Pawprints (✅)

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Maryrose Willoughby was only a young girl of three when the stories began. A young girl, prim and proper, became something of a horror story in a matter of days. The town of Blue Field had unexpectedly been stained red by homicidal tendencies. What did this have to do with a young Maryrose Willoughby?

If you wanted to be technical, this had absolutely nothing to do with the young girl, but had everything to do with someone very close to her. Maryrose would very much prefer me not to mention this as it saddens her so, but then our story would be left untold.

The 27th of November was a peaceful day, much like all of the other days in this quiet woodland town. Nothing to bother the townsfolk except for the occasional garden raid excecuted by a few brave weasels and maybe a few foxes. Silent serenity is what the people called it, a synonym for safe.

If I was to say that nothing ever happened in Blue Field, I would have to call myself a liar. No place had a clean history, and Blue Field was not an exception. That is where our story begins.

. . .

"Maryrose! Come back here this instant, you naughty child!" Mrs. Thorn snapped at the young girl who desperately ran into the trees that surrounded the town like a swaddled infant. Maryrose, too young to understand why she was the only one unloved, heard the old woman, but continued to flee. Mrs. Thorn was not unkind, but she was not what Maryrose desired. The old woman fed her, sheltered her, and provided her with life's daily necessities. All except for one.

What Maryrose desired was hidden far within a place left forgotten by the people of Blue Field, and forgotten for good reason. Shame and regret is what fueled the silence forced down upon the children who knew of the place Maryrose would escape to, but none of them would ever understand.

Her small, chubby body raced skillfully through the wood, her little dress whipping behind her as if it too were attempting to stop her from what she was not meant to see. Her eyes, large and full of innocence, darted around to find what she sought, her hair a jumbled, wild mess. She truly looked like a child of the wood, which was not entirely incorrect.

"Maryrose... You have come again...?" a deep voice called out to her now that she had reached the deepest part of the wood. The little girl instantly halted, joy spreading across her troubled young face.

"Yes, yes! I told you I would! I would, I would!" she called back, frantically turning around in a circle to spot the owner of the voice. There stood a man, taller than most, with piercing eyes the color of a raging fire. Maryrose could not describe the happiness that filled her when that gaze met her's, all fear and hopelessness washing away from her tiny bones.

"No! You do not belong here!" the man scowled and his upper lip curled in anger as he slowly crouched down to her level. Most children would be terrified, but Maryrose knew he would never hurt her and he did too. His threats had never worked, but he needed to try for all their sakes.

"We told you to never come back! You are not one of us and never will be, human girl! Disgusting, furless mutt! Begone and leave us be!" he growled, the hair on his head fluffy and unmanaged. "Your people have done enough!"

Air filled Maryrose's cheeks as she puffed them out in defiance, showing no obvious sighs of going back to whence she came as the man had hoped. The child knew that all he had were words and he would not force her to obey him. His anger turned to an expression of pain, his angry scowl twisting into an agonized quiver before all emotion washed from his features. Without another word, the wild man scoffed and slowly turned around, disappearing behind a tree, but what emerged was not a man. The beast stood there, slowly peering around to silently observe the little girl with the flames in his eyes. Maryrose was even less afraid and giggled, prancing over to the wolf that was five times her size. He did not react, instead slowly walking forward. If the girl would not leave, he might as well protect her from beasts less friendly.