WOLF IN THE WOODS

A chance encounter with a wolf in the woods.

    Autumn in the wilderness. I really loved it. The cool crisp nip in the air. The beautiful changing color of the leaves. All the fiery yellows, reds, oranges and browns. All so beautiful. I wandered here in the heart of the wilderness loving being alive. I could hear the sound of rushing water nearby. I headed in that direction. I loved it out here. I wanted to be no where else. I loved my life here in the deep forest.

     I made my way through the forest heading toward the river. As I made my way around a large group of boulders I came face to face with a deep dark grey wolf. I was so startled I couldn't at first accept what I was seeing. A wolf. A wild wolf! Once I accepted what I saw I was so wildly excited. The wolf stood there looking at me out of intense yellow eyes. Intelligent eyes. There was no doubt about that. The wolf swished its bushy tail back and forth a few times. The wolf's ears were erect and turned toward me. It's head was held high, proud like. I took a deep breath and smiled. “Hey wolf.” I said softly.

     The wolf gave a little yip. I laughed quietly, not wanting to make any loud noises to frighten the wolf away. It stood there and I stood there. We stood facing each other. I wondered what would happen if I started walking. I couldn't stand here all day just facing the wolf and having the wolf facing me. Well, I decided, I wanted to reach the river so I needed to get going. Hopefully the wolf wouldn't get scared. I started walking forward. The wolf watched me as I walked by, not moving back or anything. It acted like it wasn't scared of me. I smiled. How cool, a wild wolf and it's not afraid of me.

     Walking through the forest, pushing the thin limbs of underbrush out of my way as I made my way toward the river, I glanced back and saw the wolf was following me, keeping an even distance between us. My smile grew. How exciting. The wolf was following me. This is so exciting. I knew my friends probably wouldn't believe me but I didn't care. The wolf following me was beyond belief but what a wonderful thing.

     I reached the river. It was beautiful. Wild cold water splashing over the rocks as it rushed around a bend and out of sight. The colorful leaves drifted down from the fall trees growing along the rivers banks. A cool breeze rustled the leaves of trees and bushes. Several ravens called as they winged overhead.

I found a large rock to settle down on. With a sigh I glanced around thinking this was my personal paradise. I wanted to be no where else. I had a cabin a few miles from here in the heart of the forest where I'd be returning to soon. I glanced back to the path that I took to get here and saw the wolf was sitting nearby, tail wrapped around its paws, watching me. Its muzzle was parted and it was panting. I could see its white fangs and pink tongue lolling out of the side of its muzzle.

     “Are you coming home with me?” I said to the wolf softly. I didn't think the wolf would come home with me but I felt compelled to ask anyway.

     The wolf cocked its ears and made a woofing sound. I smiled. This was so cool I couldn't believe it. I wished I had my camera so I could at least consider taking a snapshot of the wolf just so people would believe me. But I didn't have one so there wasn't even the possibility. Oh well. I took deep breaths of the clean crisp air. I watched the autumn leaves falling with a spiral down to the river where the waters carried them away.

     I sat there for a long time, just enjoying the wildness of the place, enjoying the sounds of the river and the ravens that were flying back and forth overhead and the presence of the wolf. Thinking of the wolf I turned to look in its direction. It was gone. I couldn't help the feeling of disappointment that washed over me like a tidal wave. I sighed and stood up. Time to head back to my cabin before it got dark. As I started along the path heading away from the river that would take me back to my cabin I hoped that the wolf would show up again.

Reviews

[Evil Duncan]

A nice little tale which I enjoyed reading. Was it based on an actual experience?

There is some nice descriptive work here like the leaves: "All the fiery yellows, reds, oranges and browns." And some nice points of detail like the sound of rushing water nearby and the calls of the ravens which really give the reader a sense of the picture you are trying to paint without going into laborious detail.

Occasionally your sentences felt a little repetitive, in the first paragraph you say: "I really loved it." then "loving being alive" then "I loved it out here." and "I loved my life here in the deep forest." So perhaps think about being a bit more economical with your superlatives!

Otherwise I liked your style, it was very easy to read, and the story itself was quirky and out-of-the-ordinary enough to keep my attention. Thanks for sharing!

[KATHY SUE SILLS]

An awesome story to read! Love the adventure in it!

[Tina Kline]

Thanks so much!

[KATHY SUE SILLS]

Welcome!

[Eric Cox]

Cool. A very cool encounter with a wolf, penned so nicely. Excellent job!

[Black Cat Fever]

Fun adventure story, very enjoyable read. I like wolves. I hear them around my home once in a while. I like that too. I'm not a wolf hater.

[Star Wolf]

A really nice tale, has the ring of truth to it, but even so, I wouldn't mind having an encounter with a wild wolf in the wild like this. Awesome writing.

[Wolf's Dark Song]

This is a wonderful little tale, it reads true to life. This would be a really cool experience, I think.