A Tale of Survival
The Untold Story of The Big Bad Wolf
A cloud of snow dusted across the field. The light from the sun was muted, as thick gray clouds stretched across the sky. The wind whistled as it zipped across the snow's surface and into the trees.
Edgar, the wolf, lay collapsed on the ground as the snow waves washed over him. The air was so cold that it caused his fur to stiffen as it frosted over. Little by little, the flurry gathered until it covered his body and only his face could be seen clearly.
He wondered to himself if this was it. "Is this the end?" he thought. "It truly was a pitiful life." He closed his eyes as tears pressed through his ducts and eased from his eyes. The moisture hardened just as soon as it was made.
As Edgar lay concealed beneath the thick blanket of snow, his mind drifted back to the defining moments of his life. He recalled the fierce encounter with the formidable bear, the tense standoff with the farmer and his trusty shotgun, and above all, the relentless taunting he endured from the three mischievous pigs. He vividly remembered the sweet taste of revenge he savored after finally turning the tables on his tormentors.
This brought him joy in this hopeless moment. But the joy was met with a sobering thought:
"Was it worth it? Is this the end?"
The gentle breeze whispered through the forest, causing the falling snow to cascade over the forest floor. The tree leaves rustled and swayed in response, creating a hypnotic dance as they shook off the snow. Despite the wind's insistence, the forest remained tranquil. The resident animals, well-accustomed to nature's whims, sought refuge in their familiar shelters. Not a sound interrupted the symphony of the rustling leaves and whistling wind.
Except the muted groaning of one expecting mother wolf.
Mother wolf was nestled in her den underneath the raised roots of three large trees woven together in such a way that they appeared to be one. She bellowed as her abdomen wrenched. Tonight was the night that she completed her duty to her pack; she was giving birth.
The evening turned to night, and the forest fell into a thick darkness as no animal within the forest was particularly adept at creating fire. The clouds responsible for delivering the burgeoning blizzard blanketed the sky so that neither star nor moonlight could be seen. It was absolutely black throughout.
At just a hair past midnight, the last pup was born and licked clean. Small whimpers floated up from the litter of 5 as they fumbled throughout the den, searching for their mother by smell alone. The mother dutifully and gladly nursed her young, and when one would unlatch and wander, she would gently press her paw on the pup's back and pull him in. Giving the curious pup a lick, she rerouted him so that he could rejoin his siblings.
Winter would be long, but spring would arrive to break its momentum at the appointed time.
And at that appointed time, the newborn pups had grown into curious wandering pups. They spent their days roaming the forest floor and roughing each other up. Occasionally, one would nip at their mother's foot, and she'd give chase in a game of tag.
As early spring rolled in, the cold arctic climate continued to be painted white with snow. The limbs on the trees bent under the weight of the snow, and the dark clouds blanketed the sky.
One young wolf in particular, Edgar, wandered further than the rest. His mother chastised him nearly daily, cautioning him not to stray too far from the pack. Edgar would lower his head and sag his tail between his back legs as his mother reprimanded him in front of his litter. Even still, the allure of the unknown was too much for young Edgar to pass up. The unknown world called to him like a siren, and he happily obliged every time.
On a day when the wind was stronger than usual, Edgar hopped gleefully through the snow. Snow was all he and his siblings had ever known. They were born in it. They were raised in it. To them, there was no world where snow didn't exist. And so he hopped, even as the wind seemingly urged him to go back to his den. Eventually, the wind and the snow became too much, and he decided to turn around and go home. The problem, though, was that the wind had blown away his tracks, and the sky was dark as the sun descended over the horizon. His nose was no help to him either. The gusts of wind and relentless snow battered his snout, leaving him unable to detect even the faintest scent of anything, let alone his own family.
The situation slowly became clear to Edgar. He was lost, and no one even knew where to start looking for him. He was all alone. His tail dropped, and he began to whimper and try his best to howl. His voice was not yet strong enough or deep enough to carry, so his attempts were feeble.
The seriousness of the situation prompted Edgar to panic. He turned in circles, trying to remember which direction he came from, but he couldn't see any clues. All that was in front of him on all sides was white snow and tall trees. And darkness. It was so very dark.
As darkness loomed in the distance, he focused on the glint of light reflecting from the snow-covered ground. Everything else faded into black. The longer he looked, the darker and wider the vignette grew, until it narrowed his vision to only see in a straight line.
The wind howled as it grated snow across Edgar's face. The frozen precipitation, felt like pebbles being flung as it landed on his snout. The heat from his breath and his skin making his face feel like it was cracking as the ice bonded the strands of his fur. At first, it felt cold; now he could only feel his face burning.
Edgar started to believe that he would die there. The thought of never seeing his mother, father, or siblings again, or experiencing the world's unexplored wonders, weighed heavily on him. He even doubted that he would be found. Overwhelmed by it all, he contemplated lying there and waiting for the inevitable.
Edgar decided to run. He dashed through the snow, dodging trees and roots. He managed another bark thinking that if he made noise, his family would hear him and rush to him. Surely they've noticed that he was missing and they were looking for him. It would only be a matter of time before they collided, and he could return home safely.
He was partially right. His family had noticed his absence, and his mother was out frantically looking for him. The problem was that she, nor any of his siblings, knew which direction Edgar had run off to. So they left the den in the opposite direction of the direction that Edgar had run in. They would never find him.
Edgar continued his mad dash until in the corner of his eye, he spotted a cave with a rather low opening. He quickly decided to take shelter in the cave until the sun rose the next day. Entering the cave, Edgar observed that the floor was dry, but the air was dense and humid. Tiny structures jutted out from the floor and the walls. Strangely, there were twigs and leaves sprawled along the cave floor leading deeper into the cavern. Edgar dropped his nose and followed the trail, sniffing as he went.
Tracing the trail, Edgar stumbled upon a colossal, shaggy creature coiled into a ball atop a bed of leaves and twigs. Edgar's tail swayed back and forth, exuding an air of inquisitiveness. This creature was unlike any he had ever encountered. Its fur bore a deep, ebony hue and possessed a texture distinct from the wolves' pelts. Its ears were of an unfamiliar shape, and its tail bore a unique appearance as well. Edgar's curiosity surged, compelling him to learn more.
He padded closer to the sleeping beast to get a better look. This beast had a long snout and a rounded head, unlike the one that the wolves had. There was what looked like a hump in the beast's back, and his paws were massive. Long nails protruded from the animal's paws. What was this weird and intimidating beast? Edgar inched closer still to get a smell. His tail wagged with excitement.
As he sniffed the beast though, its eyes suddenly flung open. It raised its head and let out a yawn. Rising to its feet, the beast sniffed the air before sharply dropping its gaze onto Edgar. Raising onto its hind legs, it let out a terrifying roar and swiped down toward Edgar with its massive paw.
Edgar managed to dodge instinctively, and his tail finally stopped wagging. His heart sped up. His skin tightened. His tail stood erect. He was terrified. Backing up, he began to whimper. The beast once again dropped down to all four paws, and Edgar turned and fled toward the opening of the cave. The beast chased.
Edgar ran with all of his strength. He recognized that this would be the end of him if he was caught. The beast followed only a few paces behind. As Edgar came to the opening of the cave, he reasoned that the opening was too low for the beast so he would be safe once he made it to the other side. As he made his way to the opening, images of his pack flashed through his mind, and he wondered if he'd ever see them again. There was no time for that; He had to make it out of the cave.
Coming up to the entrance, Edgar lunged through the opening and landed in the snow. Rolling over, he high-stepped as fast as he could until he had gotten what he thought was a safe distance. He turned and looked behind him to see if there was any sign of the beast and there was none. He was safe. He collapsed into the snow at the base of a nearby tree. He needed to catch his breath or he wouldn't be able to go on much further.
As he lay there, his eyes started to close. As his breathing finally slowed, he began to fall asleep. The wind eased up, and the snow slowed. He'd wake up tomorrow and find his way home. He dozed off into a desperate sleep, and he continued resting until his ears bounced up to an erect position.
His eyes opened soon after, and his head raised. His heart once again began to speed up, and his tail curled between his hind legs as he made out the sound of that terrible roar he'd heard just minutes before. Turning his head, he could see the beast walking through the forest with its nose down to the ground. It was looking for him, and he knew it.
But how did he get out of that cave? There was no way that he could have fit through such a small opening. So how did he do it? Well, he must've gotten in there some way, so it makes sense that he could get out. Regardless, there was no time to think about that now. He was coming.
Just as Edgar finished his thoughts and began to creep away, staying low the entire time, the beast caught sight of him. Immediately, it charged toward Edgar, and without a second's thought, Edgar darted off. He ran as fast as he could, not considering any of the obstructions in his path. He ran off pure instinct, only able to see what was in front of him. The rest fell into his periphery as he navigated through the trees and shrubs and snow. The beast bulled through the forest as if it too was being driven by an instinctual force.
Soon Edgar reached a place that was familiar to him. He knew where he was, and he knew how to get home. He let out a bark to call his family, and almost immediately, his mother was standing in front of him about 100 yards away. He would be saved he thought.
His mother reacted in a way that he had never seen before. She closed the gap between them, and instead of stopping to grab her cub, she ran past him toward the trailing beast. She barked loudly to signal the children's father, who happened to be nearby.
The father would routinely go out in search of food, and as such, he wasn't often around. This time though, he was close as he too had been out searching for Edgar. He emerged from the thick bushes at the base of a tree adjacent to the beast. He immediately scaled the beast so that he was on its back and he sank his teeth into the back of the beast's neck.
The mother wolf met the beast and her husband and launched for the beast's torso. Just as she made her move, the beast rose to its hind legs and shook off the father wolf. With one fierce and swift strike, the beast flung the mother wolf into a tree. Its nails dug deep into her side as he struck her, and blood poured profusely from the wounds.
Turning to the father wolf, the beast slammed its paw into the wolf's back, forcing a yelp from the canine. Standing over the injured wolf, the beast lifted its right paw and tore through its body, ripping wide gashes from one side to the other across the back. Organs spilled from the right side of the wolf through the gash that started on the right part of its stomach. The beast again roared as if to signal its dominance.
Turning its head, the beast eyed the young pup that sat frozen watching the massacre. The pup snapped back to reality and made a run for the den where his siblings were. Making it into the den, Edgar could barely make out a word when he gave up and simply yelled, "RUN!" Crawling toward the back of the den toward a second opening, he passed all of his siblings who couldn't understand what was going on.
Suddenly a massive paw with long sharp claws erupted into the den, grabbing two of the pups. The beast yanked two of the pups from the den and pinning them down in both front paws, the beast lowered its head and tore into each pup.
The air was filled with the scent of blood as Edgar urged the other two pups to run. Finally understanding the danger, they followed Edgar to the back of the den and through the opening. As they climbed out, the beast, having finished off the two pups, tried to squeeze its head through the opening but couldn't fit its body. It saw the pups escaping and attempted to chase them, only to realize it was stuck.
The pups ran as fast as they could without looking back. About 200 yards away from the den, they heard a faint roar from the trapped beast. They never looked back, just kept running.
