The Wolf's Lament

The wolf lived happily in the woods, feasting on critters, running with his family, and enjoying his kills. But then one day something strange happened in the woods. Creatures on giant beasts came. They hunted in our woods until nearly nothing was left. The creatures cut down swaths of our forest limiting our home and hunting range. These creatures set up tents and started fires. At times the fires became dangerous destroying more of our lands. They did not live in harmony with the woodland.

The trees they chopped down became wood homes of various sizes. They also excavated stone and built large castles. These strange animals called it a village. They called themselves men and women. I did not know the difference except the man and the woman smelled different, much like the males and females in our pack. They all lived in these villages and these creatures did not smell like other prey in the forest. Groups of them would hunt the same food I ate. For my large family, the prey had become severely depleted. My sister, brother, and cousins, I needed to take care of our pack. We were beginning to starve and we were becoming desperate.

To feed my large family we needed more space and easier access to food. We decided to take a chance on the critters that roamed near the village. The creatures kept so many of these animals we didn’t think they would mind if we hunted a couple. But we soon realized the men and women who lived in the village were greedy. 

My family made our way to the village. I was the first to emerge from the trees and looked upon the vast expanse the creatures had cleared. Houses made of wood and fields like meadows stretched into the horizon. Since it was early morning many of the creatures were still inside their homes. A few of the animals they kept were in the fields. 

The animals they held on the fields had an unfamiliar smell. They were large, fluffy, and white. Different from anything I’d seen in the forest. The animals smelled similar to the creatures that cut down our trees and hunted our prey. Despite their interesting scent it still was pleasant enough to eat.

I watched the quiet scene of the village, while I waited for the rest of my pack to arrive. On my left, my sister emerged from the mist of the woods. Her coat was white and gray, a perfect blend to hunt in the fog. She glanced my way as my brother appeared on my right. Eyes an eerie amber and a dark gray coat, he’s bigger and taller than me. At the same moment, other wolves of our pack appeared from the deep mist overlooking the clearing surrounding a field of these fluffy, white animals. 

After a split second, I gave a nod signaling to proceed with the hunt. The wolves with my sister would attack an animal closer to their side of the field. I took the group that came with my brother to the opposite side of the field. A low howl came from me to signal the kill. We ran as fast as we could toward the strange animals. They began to run too, but they were slower than us and we caught up to the smallest one. The four of us jumped on top of it. The white, fluffy animal fell to its side as if giving up instantly. We began devouring it as it whined and struggled underneath our jaws. But we were too hungry to care.

Suddenly, a loud crack sounded in the air. I looked up. A tall man emerged from the buildings at the edge of the field carrying a long stick. A bright flash and smoke plumed from the end of the stick after the loud cracking sound. The sound was so frightening my brother’s group of wolves began to retreat into the woods. I growled slowly backing toward the trees. The man lowered his stick pointing it toward my sister. I looked her way as her group struggled to drag their kill into the woods. The loud crack sounded again and my sister stumbled backward, whining. Her group dropped their kill, but she could not get up and retreat into the mist where her fur would hide her.

I ran towards her, but another loud crack sounded and something hit the tip of my ear. I felt blood ooze and a trickle of it ran down the side of my ear.  Abruptly I made a sharp turn back towards the woods. At the edge of the woods, hidden behind a tree and shrouded in mist, I watched my sister lie breathing shallowly. She caught my eye. I howled in anger and sadness. She was dying and there was nothing I could do.  

A group of men and women ran out to where my sister had fallen, gathering their animals, and removing the dead one. The tall man with the long, loud stick walked up to my sister. He crouched and looked over my sister, touching her fur with its upper legs, and made a noise at her. The noise sounded like a growl, angry and full of fury. I grunted in return as I backed into the forest further, still watching the creature and my sister. The creature stood, still carrying the long stick in his hands. He pointed it at my sister, right at her head, and the stick made a loud crack again. Her blood sprayed up onto the creature’s body, but her eyes still looked at me. I howled. Then I looked back to the clearing. Now, the man had the long stick pointing towards the woodland, but it didn’t know where I was. Other howls erupted in the trees. The creature swung around wildly, and then another loud crack shot into the void of mist and I turned retreating into the trees.

As I trotted home I thought about how these creatures had taken our food and stripped our home of the timber we needed to hide us. We were starving and they had plenty of animals to eat. Why hunt the same animals as us, then leave us with nothing? These creatures were greedy, taking everything they could while leaving nothing for the rest of the critters. And why did they not hunt us as they had every other animal?

Lost in thought about how to lead my pack to food, I saw a flash of a figure in the distance. I slowed and watched. It was a small woman taking the path they carved in the woods to the second village flanking our small patch of forest. The small creature smelled of plants, unlike the large beings that smelled like the animals they kept. I had seen her before, but never thought anything of her, until now. The tiny woman was small enough to be decent prey.

Today the short woman wore a red hood and carried a basket. She often crossed the woods on this path to a one-room building at the edge of the second village. I knew the house as I’d seen her enter it on the way to my den. If these creatures destroy my forest, take the prey, and not share their animals, I only have one option left. I will hunt their smaller creatures to feed my family. 

I trotted parallel to her hidden in the trees and the mist. She stopped to rest some on the trail and ate a snack. This was my chance to get to that building she frequented first. This was my chance to feed my family and make the creatures suffer as I do for my sister. 

As I approached the house I looked for a way in. Circling the building I found a small space near the top of a wall. It was open and just big enough for me to fit through. I jumped up and into the opening. Inside was a room with a small table, a bed, a hearth, and an eating area. In the bed lay a woman, but it did not move. It looked as though she was sleeping. 

I carefully jumped into the house. Sniffing the air, I walked over to the big creature. Making sure the woman was sleeping I noticed she smelled of decay and rot, an unpleasant smell. However, I would still eat her, but only after I devour the small creature first. Walking over to the opposite side of the bed I lay on the floor hidden from the view of the entrance. I would wait until the petite woman in the red hood arrived to carry out my plan.

During the wait, I had fallen asleep, but then I heard the steps of something at the door. I turned my ears to listen as the door squeaked open, which made the woman in the bed stir. The creature was making small sounds as she walked in. It sounded like birdsong. She walked to the opposite side of the bed still making noises and the woman made noises back at her. The woman’s sounds were rough and weak. It sounded like it was dying.

No one noticed me as I rose to my legs. I jumped onto the bed, on top of the woman. My jaws opened wide. I clamped down on the neck of the bigger woman in the bed throwing my head back and forth in a twisting motion. As I tore away a piece of the woman’s neck I turned to the little creature with the piece I ripped hanging from my mouth. A loud screech came from the red-capped creature as she backed away from the bed towards the door. Then she turned and ran. I lept from the bed after her and caught her ankle. 

With her ankle in my mouth, I dragged her back towards the bed. She screeched and howled. Her claws dug at the floor. My mouth watered at the taste of her. This small creature could easily feed a couple of my fellow pack members. However, I could not lug her back to my den with her writhing in my grip the whole way. I lunged at her throat.

Before I could bite her neck the door swung open distracting me from my kill. Standing in the doorway was the tall man from the village, where we attempted our hunt this morning. This man must have tracked me here, hunting me down like I was the prey. He lifted his long stick at me as the small creature wiggled out from under me and crawled toward a corner of the room. A deep rumble came from the man before the loud crack erupted in the small house. I collapsed facing the tiny woman, my chest on fire. Her legs were tucked against her body. Front legs covered her head as she peeked at me through the crack between them. Then my world turned black and the last thing I heard was a lone howl echoing in the house reaching out to the woods.