Sunrises
I remember running through freshly fallen snow, under a full moon, the wind rushing through my fur as my tail brushed the fluffy softness. My brown coat is sleek and thick. The hackles on my furry neck rise when I'm angry and the corners of my tawny eyes sometimes twinkle in amusement. I reach halfway up the length of an average man-thing. Now, as I lay on a thin layer of snow, my body soaked and frozen, I know that soon I'll return to Mother Earth's embrace. My brother and sister wolves crowd in protection around me, as if they can shield me from an event that's beyond their control. I don't tell them that their warmth doesn't stop me the chill form invading my tired body; they've already experienced enough hurt. Memories flood through my mind like a powerful waterfall, sunrises of summer long past. Some make me loll my tongue in laughter while others cause my eyes to glisten with salty tears. With a whimsical smile, I reflect on the sunrises of so long ago.
Crisp, cold air cleared my head and energized my body. A blue sky was decorated with puffy white clouds; the bright sun spread light over soft, green plains sprinkled with dew. A thick forest of towering evergreens and pines guarded majestic mountains that rose out of the earth, and commanded the awe of its viewers. All of these images warmed my heart and I thanked Mother Earth once again for the beauty of her creations. My heart sang to the heavens in anticipation. I could hardly keep my tail still, much less try to stop my legs from shaking. My paws tapped the earth impatiently and I tossed my head. "Come on! Let's ho!" I shouted eagerly. This day was special; it was The Hunt.
"Patience Kayita!" My mate, Shika, joked, his tongue lolled as he nuzzle me tenderly with his wet muzzle. I pretended to slap him with my paw, but he danced nimbly away, his face an expression of mock hurt. I pounced on him, and we wrestled.
"Got you!" I exclaimed, and my eyes twinkled, as I emerged on top of him. He licked my ear with his thick, pink tongue in response and I howled.
"All right, let's head out," our grizzled leader, Laitis, announced and he tilted his head in the direction of our trail. Laitis was the largest wolf in the pack, nearly double my size. He had golden eyes, but the most peculiar thing about him was his color- Laitis was as white as snow. We all responded to his command immediately; we would follow him through anything and respected all his decisions, even if we disagreed. Though we were ten strong, we moved together as one, and we loped connected in mind, boy, and spirit.
"Shh!" Laitis told us. We moved more quietly, as we approached our prey. About one hill span in front of us, I saw a herd of four legged things. That day, we had decided to take only one- the huge old four-legged thing with a lame and ripped ear. Torn Ear was in pain- it was his time to return to Mother Earth and give of himself to others. He was at the edge of the herd. My muscles were taut; I was ready for my moment. We advanced at Laitis' nod. Torn Ear raced away but I launched myself and caught him. I tore out his throat, his life and blood pulsating down my throat. I was sticky and covered in warm, crimson blood but I had never felt so alive. My brothers and sisters dined together, then dragged the carcass back to our home to feed our pups and elders
My heart pounded so hard and fast that I though it would burst. My entire body was as stiff as a stone. I wished that I could deny what I smelled and heard. "I'm so scared," I murmured to Shika. He pressed his warm body close to mine and nuzzled my face gently.
"Don't worry, Kayita, we'll get through this together." I buried my face in his fur. Laitis called our pack together. We ran towards him, crowded together and waited tensely as we stared intensely at him with golden eyes.
"I'm afraid that we can not ignore this any longer. The man-things advance as I speak. You can smell their hostility. They are just two hill spans away. We must all of us run."
Together, Shika and I ran blindly; our paws pounded the earth. Darkness slowly crept upon us, but I hardly noticed it. The man-things rode strange things that tore up the earth and spewed foul smoke. They fired their firesticks. I ran harder; my chest heaved painfully.
I gasped as I saw the firestick aimed straight at me. I heard the deafening crack and Shika leapt in front of me; the speeding stone tore straight through him. I cried out "No! Shika!" and raced to his side. His eyes were closed; scarlet blood soaked his fur and seeped onto the ground. There were no good-byes. "No!" I yelled again, and turned, ready to charge the evil man- things.
I smelled fear; they had retreated because of the darkness. I wanted to rip apart their throats and sink my razor sharp fangs into their stinking flesh but my sister, Shalya, blocked my path. "No let me avenge his death! They are so weak that they rely on firesticks and earthchewers to help them; they don't know how to use teeth and paws!" I growled, bearing my teeth.
"No," she said firmly. "Enough blood has been shed, and you know that Shika wouldn't want anything to happen to you and your young," Shalya gently touched my rounded belly with her muzzle. All the rage drained out of me; I collapsed in front of Shika and buried my face in his sticky fur. Shalya touched my shoulder with her paws and then left me alone to mourn my loss in peace
"Man-things!" I snarled and prepared to lunge, already tasting the victory of their bittersweet blood.
"No!" Shalya yelled, halting me with her paw. It had been one summer since my mate returned to Mother Earth's embrace. My young were born that winter and my immense love and responsibility for them was all that kept me going through their grief. I saw Shika in their eyes.
Those murderous man-things had robbed my cubs of their father, of even his memory. All that was left was an aching emptiness and loathing for man-things.
"Why shouldn't I kill these man-things?" I demanded. "They slaughtered my mate in cold blood!"
"Look," Shalya pointed to where two man-things were sitting, in brown and black, one with strange black hair on his face, and the other with almost none at all. "They don't have firesticks or those strange earthchewers. They just sit there with a sense of wonder. Maybe they're different. We need to check with Laitis." I shifted my gaze to the man-things that regarded us curiously. With an effort, I swallowed down the bile of bitterness that rose in my throat. When the sun set in the sky, our pack huddled together to listen to Laitis.
"None of us smell violence or hatred in these man-things," he began. "We only have detected curiosity, amusement, and tranquility. We don't detect any firesticks and earthchewers and we can't hear anything harmful. We have our honor; we will not pay back an eye for an eye, no matter how hard it is. For now, we'll keep two scouts to listen, smell, and inspect these
man-things." The scouts couldn't report anything amiss. For many moons and suns, the man-things just sat there, watching. The only thing they did was move a little closer to us every two or three moons.
That winter, our leader made a decision. "These man-things have caused us no harm. We smell only trust and goodness from them. I think that they wish acceptance, so we will welcome them into out pack." I disagreed with Laitis but his decision was final. The man-things were thrilled. They offered us dead roasted things, but we wrinkled our noses, declined politely, and let hem eat it. We named the man-thing with weird, Hairiva (hairy one), and the man-thing with hardly any hair we named Shinita (shiny one). We lived in harmony with Shinita and Hairiva.
Once, shortly after the sunset, one of my young by the name of Rashiva returned, bleeding heavily. I howled in sorrow and thought that Mother Earth would soon claim her. However, Shinita wrapped a strange thing around Rashiva and it healed her! I was grateful. I realized that not all man-things are evil
My body weakens and I know that I will return to Mother Earth's lasting embrace before the moon appears. My life has been a mixture of joy and sadness. I thank Mother Earth for the time that I have spent with her creations. I wish I could live to view the mates of my young; my heart tears over leaving them. Shalya says she will care for them and I know that she will be an excellent mother. I only wish that Shika had seen his young; his tail would stand high. Sometimes I yearn to tear out the throats of Shika's murderers but then I see the face of Shinita and his heroic act. It makes me ashamed of my earlier distrust of the man-things that are now a part of our pack. My tired eyes close and I can feel myself slowly start to slip away.
As I return to Mother Earth, I see Shika nuzzling me tenderly.
