The Wolfling

The forest was still that night. In a cloudless sky a million stars silently watched the world below. Time moved differently for stars. It had been but an instant for them. For the humans, for the creatures down below, it had been years. Centuries.

Head tilted back, eyes closed, she emitted a slow and quiet howl. Her breath, like a cloud of white smoke, swirled around her head, dancing in a windless night. The howl faded but her eyes stayed shut.

Silence.

She’d danced under the moon and stars from the moment of her first breath. First in their arms, eventually on her own two feet. Stumbling, clumsy, but strong. They’d taught her how to read the stars and how to smell the wind. They’d taught her that the moon was more important than anybody knew.

She’d still been learning how to howl when it happened. They’d been dancing around the fire, celebrating the third night of the full moon. She’d been sitting to the side, angry, her howl wobbly and small. A wolfing. She’d filled her lungs with air, had held her breath in frustration. Behind her, the laughter and music had stopped. Still holding her breath, she hadn’t turned around. She’d let out a quiet howl. It had felt lonely. Empty.

A nudge at her thighs made her open her eyes. She looked down at her companion, her yellow eyes meeting a pair of green ones. She lifted her hand and rested it on wolf’s head. It felt warm, comforting. Like home. She turned her gaze back to the sky, and the stars held their breath.

She was a quiet sort of storm. The kind that trails its fingers across your cheeks, and teases knots into your hair. Her eyes brimmed with thunderstorms and lightening, and howling winds hid beneath her whispered words. She bubbled with energy, with an intensity that threatened to consume her and everyone around her.

A soft breeze rustled the leaves that coated the forest floor. Another nudge. It was never good to stay still for too long after howling. She dropped her hand off wolf’s head.

“Let’s go.”

Story inspired by the above image created by fairywulf