Blizzard

chapter 1

It so happened that a big white wolf was lying next to Toni, leaning partly on top of her like a weighted blanket. And it was awake.

Oh shit.

Well, if it was going to kill her it would have already. But instead, it seemed like it had kept her alive.

It was staring at her.

Fuck. What was she supposed to do? Toni didn't speak Wolf. Should she even say anything at all?

Toni stared back in wonder, fully taking in the wolf that was still lying against her.

It was completely white. And did she mention big? It was way larger than Toni in length. If it were to suddenly decide to eat her after all, she'd be easy prey if size were a factor.

Oh well. There were worse ways to go, she supposed.

It didn't look malicious though.

It was still looking at her, patiently, waiting for her to do something.

When Toni remained rigid, it did the last thing she'd ever expected a wolf to do to her.

It fucking licked her face.

Gross.

"Ew," Toni scrunched up her face.

The wolf's shoulders shook as if it was laughing at her.

"Ha ha, very funny." And now Toni was talking to it. She was having an actual conversation with an actual wolf. And it didn't feel as one-sided as she would have thought.

The wolf suddenly stood up, taking its comfortable warmth with it and Toni couldn't stop the embarrassing little whine from coming out of her mouth, still half asleep and not entirely sure this wasn't a dream.

It looked at her with an amused expression.

Toni glared back.

She was changing their pronouns. 'It' sounded so fucking objectifying. They were an animal, not an inanimate object or something. Whatever.

Toni was assuming they were female until proven otherwise. Maybe if she looked at their...

They growled at her.

Oh, nope. Alright.

The wolf gave her a disapproving look when they noticed what she was doing. Toni really thought she was being subtle. Apparently not. But, from what she'd seen, or hadn't seen, they were a she.

Toni got up in a sitting position and took in her surroundings. It was still snowing, though the wind had mostly subsided. How long had she been asleep? It had to have been no more than a few hours because it was still dark.

She tried her phone but apparently, its battery had died from the cold, so that didn't help.

The wolf walked a few feet away, then looked back at her, as if urging Toni to follow her.

Oh well, what was the harm? Who knew, she might be leading her to a cave or maybe even out of the woods.

Toni got up and followed the wolf as she led her through the snowy forest.

Even though the wind had stopped, it was still freezing. Her teeth were chattering. It was as if the wolf had noticed because she started going faster. Toni almost had to run to keep up with her. Though it did help keep her blood flowing.

The wolf stopped every few yards to look back to make sure Toni was still keeping up.

Apparently, Toni hadn't been as far out into the forest as she'd thought. After about twenty minutes she began to recognize her surroundings. By the time they reached the edge of the forest, overlooking a very familiar backyard, Toni's hands and feet were numb again.

How did the wolf know to bring her here? It didn't make sense. Maybe it had followed her scent or something.

As Toni continued walking, out of the forest and into the snow-covered lawn, she noticed the wolf had stopped, right where the forest met the yard.

"I guess this is where we part," Toni said, surprisingly regretful that their time had come to an end.

The wolf motioned to the house with her head, as if urging Toni to go inside.

After taking one last look at the wolf, Toni crossed the yard and knocked on the backdoor. She blew hot air in her hands while she waited.

Bernice opened the door.

"Toni, thank god!" she engulfed Toni in a hug prior to ushering her inside.

Right before Toni entered she turned to look back at where the wolf had stood, but she was gone.

"Toni!"

Martha ran towards her.

Toni had barely turned after closing the door, catching Martha in a hug, getting the breath knocked out of her.

"Where the hell were you?"

"Yeah, uhh, I got lost."

Martha leant back to look at her.

"Toni, there was a blizzard. You could have died." Martha looked at her disapprovingly, with a hint of anger.

Toni shrugged.

"NEVER do that to me again," Martha said as she hugged her again. "Promise me."

"I promise." Toni didn't know if she would keep her promise or not, but it would ease Martha's mind.

***

Toni was lying on the extra mattress in Martha's room later that night. Martha was already asleep. The Blackburns were letting her stay the night because of how late it already was. They had notified her foster parents, told them she was fine. They didn't object to her not coming back home tonight. Sleepovers at Marty's were a common occurrence anyway. They were probably just glad she wasn't dead so they didn't lose their weekly paycheck. Not that Toni cared. They were probably the best fosters she'd had, compared to the rest, so she wasn't going to complain.

Looking at the ceiling, Toni wondered if she'd ever see the wolf again. The longer she thought about what had happened tonight, the more surreal it seemed. What if she had imagined the wolf? It could have been a hallucination. Maybe it was actually her subconscious' way of leading her to Martha's house, to safety. But then again, without the wolf's warmth, there was no way she wouldn't have died from hypothermia.

Toni's eyelids started to droop. Maybe she should think about this when she wasn't half asleep.

She turned onto her side and listened to Martha's even breathing as she finally let exhaustion take over.