The Wolf & The Angel

That morning he had hunted field mice and prairie dogs from under the late winter snow. Hard but fun work, with a great wolfish smile he pounced where he smelled their little bodies, crushing some, stunning others just long enough to get them in his long jaws, bite down, and swallow them up. 1

Most escaped him, but there were plenty rushing around in the little under snow burrows for him to miss some and catch enough to have him a suitable meal. 2

Dawn was just breaking over the forest, the newly born light bathing the wood in gold’s and reds. This was long before the humans came. For the time being it was just he; and the rodents, and the morning light. 3

It had been a sudden sound, a sound that was more a shuddering in his body than able to be sensed with his ears, and he’d heard it from a long way off. He had just knocked a prairie dog on the side of the head, stunning it when the crashing noise made him look yonder and perk his ears. 4

As the very lucky prairie dog started to stumble away the wolf began to bound toward where the noise had come leaving those of the field to themselves.5

In the clearing by the stump under which the old badger lived, just beyond the spiny bush; the wolf came upon, at least what seemed to him, a massive bird. 6

It's long body was featherless but not the wings; their feathers were dark and rich like earth and glinted on the edges with gold not unlike the dawn light. 7

The wolf sniffed at the air around the thing and smelled something akin to fog, though not quite. The smell made him want to sneeze. 8

He watched it for a while, nose to the ground as he took in the air. The Thing was alive, it’s chest heavy with the rise and fall of breath. Time passed and the wolf laid on his stomach, inching toward it every so often. The Thing didn’t seem to notice him, unmoving in the center of the clearing.9

Obviously not food; the Thing kept up his curiosity and the wolf stayed, staring at its strangeness. He knew all the creatures of the wood, what could this be?10

As the sun was setting and night began to envelop the woods once more, the Thing stirred. It’s great shinning eyes opened and pierced the wolf with the look in them.11

It struck fear in the animal. This fear was nothing like the fear found when he faced a great bear, nor was it even like the fear that he found from peering into the slit eyes of the mountain cat. No, this fear chilled him much more immensely, and made him step away askance even as he was indeed a brave wolf.12

The Thing found its hands and began to rise, those great wings unfolding; so much bigger than those of any bird the wolf had ever seen. The Thing watched the wolf, who had flattened his ears submissively and backed away a step or two to show he meant no harm. 13

The Thing must have understood to some degree because his sharp eyes moved from the wolf to the wood surrounding, the many sounds, and smells. The wolf began to wag his tail uneasily, but not in an unfriendly manner. He had only seen three summers, and this was his first winter outside the pack, perhaps there was a friend to be made here as he had made friends with the ravens. 14

For the longest time the Thing just stood there, looking around, looking at his strange hands and the wolf just watched him, just stared, the wolf’s eyes never settling for too long on the eyes of the stranger.15

The stranger watched him off and on, always with an unsettling gaze. When he did watch him, the wolf noticed, the fog smell got stronger and once even as the Thing’s gaze settled on him the wolf couldn’t stop himself and sneezed.16

The Things eyes, the Angel’s eyes, frowned and his perfect brow furrowed in confusion. For some reason that expression softened the Angel’s face and made the wolf just a slight bit more comfortable with him, and the wolf, in a little friendlier way, wagged his tail from side to side. 17

The wolf was the one to further break the long stillness between them. He hopped up in the air with all four paws off ground and wriggled his lithe though muscular body into funny angles.18

He landed with a laugh in his eyes, tongue lolling lazily out the side of his mouth. The Angel had stepped back at the sudden movement, but as the wolf danced for him again and landed, and laughed the Angel got the joke, and returned it with an uncertain kind of smile.19

The wolf knew right then that there was a chance for friendship here, and yipped excitedly at the new comer, who started some at the sound. The wolf then made it a point to run past the Angel, not to close though, toward the far end of the clearing where he stopped and looked back at him. The message was clear: Come on.20

The Angel after a moment of consideration, at a lack of anything better, followed. 21