A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Controller Makes a Comeback

I hear Ally’s voice calling after me, but I turn my head away. Branches claw my arms with their sharp nails, brittle leaves tangle in my hair, and roots try to trip me. I pay no heed to any of this, as the thoughts pounding in my brain are too much to handle.

I feel myself shift, my legs and arms lengthening, my spine grow, my ones rearrange. As I land from my jump over a bush, I land on four paws. Ally’s voice turns into a warbling sound, making it easier to block out.

My paws follow pathways no human can find. My nose twitches as scents fill my nostrils, overpowering my other senses. The smell of forest, autumn leaves, and rocks suddenly hits me, and I rop into a hunting crouch.

My belly and chest fur brush the grass silently as I move forward. Long ears prick to hear the slightest sound, and to feel the direction of the wind. A breeze blows by, bringing with it the scents of my prey. North, coming towards me. I smile, baring my teeth, and continue to stalk forward to the edge of a clearing.

Two deer stand in the clearing, nibbling on grass. Their scents, a combination of leaves, rocks, and dung, drifts towards me. Both are female, and old, the scents whisper in my ears. I smile, then leap.

One falls beneath my weight, its spine cracking as we fall to the earth. My paw catches the other’s throat as I fall. Blood sprays from the wound, and the doe falls. I look down at the one I’m standing on, and watch the life drain out of its large brown eyes as broken ribs puncture its lungs.

I climb off the deer to inspect it. As I do, I hear growls from  the trees. Looking around, I finally see the eyes turned silver by the moon watching me. Two wolves pad forth from the trees, one with teeth bred and fur pricked. I pull the deer whose spine I broke closer to me, a growl building in my chest.

The black wolf raises his head to appear intimidating, which is useless considering we’re the same size. The white beside him simply sits to watch. Blazing blue eyes meet mine, and the black growls.

“These are our deer. Didn’t you smell us? Didn’t you sense our pack?” I growl, understanding the words but unwilling to reply. The black takes another step forward, and I snarl, ready to defend the prey I had rightfully killed.

Another step, and the black’s nose is an inch from mine. Both our teeth’s are bared, snarls building in our chests. Suddenly, white flashes in my vision, but I snap too late.

The white female simply looks at me, her emerald eyes sparkling as her paw lays across the throat of the deer I had first killed. “There. Simple. We take this one, you take that one. Ben, let’s go.” Ben backs away from me, muttering curses under his breath. The female picks up the deer carcass by the throat and starts to walk away before my voice stops her.

“Hey, Alexis. Do you know where we are?” The white wolf stops, drops the deer, and turns her head to look at me. “We are in the northwest corner of the Northwoods’s Woods.” I nod, thanking her. Alexis nods back, picks up her deer, and pads away into the trees. I see her belly bulging a little, and wonder why a pregnant wolf is still hunting.

I shake my head, then turn to the deer with the broken spine, and begin to eat. As I swallow the fresh food I think about a map. The Northwoods were a family that lived in the woods that now bears their name. Its line ended when the only child, a girl named Lily, ended up dead. In their grief, her parents committed suicide. The woods are only a few miles from my school in Sarcoxie, and were vast.

The woods also seemed to be the home of Alexis and her pack. I had heard rumors of a large wolf pack sighted in the forest, but had never believed them.

Suddenly, I hear shouting. I prick my ears, searching for the source. When I find it, I turn around and sprint through the trees.

The shouting gets louder the closer I get to the main clearing. I peek out from the treeline, and see everyone standing in a circle. What’s strange, though, is that I don’t see any blue pupils glowing softly.