Runt In The Wild

Chapter Two

After all I've been through, I am pretty happy with the life I have now. A gray wolf named Lonnie took me in as her own. She told me everything about why I was abandoned. Lonnie had heard me and my mother in a vast desert that bordered the Deep Woods called the Barren Desert and came to watch what was going on.

Now she has cared for me for five years, but I'm still just a pup, at least that's what she says. I am determined to prove that I'm not a weak link to a pack. Luckily, Lonnie lives in a pack where runts are allowed, so I was able to live with her without her getting in trouble.

"Kate, dinner! I've got a rabbit!" Lonnie called.

"Coming," I said. When I entered the main area of our den, I was struck with the scent of fresh rabbit. On the floor laid a white bunny with black spots and one black ear. We munched away on the food, its blood still warm from the hunt.

After every bit was gone, I ran off to my room to get ready for bed. Lonnie came in after me to talk to me.

"Tomorrow I want to take you somewhere. You'll have a great time, and you will get to meet some wolves your age." She said in her soothing voice.

I yawned. "Okay," I replied still in the middle of a yawn. I curled up next to Lonnie, nuzzling deep into her soft fur.

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We got up early to go to the "special" place Lonnie kept telling me about. As we made our way through the forest, small animals were everywhere. Soon we came to a dead end covered in bushes and tall plants.

"Are you sure you're going the right way?" I asked with the tilt of my head.

"Of course I'm sure. You just don't know the way." And with that she pulled the leaves and branches aside to reveal a beautiful clearing filled with birds and light. A small waterfall fell off a little cliff into a steaming pool of water. It was the most beautiful, most spectacular sight I had ever seen in my life (but of course I was still only five, so I hadn't seen much at all in my life).

"This is the Hot Springs. Only me and two other wolves know about it. They will be here soon." But by the time she was finished I was already jumping into the hot pools. The water burned my sides, but it was refreshing for the fur on my back as a shiver ran up my spine.

I heard yapping as four wolves, two adult females trailing behind two young female pups who seemed to be my age, entered the clearing.

"Kate, meet Lucy and Molly. And this is their mothers, Trina and Savannah. Now you three go play while the adults talk." Lonnie walked with the other adults to a piece of shade underneath a cherry tree bursting with blossoms.

The three of us looked at each other.
Suddenly, the two girls and I burst into laughter, rolling onto our backs until our ribs stung with pain (I'm not quite sure why; we're five, what would you expect?). I raced off as the other two followed me, jumping into the boiling water. We spent the whole day hanging out in the clearing.

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Near the end of the day, my new friends and I climbed to the top of the cliff with the waterfall. Sitting shoulder-to-shoulder, the three of us watched the sunset together. The sky was painted all shades from yellow to red as if someone had thrown a bucket of paint onto the night sky.

That night I went to sleep dreaming about the life that had just begun and how much better it would become.

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Hey, you guys! Hope you enjoy. And I know that wolves have a short life span, but I made it so that wolves have the same life span as humans. Makes my book kind of unique. Also, the picture at the top is of five year old Kate. Well, hope you like my story, and ask me any questions if you have any. I will be happy to answer them. :)