Wolves and Men

His shoulder was being nudged and he opened his eyes to find the she-wolf had come back. She was obviously trying to tell him it was time to get up. She was incessantly grinding her nose into his shoulder.

“All right, all right I’m up. I’m up.”

He couldn’t be sure what time it was. The sun hadn’t risen yet and the world was still blanketed in darkness. He pushed himself up into a sitting position and stood up. The wolf had walked outside the cave and was looking out over the star filled sky. He walked outside the cave and the wolf started trotting along the crevice that had led them here.

He followed but sleep was still heavy in his limbs. “Can we at least walk for a bit?” The she-wolf stopped and looked back at him, the piece of denim shorts still in her mouth. The look she gave him was somewhere between, ‘don’t be ridiculous’ and ‘what? You can’t keep up?’ Well, he wasn’t about to let some four legged, she-beast slave driver get the better of him so he took a deep breath and forced his legs to move into a trot.

The wolf led him out into the crevice and picked her way along the crevice ridge. He followed suit. The light was all but nonexistent and he didn’t want to hurt himself in the dark. The stars were fading and the sky was a deep black. Dawn was approaching, he could see the purple horizon off to the east.

Even though the dawn was coming it wasn’t a good idea to let the she-wolf get too far ahead of him. The wolf seemed to know exactly what speed he was capable of holding. She stayed at a threatening distance from him. If he slowed down, he would lose her in the predawn darkness. She kept him moving at a pace that he had to exert himself to maintain, but it could be done.

He was surprised to find that after a few hundred yards his legs started pumping in perfect rhythm with the wolf. Even though his stomach was protesting the exertion and not at all happy at not having had been fed yesterday, he was still able to keep his body moving.

He stumbled on a lip in the rock. He swung his arms outward to regain his balance and a few steps later he was back in rhythm with the she-wolf. The sky was brightening with each passing minute, and he knew the sun would soon peak over the lip of the horizon, bathing him, his guide, and the mountains with sunlight.

He forced himself to keep pace with the wolf. They were running north and as he looked to his right, sunlight blazed forth, driving the shadows into retreat as they ran. He was almost instantly warmed by the bright light of morning. He closed his eyes and let the sun glare into his face. He found himself laughing at the warm rays of the new day. He opened his eyes not knowing where he was running with his eyes closed. He found he had veered off course and turned back to follow in the wolf’s footsteps once more. He looked back north in the direction they were running and, in the distance, seeming to float above the Earth, were snowcapped mountain peaks.

He knew he would not be able to survive the snow with only the clothes and equipment he had with him. A half pair of jean shorts stuffed in his pants, his long knife, a vest, and pants were not proper snow gear by any stretch of the imagination.

As he studied the snow-covered peaks in the distance the wolf turned to the west and started to descend a gentle slope. He followed and let his strides elongate to pick up speed while using less energy. His body was thankful for the rest, and he breathed at the easing of the run for however long the slight respite lasted.

As he ran down the slope of rock, he watched his wolf companion glide over the mountain. She was graceful and strong. Her tail shifted behind her, maintaining her balance. He watched as her muscles worked under her coat of black fur. She was an amazing animal.

He looked down to see where they were running to. The tree line was a sharp contrast to the barren rock they had been running on for these past few days. The pine trees here were brown. The lower half of most of the trees were dry and looked all but dead. That wasn’t a good sign if they were hoping to find water and he was thirsty, come to think of it. The trees were spaced apart from each other and offered very little protection from the elements or prying eyes.

As they passed through the outer line of trees and deeper into this particular part of the mountains, he was relieved to see that only those outermost trees were dying. Here, inside this part of the forest, the trees were spaced closer together and they were green. He was surrounded by strong tall woodlands that would have made a nice refuge. But he knew that they were not staying here, at least not for very long.

They ran east going deeper into the woods. The sunlight had very little power. The canopy above and around them was more than enough to block the sun’s rays. Here, in the shade of the forest, they ran upon the pine needle strewn forest floor. He watched as his guide darted and jumped in between the trees. He had a little trouble following her but they were on a small trail, so he knew where they were going if he lost sight of her a moment or three.

His feet were cushioned by the dirt and the pine needles of the forest floor and again he was surprised to find that he was keeping so strong a stride in his running. He should be close to passing out with exhaustion and hunger. His stomach was making itself known to him, but he found that he could ignore the grumbling and his body was responding well, almost too well.

They continued running east and the trees grew denser around them. The trunks began to hug closer to each other, and the shadows of the morning grew darker. The trail they were following all but disappeared and he was having difficulty maintaining his pace as more his attention was being forced to concentrate on not running into a tree and avoiding bushes, branches and stray rocks that had found their way into his path.

They continued to run on for a long while. His stomach, not liking being ignored, was making louder and louder noises and he was beginning to feel lightheaded. Nothing serious, he was sure that he was not going to pass out, but the sensation could not be shaken away either. That feeling persisted.