Survivor

Once Upon A Time...

A girl found a dog in the woods. At first she was scared, for it was a very large and scary looking dog. But as she looked a little closer, she could tell it was hurt. Fur was matted with dried blood from old wounds that hadn't fully healed. It was quite ugly if she was honest, but being the good girl she was, she slowly stepped forward to help. Surprisingly, the dog did not bare his teeth and attack as she thought he might, and instead lowered itself down to the ground whining from the pain. The girl got the dog the help it needed, cleaned its wounds and brushed the fur until it shined. And in return, the dog kept the unwanted away, gave her company, and was a source of warmth and love. The girl grew dependent on her new friend, and found that life seemed easier with it around. But little by little, the girl started to notice that something wasn't quite right. The dog seemed to be growing larger than what was normal, teeth sharper, eyes redder. And he was unusually hostile to little creatures and others around them. She was used to the weird glances from the townspeople, but now they looked scared, and some angry.

"That beast doesn't belong here!" They would yell, as they moved out of our way. But I would yell back, "He is perfect just the way he is." Yes on occasion a shoe would be ripped up, spoons hidden, and teeth bared in annoyance. And there were only a few times that small bites were made. She also no longer had chickens or bunnies. But all dogs did that, especially dogs who were hurt and are still healing. So no matter what the townspeople said, she ignored them, and made sure to keep her dog's fur coat extra shiny to prove them all wrong.

One day she found the dog chewing up a pair of her favorite slippers, "No no no!" She yelled at the dog. The dog growled and bared its teeth. The girl reached for the slippers but was met with a bite to the hand. Shocked, the girl pulled her hand back, with blood slowly dripping to the floor. Without a second look the dog grabbed the slippers and ran.

That night, the dog didn't come back for supper, and not for breakfast the next morning. And the girl was finding it hard to function without her friend. The house seemed colder and emptier. The village seemed scarier, and their smiles made her mad. Everything was harder. Days went by, and the girl started to lose hope that her dog would ever come back.

While in his absence, she visited all his favorite spots, in hopes to find him, but did not. She did however, find belongings she had forgotten were even lost, scattered in holes in the ground. Noticed a foul smell, and followed it to many unnoticed... presents left behind. The girl did not realize just how much havoc the dog had caused, not only to her house and yard, but the more she looked, even around town, there were signs of trouble everywhere.

The girl started to hope that the dog wouldn't come back, for she had started to fix some of the damage that had been done. But she was not that lucky. One day the dog returned, hurt and broken looking once again, pleading with its eyes to help. The girl gave in, helping once again.

There was a boy in town, one which the girl started to fancy, who worked up the courage to go to her house. The dog growled but the girl shushed him.

"Why do you live with a wolf anyways, aren't they pretty dangerous?" The boy said warily.

"He is not a wolf, he is a dog, and he is perfect just the way he is."

"I'm pretty sure he is a wolf, look." The boy pointed out the sharper teeth, the bigger size and the redder eyes. The girl didn't know those things meant it was a wolf. The wolf growled and snarled at the boy.

"Bad dog!" The girl corrected. But the wolf was not listening, his fur was raised and his eyes turned redder. The girl cowered, knowing this is when he would bite, but realized the boy would be the one to get hurt. Quickly she stepped in front to take the blow. The pain always caught her off guard, it was sharp and it seemed to pierce her to her very bone. The wolf then raced off.

"Why did you do that??" The boy yelled. She shrunk at his tone, but he looked concerned, not angry. He proceeded to clean up the wound, and commented on the many scars left by the wolf. But even his pleadings to shoo the wolf away for good were not enough to convince the girl. But she did listen, and over time, she realized that having the wolf around was not as good for her as she thought it was. And it was time to send the wolf away.

She tried to do it in the kindest way possible, setting him free and just hoping he wouldn't come back, but he always did. But one day she snapped, "All you do is cause trouble, wolf! You make messes that you can't clean up, and you hurt me all the time! Get out wolf! Go!"

The wolf was surprised at first, looking kinda hurt, but when it saw that she was angry and serious, it went absolutely feral. She knew these bite marks would last the longest, and the intent in the wolf's eyes would last even longer.

Together with the boy, they shooed him away for good, and started building a fence to keep him out. Every now and then the girl would see the wolf over the fence, and she would miss him, but he would no longer be allowed inside.

The fence almost seemed to carry words on every piece of wood. They were reasons. Reasons why the wolf stayed outside. Sometimes the girl badly wanted to tear down the fence. But she would look at the many reasons, and would walk back inside. It wasn't that she was hurting for company, she had slowly gained more friends since the wolf had left. But sometimes she missed him. She knew she should be glad that he was gone, but sometimes she wasn't. She didn't like all these conflicting emotions she had, it was confusing, and when she tried to explain what she was feeling to others, they didn't understand. She grew sick of feeling helpless. She wanted to take her life back.

The girl realized she had felt dependent on the wolf to do things she knew she could do on her own. And that had left her high and dry when the wolf needed to leave. So she started with that. Task by task, the more she did on her own the better she felt. More confidence, more at peace. It wasn't easy by any means, but she moved forward. Some days she bailed on her tasks, it was too hard, she wanted to go back to the way things were. Tear down the fence and get the doggy kisses she missed. Well, wolf kisses, she corrected. And a somber reminder would settle back into place, this is how things needed to be. Recovery would be slow, but she was getting there.

One day she talked with the wolf while behind the fence.

"You are a wolf, not a dog." She said over and over, but sadly the wolf could not understand. But then she realized she was wanting the wolf to change into a dog, maybe that would solve everything. But she did not know magic, and needed to let go of that idea. A wolf will be a wolf, and nothing but God could change that.