In The Woods

In the Woods

Jeff Otken

It was howling that woke him. Permeating his dreams, and slowly drawing him from slumber. He didn’t mind so much; he had hoped he would get to hear the wolves this trip. The memory of the eerie howl echoed through his mind, but he had been so soundly asleep he couldn’t tell how far away it had been. He lay with a patient eagerness in his sleeping bag, awaiting the reply that would undoubtedly echo back across the forests and mountains any moment. It was one of the rare treats of his weekend excursions into the mountains. The baleful and lonesome songs of the pack as they ranged across their home.

A reply drifted back from over his head. His thoughts raced for a moment, “Northwest. About two miles. Maybe from the side of that sharp short peak I hiked earlier today.”  It wasn’t easy to gage such things in the mountains, but he had spent many a night in these woods and knew them well. It was low at first, rising sharply in pitch and volume, then dropping away as quickly to a smooth throaty moan, which lingered long in the crisp night air. “Wish I could understand what they were saying.”

Something stirred out in the woods near his tent, and his head turned automatically to the right, to listen more closely to the unusual noise. Silence returned. “I probably scared whatever it was away, the way I’m rustling around. Some poor woodland creature, out for its late-night foraging. Frozen in place by this ‘strange creature’ in a flashy colored sack, while the hunters are howling in the distance.” His focus returned to the usual melody of noises of the woods, and he thought over how enjoyable this trip had been. Thought back to only two weeks earlier, when he had invited one of his best friends and his wife to join him.

“It’s too late in the season.” Had been his friends reply.

“They don’t know what they're missing.”

Another howl, this one from the south, rolled up past his feet to his ears. Its near sorrowful tones rose and fell like the seas on a windy day. “That must have been where the first came from. The one that woke me. Not quite the same, but I was asleep. Couple miles off maybe.”   A grin spread across his face at the thought of getting to be right in the middle of their ‘conversation’. He adjusted himself in his sleeping bag, pulled his pillow tight under his neck, and got comfortable for what he hoped would be a long operatic exchange.

The wind obliged the moment, stirring the trees, bringing with it a refreshing waft of pine that filled his tent. The moon played its part scattering light through the dancing branches above him, supplying a moving picture show. He listened hard for the creature near him in the woods. Nothing. “Probably ran off, and I didn’t hear it for the wind. Or it doesn’t know which way to run. Probably too small for a wolf anyway.” He lived for nights like this, when all the world set about showing off its grandeur, with a symphony that no orchestra could ever hope to match. He closed his eyes as let himself get lost in the world about him; every rustle of the leaves as they caressed over one another within the trees, or subtly crunched and flapped across the ground while being thrown here and there; the creaking of branches near and far, like a chorus of old rocking chairs; the chirping and chattering of an untold number of insects and birds; and the occasional stone coming loose from some rocky mountain face, its clattering fall echoing for miles.

Out of the north drifted another howl. This time it started higher, then wavered lower and lower several times before stopping. It was closer this time, which brought a pang of apprehension, but despite it his grin spread wider across his face, and he reveled in the slightly dangerous thrill that the play unfolding about him brought. There was a stirring in the woods beside him again.

He smiled at the side of his tent. “Still there? I thought it would have run off by now. Safer here with me anyway. They don’t like people. They shy away from us.”

He had scarcely turned his gaze when another howl rose from the south. It was closer as well. A long slow moan that dropped deeper and deeper as it faded away. Despite how much he was enjoying it all, his apprehension could not help but develop into a slight worry. It played at the edge of his mind, reminding him of the places he had hiked to that day. Places to the north, the south, and out to the west as well. He closed his eyes. “Stop worrying. Don’t ruin this for yourself. There’s never been a problem before, and there won’t be this time. They range all over these mountains. Relax and enjoy your weekend. It’s the last one of these you’ll get for a few months.”

He breathed deep a few times, listening a little closer to the wind in the trees, opened his eyes and focused his gaze on the moonlight that danced across the top of his tent. The creature in the dark moved again, this time what sounded like several small hops or steps. He imagined a rabbit foraging nearby, its instincts taking over at the first howl, and freezing it amongst the bracken so it appeared as little more than a part of the woods. But his concentration was broken by two overlapping howls from the west.

His heart was beginning to race, and he sat up as he began thinking about what he should do if they got too close, when another howl, noticeably closer, came from the north again. “Half mile at best.” He said almost breathless. He felt about for his flashlight, while the conversation he had with his best friend began replaying in his mind.

“You guys gotta come with me. Every leaf that can turn, will be bright red by now, some of them gone already. Weathers supposed to be clear and chilly. We’ll be out on the far slope I like. It’ll be perfect.” His face had had a distinct ‘used car salesman’ grin to it as he put forth the offer.

“Gotta pass. Too late in late in the season. You know that. My dad always told me never go up there this late in the year. Too dangerous. Bears, wolves, elk; they get more unpredictable.” His concern had been obvious, though it was quickly dismissed.

“Suite yourself. I’ll take video for ya though.” He had been almost mocking. “You can enjoy it from the backyard, while you grill me a steak.” They had laughed.

His friends worry had returned quickly though as he offered, “Be safe man.”

“I always am.” 

Regret washed over him, made worse as another howl came up from the south, quick and almost yowling, followed by the echoes of stones clattering down a rocky embankment. He was certain he knew which one. “That's just a few hundred yards!” He clicked on his flashlight, hurriedly put on his coat, and grabbed his phone. He fumbled with the zipper of the tent, desperately trying to open it. The sounds of the wolves running through the woods, snapping twigs, and tearing through brush, could be heard in the distance.

His mind flashed for a moment with the thought of the creature in the woods, as he fought with the zipper. He mindlessly warned it, “Find somewhere to hide! I gotta get up a tree and call the rangers!” A reply came back to him, freezing him with terror. A baleful howl, almost deafening. A howl just like the one that had woken him. One he understood perfectly. It was late in the season. And it had found food.