Trouble in the Forest

The Blue-Eyed Wolf: Chapter 7

After about another hour of walking, the sun had finally slipped behind the clouds, casting the landscape in an eerie shadow. Meanwhile, the wolf was still leading Anastasia and Gizmo through the woods and did not appear to be ready to give up any time soon. Anastasia, however, was exhausted. Her clothing was thoroughly soaked and she was freezing down to her bones. Despite the gloves she had been wearing, she hardly had any feeling left in her fingertips and wanted nothing more than to be curled up by the fire at home with a warm hot chocolate in hand.

                      
It was the wolf's loud bark of excitement that brought her back to chilling reality. The wolf was peering into the distance at something and in a flash, he sprinted in the direction of his target. Gizmo raced after him without question and Anastasia soon followed. In a matter of seconds, they stood on a patch of untouched snow, and beyond a glistening berry bush, lay an unfathomable sight. The entrance to the reservation park. Anastasia's mouth dropped open as she struggled to comprehend what she was seeing, not quite believing her eyes. She thought for sure she would not be free of these mountains any time soon and yet, there it was. The exit to all the horrors that had unfolded within the last few hours.

                       
Gizmo was running in circles with his tail wagging filled with pure joy because he knew this meant he would be heading home. Anastasia was ecstatic herself but was more dumbfounded by the mysterious wolf's ability to bring them to where they had been trying so desperately to get to all this time. No longer afraid, she approached the wolf.

                       
"Where did you come from buddy?" In awe, she reached forward and gently patted the top of the wolf's head when she abruptly noticed its startling blue eyes. Instantly, she felt like she was looking into her father's eyes. Mark had the same hypnotizing eyes and the resemblance between that of the wolf's eyes and his was uncanny.

                       
She whispered, "First you saved our lives from that dreadful moose. Then instead of attacking us, you managed to navigate Gizmo and me back to the safety of where we started. I do not understand." The wolf sat before Anastasia and cocked his head as if he was thinking. Then in the spur of the moment, he darted towards the berry bush. He pulled a snow-covered berry from the thorns and delicately held it between his sharp teeth. Next, the wolf trotted back to Anastasia, dropped the berry in front of her, and then looked back up at her expectantly. Then it hit her.

                       
It made no logical sense in any way shape or form but there was no other explanation for it. This wolf embodied her father's spirit. It had been her father all along looking out for her and guiding her to safety. Tears gathered in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks as she tightly embraced the wolf. Overcome with grief, happiness, and relief, she finally pulled away. The wolf stared back at her and licked a small stripe across Anastasia's forehead. Smiling to herself and wiping away tears, she managed to shakily raise herself to her feet.

                       
Her dad walked over to the entrance of the park where Gizmo was waiting and gazed back at her patiently. Sighing deeply, she joined them. Smiling, she said, "Ok, time to go home Gizmo. We made it." As Gizmo giddily ran to the car, Anastasia took one last long look at the wolf in his blue eyes. Then as she turned around to leave, she lovingly muttered, "Bye Dad."