Under the Stars

“I was outside looking up at the stars, waiting for the meteor shower when I first heard it. A wail that sounded like the claim of death. It echoed again and again into the dark abyss of the night. Ten minutes later it stopped and I never heard it again.” 

“Not even till this day, grandpa?”

“Not even till this day, Mike. And believe me, I never wanted to hear it again. It was the sound of anguish, the sound of utter agony. Like having your limbs ripped from your body or seeing the death of a loved one.”

“Whoa...”

“Long after it faded, I sat there looking up at the stars unsure of what to do. Should I just go home or wait for the meteor shower? At this point, I was too scared out of my skin to really do much more sittin’. A couple of minutes later I was all packed up and ready to go back home.”

“So...did you just leave, grandpa? You didn’t stay to see the star shower?”

“Well, I wasn’t going to, Mike. But something, I don’t know what, held me to my car. I couldn’t seem to find the strength to even turn the car on. It’s like something was keepin’ me from leaving.” 

At this point in the story, Mike’s eyes were as big as saucers. “Weren’t you scared, grandpa?”

“Of course I was, son, but that didn’t seem to matter at the time. No, something was there that didn’t want me to leave. Against my better judgment, I got back out of the car.”

“Grandpa, no! You didn’t!”

“Oh but I did, Mike. And though some people call me crazy, I believe that that was the best choice I ever made. Though I didn’t know it at the time.”

“What happened next, grandpa?”

“Well as soon as I got out of the car it felt as though something or someone was staring at me. I was tempted to turn around but at the same time I was scared of what I might find if I did.”

“So what did you do? Did you turn around? Did you?”

“Just slow your horses there, Mike. All in good time, all in good time. Now where was I?”

“At the part where you felt something or someone staring at you.”

“Ah yes. Well, the first thing I did was to back up carefully until I felt the car at my back. Only then did I glance around.”

“What did you see, grandpa?”

“Well nothing at first. Just the darkness of the forest surrounding me. And then it happened.”

“What? What?”

“I saw it. A flash of movement off to my left side. Turning my head ever so slightly, I looked and there it was.”

“There what was, grandpa?” 

“The most frightening thing that I ever did see. A mama wolf with pups. Now mama’s of any wild animal are extremely dangerous and best to avoid. As I stood there stock still with fear, she started to come at me. Real slow and quiet like. If I wasn’t lookin’ straight at her, I never would have known that she was coming.”

“What did you do next?”

“Well I just stood there and waited for her to come to me. When dealing with a wild animal you never want to make any sudden moves. If you scare ‘em it might be your death sentence.”

“Whoa…!”

“She came on up to me and kinda jerked her head to one side. I didn’t really understand what she was getting at so I didn’t make any sudden moves just to be sure. She seemed irritated that I wasn’t moving and so she came even closer, forcing me up against the car. Stretching her neck forward, she grabbed my pant leg in her teeth and tugged. It was like she wanted me to follow her.”

“She...she actually grabbed your pant leg? Were you scared? What did you do, grandpa?”

“Yeah she did. I was a bit scared but mostly curious. Taking the lead, I started toward the forest and she followed me.”

“Where did you go, grandpa?”

“Steady now, Mike. Don’t get ahead of the story.”

“Sorry, grandpa.”

“Eh, no problem. Now where was I? Ah yes. So we headed off into the trees and almost right away she picked up a pup and took the lead. Being the smart guy that I am, I followed her. She led me right to a gully. And way down at the bottom of it was a pup. A small, little thing that kinda looked like the runt of the litter.”

“Huh. Well why didn’t she just get it herself, grandpa?”

“Well you see Mike, the sides of the gully were quite steep and I’m not sure if she could have climbed back out especially holding that pup.”

“Wow. Did you go down, grandpa? Did you help her?” 

“I did, Mike. I tried to get down to kind of a sittin’ position then I slid down the side of the gully. It was mighty steep and almost took my knee off near the bottom. It took me a while to get close to the pup, I didn’t want to scare the little guy. Now you listen up, Mike. When you’re easin’ up to a young wild animal you have to be very careful. You don’t want to spook it or have the mama mad at you. You got that?”

“Yes sir! I got that. Don’t spook the pup or the Mama.” 

“Good boy. When he finally calmed down enough to let me near him it turned out that the pup had a sharp thorn sticking out of his front paw. It looked like it had been there for about a week.”

“Oh! Poor little guy!”

“Yeah. He was scared and it was pretty infected too. Hey, do you remember that big, comfy coat with the really big pockets that your dad got me for Christmas last year?”

“Yeah?”

“Well, I was wearing it that night because it was cold out and did you know that those pockets are the perfect size to fit a wolf pup?”

“Wow, really?”

“Really.”

“Honest? You’re not joking?”

“Honest. I’m not joking, I promise.”

“Whoa… What happened next?”

“I picked him up ever so gently and opened the pocket so that I could slide him in. He didn’t want to go at first, he was a fiesty thing. He kept squeaking at me till his mama growled at him and then he stopped. Maybe she was telling him that he could trust me.”

“Cool!”

“After I put him in my pocket, I made sure to get a good grip then I started to climb. It took me a couple of tries to get to the top. The sides of the gully were quite slippery and I kept falling. Eventually I reached the top and worked the little guy out of my coat. He was really happy to see his mama.”

“Wait, grandpa! What about the thorn in his foot? Did you get it out?”

“Oh right, I forgot about that. Well I had to take him back to the car for that. I had my toolbox in the trunk from the other day when I was fixing that leaky pipe in your mama’s kitchen. I had a very small set of tweezers that happened to be the right size to get the thorn out. I lightly bandaged his paw then set him on the ground for his mama.”

“Aww! They’re back together.”

“Yes Mike, they were. She dipped her head at me as kind of a ‘thank you’ then picked up her pup and headed back into the woods.”

“Did you go home right after, grandpa?”

“Well, you see, I was going to Mike but as I was putting the toolbox away, guess what I looked up and saw?”

“The star shower?”

“The star shower. I didn’t bother for a blanket but just stretched out on the ground and watched the stars go by.”

“Hmm. I’m glad everything worked out, grandpa.”

“Me too, Mike. Me too.”