Story Time With Lily

Her Last I Love You

Once upon a time....

          There was a girl who had lived in a cabin by herself for ten years. She used to live with her dad but he passed in the winter of her fourth year of life. Since then, she has had to brave life in the forest on her own. She was already smart for her age when she was four. She only grew more intelligent as time passed. She read the books that were scattered around the cabin, learned how to cook, and grew her own food. She never ate meat after the death of her father though. She just couldn't bring herself to harm any animal.

          It was tough being all alone. Some days she could wake up and smile at the rising sun. Other days she would scream as loud as she could, hoping that someone would hear and come for her. She always wondered why no one has come to look for her and her dad. She also wondered where her mama had gone. Questions always buzzed around in her head like a swarm of angry hornets. Never ceasing to cocoon her mind with wonderings of what she existed for and how she existed in the first place with having known only one parent. She also questioned whether or not others actually existed or not. What if she and her dad were the last two alive and now she was the only one?

          One evening during her fourteenth winter, she had went out to collect some more firewood. She had always done it during the early morning but she had to many chores to do that morning. So she decided that it would be fine to gather it in the evening. She bundled up really good, grabbed the tools that she would need to gather the wood, and set out. While she was out, it began to snow. She knew she should probably go back to the cabin but she hadn't gathered enough firewood.

          Against better judgement, she kept trekking out in the forest gathering suitable firewood. Before she even realized it, she had not only traveled too far into the forest, but the snow had started coming down harder covering her tracks. She decided that she was going to try to find her way back despite the odds being stacked against her. She had to try. For her dad was waiting for her to tell him about her day and and tell him good night and that she loved him even though he was now reduced to a pile of ashes in a jar above the fireplace.

          As she tried hard to find her way back, she started to cry. "I'm coming daddy! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to wander off so far." She was crying so loud that she didn't realize until it was too late that there was a growling coming from behind her. She turned around just as the wolf launched itself at her. The wolf scratched and bit at her as she screamed and tried to fight the wolf off of her. Usually the wolves stayed away from the cabin. She must be really far into the forest. She must have crossed into their territory without realizing it. How could she have been so stupid?

          The wolf sank its claws into her left arm that she was using to block the wolf. She cried out in pain and finally managed to get her feet under the wolfs belly and kicked it away as hard as she could. Scared out of her mind, she quickly scrambled to her feet and tried to run away as fast as she could but the wolf recovered quickly and clamped its jaws down hard onto her left leg. She screamed in pain and fell to the snow covered forest ground again.

          She scrambled searching her many pockets as the wolf began to try and drag her away looking for her dad's hunting knife. She always kept it on her when she left the cabin. When she found it, she flung it open and stabbed the wolf as hard as she could. She kept stabbing at it until it finally let go of her. It looked at her with a fury unlike anything she'd ever seen in an animal. It howled and then ran off. It was probably going to get reinforcement.

          She looked around her and saw the outline of shelter like shadow in the near distance. She limped there as fast as she could not caring that she was bleeding heavily from both of her major wolf inflicted wounds. She soon found that it was a cave. She must be near the mountains. She knew how to return home from here but dusk was setting in pretty fast and she didn't have a candle or a gas lamp.  If she can survive the night in the cave, she can travel back home to heal herself in the morning.

          Soon night fell and the cave was dark. She was struggling to stay awake and she was hungry but hunger was something she was familiar with. After her dad died she wasn't sure how to get the foods he always seemed to have ready for her to eat. As soon as the fruits and veggies and meats ran out, it was a while before she had anymore. But even with the hunger pains, she was still struggled to stay conscious. She knew that she must stay alert in case the wolf came back and because of how badly she was hurt and the massive amount of blood loss. But soon exhaustion won and she fell into a deep sleep.

          She dreamed that her dad was there. She dreamed of the winter that he spent an entire week in the cabin with her because she had gotten sick. She dreamed of the time he taught her about how to fish. She kept dreaming of all the good memories that she had had with him. She knew her end was coming and that she would soon be joining her father on the fireplace mantel as a pile of ashes.

          She awoke to the sound of multiple growls. Her cheeks were already wet with the tears that she cried when she was sleeping. now more tears were flowing more freely. The wolves slowly surrounded her making sure to leave her no room to escape. She closed her eyes and said, "I love you daddy", before all the wolves attacked her at once and tore her to pieces to bring back to their den.

The End