Red Roses - (FCRAs 2016 Winner)

Strangers in the Night

A few days after the fiasco on the roof, Lorelie woke with a jolt and didn't know why.

Muddled by sleep, she groaned, pressing a hand to her eyes before a sound made her pause.

The padding of paws.

Bramble was on the move. What was he up to? She sat up, looking around in the darkness of the room before reaching behind her bed and unlatching the window, pushing it and the shutters open so moonlight filtered through and she looked around just in time to see Bramble's tail wagging through the door as he trotted off.

She sighed and got up. She'd have to let him out. Odd he hadn't tried to wake her though. Slipping her feet into her shoes, she picked up her cape, added another shawl over her shoulders and followed the wolf out, creeping down the stairs to not wake her mother or brother. She walked straight for the backdoor and had almost unlocked it when she realised what was missing.

Bramble.

He wasn't sat waiting for her.

Well where had he gone? He wasn't in the kitchen raiding the food so where had he gone?

She found him by the front door, sat patiently, staring up at the handle like he could open it with his mind.

"What are you doing?" she whispered at him. His ear flicked back towards her to show he'd heard her but he didn't look away from the door.

So, curious about his behaviour, she unlocked the door and opened it.

The second there was a gap, Bramble was gone.

He raced out of the house like his tail was on fire and Lorelie didn't have time to debate about following him. She tumbled out after him, staring as her puppy bounded down the street.

"Bramble!" she cried before wincing as her voice echoed down the quiet streets. What time was it? It had to be close to three, even the pub was closed now.

Quickly closing the door behind her, she ran after him, through the streets, passed the outskirts and straight into the forests.

"Bramble!" she shouted, "Bramble! Come back!"

All around her, animals burst into activity at being disturbed during their slumber. Birds took flight. Deer startled. Critters dove into their burrows. The wind came racing through the trees after them like it wanted to see what all the fuss was about and it parted the branches in its wake, moonlight pouring down across Lorelie, her path becoming clear as she ran.

She chased the pup for more than ten minutes before she had to stop, doubling over, breathing so hard she felt sick. She was not one for running. She wasn't used to running and she was now covered with sweat and struggling to draw in deep enough breaths.

"B... Bramble," she wheezed, shoving hair from her face as she looked up.

The path before her was empty.

Bramble was gone.

She had no idea where he might be and she wasn't going to find him in the forest, during the day or night.

She collapsed to the ground, breathing hard; too winded to even care that she was now deep in the woods, alone, at night.

Was that it then?

Just a week and a half and she had managed to lose her wolf? How would she tell her grandmother? She should have made Nana May take him. She understood wolves. Lorelie didn't.

Her eyes suddenly prickled and she blinked rapidly, brushing at her eyes before shoving to her feet.

"Bram!" she called, starting to walk. She couldn't have lost him. He wouldn't just go, would he? Even if he was a wolf, she didn't want him to just go; she needed to at least know where he was. "Bramble!"