In the Rise

Chapter 6: The Revolution

Maybe the direction of North had been an excuse. My body ran for another day, fueled by the food I had been given. I encountered no pack.

By the second day, I did not run.

I dragged my tired and worn-out body.

With the silence and peace of being alone, I finally let the emotions I had been repressing for the past month go.

I cried.

I cried while still a wolf, letting a soft whimper come over my body as I laid upon the ground, unmoving.

With the sudden knowledge of my pain, the memories of the cause began to flood back in. What had happened. What I had seen. The words that had been whispered to me.

And I continued to cry.

Tears of the wolf were different from that of a human. They were thicker, more oily. They sunk into your skin and clung to your fur, letting you not forget your grief.

I did not stop crying. Not for hours.

Not even when I heard the sound of approaching footsteps. My clarity I had held onto- mother yelling at me to keep it together- it was shattered. I could not register the panic I needed to run away from whoever was coming.

He doesn't say a word. Silently his body bends down, hand coming to hesitantly touch my fur. The contact helps soothe me. My cries become softer.

Slowly he bends down. I know what he is about to do, but through the weeks of running and the hours now spent in my personal turmoil- I was worn. I could not move, even if I wanted to.

He gently lifts me from the ground, pulling me into his arms and carrying me somewhere. The contact only reminds me of another set of hands. Another person who should have been here. Who should be touching me instead of this stranger.

"Does it hurt so much, little wolf?" he whispers, pain filling his voice as he takes in my own.

Only my cries are a response to his words. Only my pain can meet his silence.

And before he can ask another question, I am closing my eyes, and welcoming the relief of darkness.

*       *       *

I wake up as a wolf.

It surprised me a little to find my body laid out upon the ground, stretched there with air coming through the wrong form of nose I had been expecting.

Slowly my vision comes back, blurred and distorted. My crying had left my eyes messy and unclean. Without thinking my paws come up to wipe away whatever the substance was.

My movement must have alerted whoever was in the room. I should have taken note of their presence beforehand.

Three males are sitting at a table, watching me.

I take them in, wondering if one of them was the one who had taken me from the woods.

Tentatively I sniff the air. Yes. He was here. I identified him among the three, concern showing clearly in his gaze.

Slowly I rise, my paws sliding against the floor to sit up.

"Hello, little wolf." The male stands and walks hesitantly to me, his hands up to show he meant no harm. "I found you in the woods...It looked as if you were...in distress...but Albert says there is nothing physically wrong."

Another of the males at the table is staring intensely at me, his eyes taking me in. No doubt they are looking at the sunken frame of my wolf. How skinny and ragged I must be after running for weeks through the woods to reach the border.