Lone Wolf

Abandoned

Christian was six years old when his father decided to take him camping. He remembers it very clearly. The 4 hour drive from the city into a very calm and beautiful forest. They're setting up the camp at a small clearing at the bottom of the mountain located in the forest. As they're setting up, a woman, whose looks could convince any men that she was only in her 20's, crouched down to his height. Her smile was blinded and the small dimples that decorated her face tempted Christian to just poke them. Like that well-mannered boy he was, he kept his hands at his sides. 

"Ma, I want to catch bugs with my big brother." Christian pointed a chubby finger towards his older brother. Said boy looked up from his camping bag, a frown on his face. He walked over to his younger brother and ruffled his hair. 

"Let's go tomorrow, it's going to get dark soon and I don't want you getting lost." 

Christian nodded and ran over to his father to start eating dinner. As they were eating, the sun began to set and the sky darkened. Everyone cleaned up and went to their respective tent. Christian was sharing a tent with his older brother when he heard the wolves howling at the moon. 

He flipped to his side in order to face his brother. "Big brother! Do you hear that?" As usual he was ignored and pushed away. Christian sat up and rubbed away the sleep from his eyes. As he unzipped the tent, he looked up to see the stars that shone brightly. Amazed by the beautiful sight in front of him, the six year old spent the entire night star gazing. Only when the sun began to rise did he realize how much time had passed. 

Yes! We can finally go and catch bugs. Christian thought happily. He took a seat in the small picnic table and waited for his family to wake up. A few minutes later mama and papa came out of their tent and laughed and the eager boy. Soon, big brother woke up and joined them at the table. 

"Papa, later on today big brother and I are going bug catching." Christian told his his father, food smeared all over his small mouth. He smiled wide when his mother began to scold him for bad table manners. "Mama, I hope I can meet a girl that's just like you one day." Christian giggled, completely kissing up to please his mother. 

"Oh please, everyone knows you're going to be a little gay boy when you get older." Big brother snorted. Christian's eyes widened and he looked to his parents. Gay boy? What does a gay boy do? His brother used too many big kid words and it was frustrating. Christian punched his brothers arm in retaliation. 

Christian slowly ate the rest of his breakfast, still confused about the word gay. His mother and father were scolding his big brother quietly. They always think that by whispering, Christian won't be able to hear. Although, he's not that dumb and he can hear them clearly. Unable to figure out what the word meant, he turned to look at his mother. "Ma, what does gay mean?"

His parents glared at his brother and awkwardly cleared their throat. His parents looked troubled and he didn't know how to clear the awkward aura that circled around them. 

"It's when two guys fall in love." His big brother tells him after a long moment of silence. "Oh! Well there's nothing wrong with that right?" Christian giggles and eats the rest of his food quickly. His mother gets up from the table to chase the energetic little boy. She calls after him, but Christian continues running until he feels tired. 

"Christian, be careful. You and you're brother better return safely and unharmed. Okay?" His mama tightened his small backpack. "There's a flashlight, some snacks, you're favorite book and a coloring book with crayons." She patted his behind and let him stand next to his brother. As she did the same procedure to big brother, Christian prepared himself for catching bugs. 

Soon they departed, walking down a path that seemed fairly safe.  After bothering his older brother due to the lack of bug catching they were doing, Christian began to walk farther away from his brother. If only big brother had paid attention to Christian. Christian would still be with them now. 

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It's been 3 hours. There was no trace of little Christian. His older brother, pulled at his hair, tears staining his cheeks. Everyone was angry and panicking, but nobody was as angry as him. He hated himself for losing his little brother. His baby brother is out there and alone, and he can't even remember how he didn't notice until now. 

Later in the night, a loud howl wakes the family in fear. They quickly pack their bags, forgetting all about their search for their youngest son. Big brother, doesn't bring it up. He can't bring it up now. He'll just wait 'til they are far away from this place. He doesn't want to have hope that his little brother is alive. If there's no hope then he won't be crushed when his little brother turns up dead. 

So he quietly slips in the backseat, slowly slipping into depression and extreme guilt along the way. 

______________________________________________________________

"Big brother!" 

"Mama!"

"Papa!"

Christian couldn't remember much after that, his body couldn't stay awake any longer and soon he was falling into deep sleep beside a weird smelling hole. He was too young to know that it belonged to wolves. He was too young to fight or hurt them. He was innocently laying there, and when he woke up in the morning he'd have to face a pack of wolves. He didn't know that, so he slept peacefully. 

When morning came, there were no crazy wolves ready to eat his face off. But there was a small whimpering sound straight ahead. So Christian quietly tip-toed towards the sound. He faced a pup caught in a wolf trap. The pup was too small to jump out the trap so Christian began to throw rocks in the small hole. 

"Stay out the way if you don't want to get hurt!" He yelled at the small pup. The moved over to the edge and watched fearfully as Christian jumped in and began stacking the rocks into the soft dirt. He was always told that he was too smart for his age. He shoved the pup in his backpack and began climbing the small makeshift ladder. As he reached the top, wolves began circling around him and growling. 

"Wait, don't hurt me. I have a baby." Christian slowly pulled the injured pup out of his backpack. "I think he should have his leg bandanged, don't you think?" He slowly pulled out a hankerchief and wrapped it around the pup's leg. Soon the wolves began to sit and howl. Like the the young boy he was, Christian howled along.

"Awoooo!" 

This was the start of the "Wolf Prince".