Heart Of Gold

Out Of The Frying Pan ...

Jake reached into the party-size box of Timbits between himself and Will, cramming two chocolate ones into his mouth before reaching for another. Dirt cheap and filling, they were the breakfast of champions during a long, cold drive down the highways of northern Ontario.

To be honest, they were also the lunch, dinner, and sporadic snack of choice too.

Jake stared out the window, enjoying the rocky landscape outside. There was something about the land up here in the Canadian Shield that spoke to him, even in the dead of winter.

It's rugged, he thought to himself, smiling. No one has bothered to try and contain it.

The sparse trees and mounds of ancient rock seemed to roll on forever. Jake couldn't imagine how any of it would ever fade into fertile prairie soil. 

At what point did the land decide that it needed a change, that it was time to soften and spread out into the endless, grassy prairies and then again to rise up into the jagged peaks of the Rocky Mountains? It boggled his mind, the sheer perfection of the way the land melded together. 

Not that he would say that out loud, of course. Will would probably laugh and ask if he was high.

He was, just a tiny bit, but that was beside the point. 

So he reached for another Timbit and chewed slowly as he mulled the concept of Canada over in his mind. All of the boundary lines of provinces and territories, the different landscapes and cultures and histories - it was pretty cool, when he stopped to think about it. He hadn't done much travelling yet but Jake couldn't think of any other place that was quite like Canada. 

While most of his friends from high school were heading overseas to look for work in London or Washington or New York, or taking gap years travelling around Asia, Jake was determined to make a life for himself here. 

If that meant leaving everything behind in Toronto and moving to a city he'd never seen before, then so much the better. There was something inside him that just wasn't satisfied sitting in his parent's basement, that craved the great, wide unknown of an open road.

Jake cradled his black coffee, taking a careful sip. They'd left the motel in Sudbury early and powered through the morning, up along the winding stretch of Highway 17 that would take them into Manitoba late that evening. Powered by Timbits and caffeine, they should make it through the Shield and into the prairies with energy to spare.

"Let's stop for a minute," Will said. "I need to take a piss."

He pulled over and hopped out, walking down the road. Jake hopped out as well and wandered down a small hill at the side of the highway. Unzipping his pants, he spelled his name in the snow before quickly zipping up again. It was too cold to linger and he turned to head back to the car before a low, rumbling growl stopped him in his tracks.

Shit.

Jake turned, slowly, and found himself facing with a lone grey wolf. A rumbling snarl erupted in its throat as the wolf bared its fangs.

"Will!" Jake shouted as loudly as he could.

Judging by its size, Jake assumed the wolf was female. 

Not like that's going to make much of a difference once it sinks it's teeth into me though, he thought grimly. 

The wolf growled as it started slowly towards him.

"Will!" Jake's heart pounded and the adrenaline rushing through his veins made him oblivious to the cold that, seconds before, had been his main preoccupation.