My Short Stories

The Lone Wolf

Once there was a cave not so far from here. In this cave lived a stone-coloured wolf. This wolf was called Wilfred. Wilfred lived alone, as his cave was far from any other wolves, or even civilization. His cave was in a mountain that was among a huge range of mountains.

Wilfred has been living in this cave since he was a pup. He suspects he was abandoned. For what reason, he has no idea. Wilfred catches a weak rabbit and eats it. He then curls up in a ball to go to sleep. It is then he realized how lonely he really is.

Wilfred wakes up when the sun shines brightly into his cave. He stretches. The wolf tries to catch another rabbit for his breakfast. He is unsuccessful. It seems like the rabbits are scarce up here in the mountains.

After Wilfred's failed attempt he begins his descent down from the peak. At first he blunders down the mountain, not watching where he steps. One of the Wilfred's paws lands hard on a jagged rock. He lets out a yelp of pain and limps over to a flat ledge in the rock. He begins licking the pad of his injured paw. Wilfred continues his decline while limping. He is being more cautious this time.

At sunset he reaches the bottom of the mountain. He sees a caribou in the distance. Wilfred tries using his best hunting skills but alas, he is unsuccessful once again. He has never had good hunting skills, probably because he never had anyone to teach him.

He finds a hole at the base of the mountain just big enough for him to fit into. Wilfred lets his sore muscles rest as he closes his eyes.

***

Wilfred wakes up at the light of dawn ready to take on a new day. Wilfred wiggles out of the crack and stretches out all his muscles, from his front paws to the tip of his tail. He plods on. The wolf spends his day trying to find his way out of the collection of mountains in this huge mountain range.

The trek takes him all day and he occasionally stopped at a stream to take a drink. Wilfred is panting as the hot sun beats down on his thick coat. He is used to the cold of a mountain top, not this blazing sun.

***

Our friend Wilfred continued on his journey. He had to go through snowy plains. Wilfred was walking along, the cold snow on his paws. This was the kind of climate he was used to. He was used to snow and cold winds because that is usually what the weather is like on his old mountain top home.

Wilfred is plodding along, feeling very determined. Snow starts to fall. A single snowflake lands on Wilfred's nose. Suddenly the wind starts to pick up. The snow starts falling harder. He is caught in a blizzard.

Wilfred looks in every direction in search of some shelter. He finds a huge tree that has fallen onto a large rock. It is just enough to protect him from the snow and some of the wind. Wilfred rests his snout on his front paws and tries to get some sleep.

***

The easiest thing he probably did was walk through a flowery meadow. He did keep sneezing though. Apparently his nose wasn't used to all the pollen in the air.

At this point Wilfred was not looking so good. His fur was matted and he was extremely skinny. He was so skinny that you could see his ribs.

This was due to the lack of food he had eaten on this journey. Since Wilfred had been alone his whole life he had not learned how to hunt properly. Usually wolf pups would be taught by the pack how to hunt. Usually a wolf could take down something like a caribou, but the biggest Wilfred has ever caught is a rabbit.

At last, after weeks of searching, Wilfred reaches a forest. This forest is very lush and thriving with life. It ts the greenest thing he has ever seen. He can hear the song of birds and sees squirrels running up and down the trunk of tall trees. They reach as tall as Wilfred's pale eyes can see. It seems as if they are touching the clear blue sky.

Wilfred triumphantly marches into the forest. He let searches for a bit, seeing if he can sniff out the familiar scent of wolves. Nothing. This is probably because he isn't really sure what other wolves smell like. He always assumed that it would be instinct to follow the scent of his own kind.

Wilfred decides to let out a loud howl, hoping that it would let the others know where he was. Wilfred had practiced howling a lot at his mountain home. It was one of his favorite pass times. He believed that he had perfected his howl. Little did Wilfred know, wolves usually howl to tell other wolves that this is their territory and that they should stay away.

Just then Wilfred hears a rustle in a bush nearby. His ears perk up. He is preparing himself to finally meet one of his kind.

A coyote leaps out of the bush and brings Wilfred down in one swift motion. He fights back with every ounce of strength he has. The coyote must have noticed how weak and skinny Wilfred was because of the lack of food. It also doesn't help that Wilfred had never fought before.

The coyote bit down hard on Wilfred's shoulder. He let out a loud yelp of pain. He tries to fight off his attacker. The coyote once again bites down on Wilfred's neck. Another yelp of pain but this one is more muffled.

Out of no where a she-wolf with a golden coat leaps at the coyote, knocking him off of Wilfred. The two of them fight while Wilfred tries to stand up. He can barley make it onto his front two legs before collapsing to the ground. He looks towards his rescuer, who seems to have won the battle.

Wilfred feels the blood slowly drain from his body. His eyelids start to flutter closed. The last thing he sees is the beautiful she-wolf with the golden fur. Our beloved wolf, with his stone-coloured coat and pale eyes, can now pass on in peace knowing how it feels to have another care for him.