I looked like a woolly monster
It was crisp and clean
Untouched by the creatures that scampered about
Many smells touched my nose but I ignored them
I was thirsty that was all I cared about
I ventured down through the trees to a river
But some strange force had touched it
It was solid, like rock
And when I touched it and scratched at it, it was still the same
Curious I crept out onto it and licked at it
I did not realize my danger until I heard the snapping and breaking
My eyes wide and my mouth open I fell through
At once all was darkness
The torrent of the river swept me into its deadly embrace
The water was freezing and soaked my coat to my skin
It tossed me and slammed me on the bottom and against the surface
Everything was black as my last will allowed me to escape
A loose sheet had been my salvation
And despite my shock my endurance allowed me to stand
I stood up shakily and a scent made me look to my left
I ran over to it and found my strength
It was a fawn, not long touched my winter, still warm
My tongue and body longed for it
So my nails gained my access to the bloody warm meat
After I had finished I gave one last look of thanks and left
Another night I spent in the cold, with fever spreading in me
My family couldn’t be far now
I had now traveled four days
My will was strong, but my body was falling
That day I came to a cave
A strange one
With spears hanging down from the ceiling
And mouse sounds coming down upon me
I roared in anger at the furry fliers and they fled
I decided to entertain my curiosity and went further inside
I was greeted by ice moulds, making my body different shapes
Even a frozen underground lake, which I knew all too well about
I ventured into another part of the cave which was strange to me
There was no bottom but for a drop in front of me
This frightened me and I tried to leave but I lost my grip
I fell down through a slide and came out on the other side of the cave
I shook myself trying to rid the shivers
Then I continued on and with joy caught a scent of my family and ran towards it
I was not far now
And that night I slept with dreams of my family greeting me
Bang! Snap! I was woken abruptly by something crashing
I shot up from the hollow log I’d slept in and a thing shot at me, nearly slicing my ear
I cringed, my haunted eyes searching
Then I saw the act
A tree, filled with sap on the inside, frozen, exploded into pieces
Cowardly I ran as tree after tree splintered with cold
I howled for my family
Knowing that they would not come
At last I calmed down and began to slow my pace
I had not much energy but for the deer I’d eaten seven days ago
I was beginning to lose hope
But I knew I must not despair
Ahead of me, rising into the clouds was a mountain
Sighing a made my way up
The crags were slippery with ice
Twice I nearly fell but held on
On the third day on the mountain I encountered a large cat
She watched me with yellow eyes
And attacked at me, hungry for a meal
But I escaped her
I met a bear as well, but it just merely stared at me lazily
So I create around it
It just grunted and passed me by
That was the first bear I’d met alone
During my time on the mountain
I learned how to ignore pain
For instance, I had my ears frostbitten, but scratching at them warmed them
And for snow embedded in my coat I chewed it off
Finally came the day when I came out on the other side of the mountain
Victorious, as my muscles had built up
My body was bigger and stronger
Though I had not eaten
But not long after I savaged a deer on my own and ate a hardy meal
Over time my independence was getting more admirable
The loneliness since the experience on the mountain had subsided
And I was better for it; I was an adult at last
All these adaptations I had acquired in mere months
I had given up the hope of finding my family
I was my family now
I marked my new trails
I made a new den for myself
And earned a reputation among the animals
As lord over the forest
One day the mountain cat returned
And I battled it, tooth and claw
It hissed and spat, but I snapped and growled
Taking it down at last to the witness of other people I knew not had been there
Their leader snarled at me as I began to eat at my victory
I snapped back, ready to defend what I had won
The male stepped forward, back tense as his family stood back
And I calmly crept forward, my coat bristling
And we attacked
He went for my ears, but I got his leg
He tried my back but I punctured his jugular
Making him howl in pain and fall at last defeated to the ground
The females and younger males of my kind stared at his body
Then slowly one by one they came over to me
The alpha female whose mate was slaughtered by me joined my side
And when the night came I made my claim
The next moon we all rose to greet the night
And I was among them, standing tall and proud
With my female beside me
And my new family beside me, all howling in thanks
My old family may have left me for dead
But I nonetheless prevailed
In the teachings of the winter and grew up
And came howling, as the new leader of my new clan
Cry my wolves divine!
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