The Song of the Sky

Print One

The mountains were looming cloaks of darkness, as the sun's potent hands had not vanquished them of darkness yet. Not even a wheezing, sinning finger of a covetous aspiration would dare to snap the brittle needles blossoming on the pines of the mountains, and no reaper of malady could move their unwavering pride. A howl bellowed throughout the looming pines. Footprints, rapid footprints, thrummed the ground like the heartbeat of a hummingbird. The sky was now a light, warm blue, belonging to the morning. Yet for the one reeling over the forest floor, not even the morning's yawn brought comfort. When the girl had tied a bundle of salmon into a tree before setting out to find water, she had come back to find saliva-laden bones, and the net bundling the salmon was demolished. The branch she had tied it on to was splintered, and she assumed it had broken under the pressure of the salmon. The girl knew it had not been a bear that broke the branch down from the start; the branch was fairly high (she had climbed to reach it). Seeing the fine signs of wolves near the bundle, she had spent the entire dawn tracking the howls of the wolves that entwined the land. Rage pulsed in her veins. After weeks of leaving her roped net in the river, she patiently waited for the salmon to rush. Days went by, but as thShe made her way up an earthed boulder, following sounds of babbling water. Surely a smooth stream came upon her, skinny yet deep. It's hair flowed over the hollowed stones that embodied its crystal blood, cooing the songs of salmon and tumbling pebbles. The girl bent down, thankful for the river's mud. Not only did it help her cover her scent as she smeared it on her face, but in its ruddy flesh were splayed paw prints. Wolf paw prints. And too perfectly, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flicker of color. When she turned, large triangular ears pricked in her direction. Large golden eyes seeped into her gaze, and wiry hackles arose. It was not the hackles of a wolf, but a pup. It was relieving not to have crossed paths with an alpha.. Yet terrifying that with one dominant expression, the cub would alert its entire pack. She stared at the pup, and the pup stared back. Her dirty blonde hair strayed across her face, and as she lifted her hand to put it back into place, the cub had let out an 'uff' of uncertainty. The girl's eyes clouded with worry, and she tried to avoid eye contact and yawn to appear non-threatening. The pup took a step back, looking back and forth. The girl panicked, and got to her feet. "What was I coming here for anyways!" She said as the pup turned tail and scattered. She gathered her satchel including the flint knife she brought, and fled.