“Help. Help me, please,” croaked the voice of an elderly man. His frail hands scratched at the slippery bank, desperately trying to keep his head above the water. “Help me!” He turned his head to the rising sun. He had been there since the flood had started and hours after. The old man closed his eyes and he bowed his head in acceptance of his fate. Another hour passed and the early morning took place of the morbid sky. The waters had lowered and the rain had stopped—it seemed as if everything was over. But to the people in the small town, their troubles had just begun.
“Help…me…” the old man’s breath shortened and his head sagged. His life would’ve ended that morning if it hadn’t been for the warm rough tongue passing over his feeble fingers and sun-stained face. The man’s eyes opened and he gasped in fear. His voice escalated in fear.
A soft whimper quieted him and the old man felt a strange wave of protection. He knew the stranger was an animal, but it sounded neither like a domestic dog nor a wild one. The old man shielded his eyes from the reflective waters and stared at the figure in front of him. His eyes widened and breath escaped his mouth. His eyes traced the white tipped nose, the red masked face, and the bright yellow eyes. “Dog…gone.” The old man extended his hand and rubbed his thumb against his other fingers. With his other arm, he pushed himself higher onto the bank and began clucking and cooing to the wolf.
Prestige licked his nose and walked several steps backwards. He stopped and waited a beat. The old man smacked the ground in frustration and kicked his feet as hard as he could. With his focus on the wolf, and not on his weary, timeworn body, he managed to wriggle himself out of the waters. “Get yourself over here! You look much too fine to be wandering around here!”
The wolf barked once and lunged forward. Before the old man could jerk himself back into the water from fright, Prestige snatched the collar of the man’s shirt and heaved him onto the bank. Flopping and wailing, the old man laid on solid ground, cursing the wolf for surprising him. Prestige ignored the man and leaped forward again, this time nipping at the cuffs. Prestige broke into a chain of frantic barks and began hopping around the old man, urging him to get up. The old man hobbled to his feet and Prestige slipped underneath one of his hands and pressed his ribs against the man’s leg, stabling him from falling over.
“Ain’t you a mighty fine animal. Where you come from?” The old man chuckled as he teetered forward.
Prestige walked carefully and guided the old man on the safest sections of the ground. He made sure to stop when the old man sunk to the ground in exhaustion, and at many times, they stopped for hours until the man found new strength. The two of them journeyed through crooked paths and unstable footing, and at points, the old man wished to just sit down and live the remaining of his years in the mud. But the wolf wouldn’t have it. He encouraged the old man further by nudging the back of his calves, or warming his face with his kisses. When the red sun had been swallowed by the night sky, Prestige led the old man through a forest. The sounds of natural orchestrated a haunting tune and the smoke from the moon’s rays filled the forest’s crevices. The trees stood tall and casted long shadows that crisscrossed in the wolf and man’s pathway.
“Where are you taking me?” The old man warbled, doubting the wolf’s navigation skills.
The wolf halted and looked back to see if the man was still following him.
“I’m coming, I’m coming.”
Prestige veered off to the right and disappeared. Terrified, the old man hastened his pace, stumbling over large tree roots. He stretched his hand out and found the barn of a large tree. Over his deep huffing, he heard the cracking sound of fire and the murmuring of voices. With soft steps, he approached the noises. From behind the tree he was balancing upon, he saw a glowing fire and smiling faces.
“Did the wolf find you, too?” a child asked from the handful of people. She pulled her mother’s scarf from her face and smiled at the old man. “Come sit with us, mister.”
“I-I,” the old man stuttered as he walked over to the campfire. He took a seat by the child and her mother and returned the smile. “How many are there?”
“Eight, so far,” the mother replied in a gentle tone. “We don’t have much to eat, but what we were able to save from the flood is right that in that pan.” The mother picked up the pan and poured the warm remnants into the man’s hands.
“The wolf bring you here?” the man asked, sipping the food into his mouth. He sighed in contentment and gave an appreciative nod to the mother.
“He brought all of us here,” replied the voice of a young boy. He stepped up from his spot in the circle and knelt before the old man. “You see a girl? A girl with golden hair named Shirley?”
The old man nodded his head regretfully. “I did not.”
“She’s my sister.”
“I’m sorry, boy, I didn’t see any ladies where I done come from.”
The boy lowered his head and returned to his seat. He tucked his sandy brown hair his ears and sniffed back a tear.
Prestige came up to the boy and licked him lightly on the cheeks, as if telling him he would find her. The boy peered up and managed a smile. He patted the wolf’s head before tucking his face between his raised knees. Prestige stood there for a moment, studying the boy’s miserable position. With a gruff bark, the wolf bolted off into the darkness.
“He does that every time he goes a-looking for someone,” the little girl chirped.
The old man looked over at the sad boy and then down at his food. “You ain’t believing that the wolf knows who to look for, do you?”
The mother shrugged. “I think he just knows his job ain’t finished.”
YOU ARE READING
The Wolf's Boy
AdventureKismet and Prestige are just as unusual as their names. Though one is a boy and the other a wolf, they both desire the same thing: love. Through the years, their friendship grows and they become inseparable. But when their town is hit by a natural...
