Drea

Chapter three: Wolf

I drag Cyan's unconscious body through the snow by his armpits. God knows his legs would be easier, but that's out of the question considering what's just happened. I found a cave a little while ago and figured I wouldn't find anywhere better to spend the night way out here in the mountains. I would have just put the tent up, but it was basically ruined when Cyan fell down the hill with it on his back. It's only a ten minute walk to the cave from where Cyan fell, but it's going to take me at least forty minutes to drag Cyan's dead weight too. My stomach rumbles loudly and I look longingly towards the little stream where I know the moose I shot earlier still lies. 'Maybe I can come back after I move Cyan to the cave?' My spirits lift at that thought.

I spot the small opening of the cave in the cliff face and drop Cyan roughly on the ground next to it. Cyan's face is pale and filled with pain even while unconscious. His blonde hair is tangled and wet from a mixture of sweat and snow. It rests over his eyes like a blanket. His jaw is covered in three days worth of stubble and his breaths come in uneven huffs of white steam. My arms ache and my heart feels like it's going to beat out of my chest. The opening of the cave is barely big enough to crawl through, but it's shelter. I rotate Cyan so he's facing head first into the opening of the cave, then I shimmy into the cave on my stomach before pulling him in after me. I squint my eyes at the darkness. The cave is just wide enough for the two of us to lie down and my head touches the ceiling when I'm standing. It won't be very comfortable, but at least we'll be out of the cold. My stomach rumbles again and my mouth waters at the thought of meat. I haven't had a good, fresh piece of meat in three days. I try and make Cyan as comfortable as possible before shimmying back through the little opening and heading back for that moose.

I pull my hair out of its ponytail and my blonde curls fall down around my shoulders. Everything around me feels different while I'm by myself. Silence fills the air and all of a sudden I miss my brothers reassuring footsteps and the way he's always cracking cheesy jokes to pass the time. Tiny snowflakes start to fall from the sky and swirl around my face. It was a day just like this when I went out into the woods by myself for the first time. My dad had taken my brother hunting and my mom was cooking dinner. I sat at the window waiting for dad and Cyan to come home. I still remember it so clearly. The heavenly smell of steak and eggs wafting in from the kitchen,  the feeling of the cold glass as I drew pictures with my fingertip, the warmth of the fire burning behind me and the the smell of damp wood still wet with fresh snow. Outside in the woods I saw a flicker of movement and I was so excited. I thought dad and Cyan had finally come home. I didn't even put on a coat before running outside in my pyjamas and slippers. I stood at the base of the woods and stared into its black depths. My father made me promise to him to never enter the woods by myself, especially at night. I took a few careful steps into the trees and stopped. 'I'm nine years old now.' I thought. 'And technically I'm not out here alone because I saw dad and Cyan out here too.' I thought as I tried to make up excuses for breaking my promise. 'At least I think I saw them....' I walked into the woods until my home was only a tiny speck of light behind me. Where are they? I squinted my eyes at the trees around me and out of the shadows came a wolf. I walked backwards in shocking fear until my back hit a tree. I just stood there staring into its light brown eyes. It watched me, but didn't move. I watched it, but couldn't move. Its thick brown fur was speckled with snow and it's tail swayed slowly from side to side. It wasn't very big, not much bigger than a fox actually. There's only two kinds of wolves in Alaska, the Mackenzie Valley wolf and the Arctic wolf. 'It must be one of those.' I thought still frightened. My moms panicked voice rang out through the trees and I stiffened as the wolf took a few steps back, it's eyes still locked with mine. "Drea!" My moms voice sounding more panicked than before. The wolf took a couple more steps back before turning and disappearing back into the shadows. As soon as I got home my mom gave me a huge hug and an even bigger scolding. I never told anyone about the wolf. I don't think they would believe me anyway. If you meet a wild animal in the woods that lives off meat you usually don't survive the encounter. I must be pretty lucky I guess.