365 DAYS 365 TALES

Wild, Or Not?

The stranger dog swiftly acknowledged the opponent's supremacy and found himself struggling beneath that terrible antagonist, thrashing under the paws of that merciless hound. With a whimper, the stranger dog found himself elapsed in the land of utter darkness.

The antagonist left the body by the shore which had been snow covered. The cool breeze shivered under him. His face and body was scored by the brawls he had fought and won, though long ago he had learnt the law of club and fangs. No matter what valor or breed were the opponents of. They found themselves tethering under him.

Through time, he became more fierce and shrewd. He had lessoned from the greatest warriors of their times and knew he had to master or be mastered. He knew mercy lead to death and so he obeyed the rules of devil with devotion.

Sprinting through the snow, he caught the whiff of smoke. Piercing screams shook the valley. He took the sharp turn and found the origin. Racing towards the clouds of soot and smoke, he found himself in the clearing. A house was burning down to ruins and amidst the burning wooden walls and hungry flames rising up trailing clouds of blackened toxics was a girl of seven sitting on the floor. The inside of the house were now almost smoldered.

Her cheeks stained with tears and smut, coughing in fits of cries.
"Mamma... mamma!!" her wails were nothing short of the fear and desperation of surviving.
He stood there watching her intently. The girl crawled a little ahead but stopped on the steps, she could no longer descend the stairs without her clutches. Searching for the pair, she hassled around but perhaps she had left them in the room upstairs. She started crying again, her eyes burning with the itch of flames around.

He looked at her and suddenly their eyes met as if soothing her. The cries stopped and she looked at him with her big round and intriguing eyes. He strutted forward while she kept an eye watching his every move. He could feel heat of the diabolic flames. The instant he was about to take a step ahead into the house, a rock sized chunk fell onto the floor from the ceiling blocking the path. He halted just in time and even the girl shook her head wildly, "No don't come. It hurts."

He gave her one last look and ran outside towards his cave. What he even had to do with others? Yapping loudly he shook his head and went inside. Banishing all the humanly thoughts inside him. He was a beast and cruel. He was not going to ever save anyone.

Closing his eyes he tried to drift to sleep but something was not right.
He heard voices. Voices of the humans, with whom he spent his early years. The boys who gave him meat to eat, he used to run around the busy streets before he was chained and beaten mercilessly with clubs and landed into the wild world of fangs, slings and sledges. It had been around for nine long agonizing years of loneliness and primal wilderness.

Raising his head and straining ears he knew now that something terrible had happened. Dashing through the path with speed of a vigilant sergeant, this time he didn't stop even when the logs consumed by flames teased and marred his skin. His howls were controlled by gritted teeth.

Inside it was dark, but he knew what to do. Each time he caught the smell of wood, musk and fire flavored with faint scent of human flesh. His mouth watered. Fighting those instincts, he quickened towards the source and found the girl unconscious behind the burnt sofa. Her pulse faint and hair marred with sweat lying unconscious. How she landed there he didn't need to know. He caught a mouthful of her collar and dragged the body outside.
The girl lay there motionless. Perhaps she had died. He licked her face and barked. Taking a round of the periphery, he found a barn with some water. He tugged her body and laid her inside. There were still some of the logs burning. He took one in his mouth yelping as the fire claimed his mouth. He howled but took it again. This time with precision.

All night, he guarded the girl.

The morning came with a blaze of sunshine. The sap were rising from the pines. Squirrels were chattering, birds singing and occasional honk of the wild fowl split the air.

"Look there she is, "someone cried. The voice shook him from the sleep and he stood attentive.

A lady in her early thirties ran forward towards the girl. Sensing the danger, he stood ahead in defensive mode barring his sharp canines and snapping angrily.

"Lo- ahold, Martha, that's a canine, stay back. I shall deal with this devil." The man in snow boots stated.

"Whatever you wish to do, do it quickly. I want my daughter." She was fearing for her daughter's safety. And fear she should. Because the one in front of them was the deadliest of the fighters.

"Let the girl go, you beast or else I'll spill your guts out, "the man initiated the war.

All that did was produce a whisk of laughter in form of howling sounds and saliva dripping through his sinister mouth. His mouth now charred with last night's burn. He looked at the man in the eye as if daring to comply the statement he made just a moment ago. A silent fight bubbling under him spiking his adrenaline. Ignoring the barrel of gun in the hands he pounced upon the man making the gun fall flat aside.
It was a fight of claws and teeth. He knew he was gaining the upper-hand. Suddenly, the man seethed at him with a knife and dunked it in the abdomen. The soft flesh was pierced like butter. Blood oozed out. A howl of pain passed his lips. Staggering for a second, he dived onto the man's face. Satisfied with the cry of the man whose face he had just gnawed.
Footsteps came near but he was too engrossed to bite and claw at the enemy. With a shock he fell backwards. Warm blood oozed from the base of his neck. A bullet had just penetrated leaving a ringing sound in his ears. With a kick to his already spilling guts, a yelp escaped him.
Several men came and carried away his enemy now a messy pulp.

"Damn, that was so close, Thank God. I came in time and shot this scoundrel." The murderer took a deep breath of relief.

"That you did, now let's dispose off this mutt." his fellow compiled.
His ragged breathing gradually left him and he floated in the never ending dreams of the happy days with his early master.

Riya60