The Creature in the Woods

The Beginning

I don't like telling people my name. They laugh at me. It's happened on more than one occasion. They make jokes and point. "Ha ha," they say, "what a silly little name for such a silly little creature!" I would growl, trying to appear frightening, just like my father. "Oh look!" My anger had aroused more laughter. "It's trying to scare us away! Ha ha! What a foolish thing! It thinks it's strong. Oh how it is mistaken!"They wouldn't even acknowledge the fact that I am a living, breathing being. I have feelings. They just kept on calling me 'it'.

Henceforth, I never told my name to anybody. I would not answer my parents or my brother when they called me by my name. It wasn't as if I had any friends to make a nickname for me. Whenever I introduced myself, I just said hi. If they asked for a name, I told them my name was not something they need bother themselves with and moved on. I grew up. I moved to a different town.

I could never tell if my parents felt sad for naming me this way or disappointed that I didn't appreciate the name they chose. I just knew that my choice to have no name saddened them. Sometimes I felt bad for causing them such dismay. But these were the only times I regretted keeping my name to myself. All it took was a couple of moments reliving the awful memories of taunting and teasing to remember why it was something I had to do.

When my parents died, it was official - nobody knew my name. Not one living soul. The children that had known it when I was young had long since forgotten me. My brother was gone. The adults who had known me when I was little had died. I had no family. Sure I met people, and had a couple nice acquaintances, but I never told my name. I traveled. Went on adventures. Lived and exciting life.

Then, about a year ago, I did it. I spoke my name. I shared my deepest secret. I did. I've done so much in my life, but this was by far the hardest thing I've ever had to do. It took everything I had - and then some - to utter the word that had caused me so much distress. The word that had been floating around in the back of my mind for years. The word that I kept locked from the world.

This is the story of how I grew up. The story of how I, with no name, became the most famous wolf in all history. This is the story of my adventures and my travels.

This is the story of how I told my name.