General Fiction Short Stories

Reprieve (Contest)

WeeklyStoryContests ... Theme 4 ... "The Enemy Ally" ... (2K max.)

Flames, a thousand times more scorching hot than the sun in the height of summer, were devouring the forest on our mountain as if it were cotton-candy. Mother, myself, the twins and Grandmother watched in utter dismay as century old trees were disintegrating like sugar on each tongue of fire. Bright, orange and hypnotizing the fire ate up everything in its enormous path, expelling dark grey plumes of smoke into the cloudless sky, and leaving a sinister trail of blackened entrails in its wake. This was the first forest fire I had ever witnessed and it was terrifying.

Grandmother and Mother were several meters below myself and my twin brothers. They were talking very softly to each other. Every now and then, over the howling of the hot winds blowing in our direction, which were bringing mordant smoke and blackened flecks of ash with them, I caught a word or two of their hushed conversation.

They were discussing whether to cross the river to safety or to try and outrun the fire here on our side of the river valley. It seemed to me that they could not readily agree on a path of action, and yet, the fire was not abating. The more they delayed the closer it came to us.

I didn't know whether to bolt up the mountain or down, myself. However, I was ready to move one way or another when the command came. Standing still like this, watching our forest being devoured tree by blessed tree, was almost too much for anyone to take. I and the twins were trembling with fright.

Mother stood up and shook out her glossy thick grey and black coat, which was covered in delicate sooty ashes. She turned her face to look at my younger brothers and I. Giving us a sharp bark, she commanded us to follow her down the mountain. Mother had decided we were going to cross the river and she tore down the mountain side ahead of us to prepare the way.

Grandmother gave a second bark and that shook me into action. I yipped at Haiiro and Kuroguro. Though they whined back at me, they rose from their bellies obediently, shook off the paper thin ashes from their sleek coats, and followed me to Grandmother's side. Grandmother instructed us to follow closely at her heals and not to get left behind.

Dashing down the mountain side she rushed headlong after Mother's trail and I pushed the pups to follow her as fast as they could. Luckily the two of them loved to race and soon it was a game between them to see who could keep up the best with Grandmother. I might have laughed and yipped playfully at them but I could feel the heat of the fire at my backside egging me on, which distracted me from all thoughts but escape.

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The plan was to outrun the kilometer wide fire and cross the turbulent river at the bottom of the valley to safety. Only, this safe haven, which we so desperately wanted to reach, had other dangers. It was enemy territory. It wasn't a wonder now why Mother and Grandmother could not readily agree on where to decamp to.

A grizzly old grey wolf with a heavily scarred face called Sayu ruled the eastern side of the river valley and he had been at war with Grandmother ever since she turned down his advances many years ago. One spring when he was a much younger wolf, he braved the rushing flood waters of the river to mate with Grandmother. When he arrived on the western shores he discovered that Grandmother had already mated with a lone wolf from the northern side of the mountain. In a bitter rage Sayu slayed my grandfather and drove my grandmother high into the mountain - beyond the treeline. Since that day Grandmother has been keeping us all safely hidden and tucked far away from Sayu's reach.