Alone With The Wolves

Exciting News

Skylar's POV

Wolf. It's a simple word. Four letters and most people know what it means. An image of a large, furry beast with sharp teeth and claws pops into mind.Well, according to the dictionary, a wolf is a wild carnivorous mammal of the dog family, living and hunting in packs. To me, wolves are much more. I mean, yes, I have always been fond of wolves. Most people call it an obsession, but I think it's a healthy obsession even though I am sure it is NOT an obsession.

Actually, I have been interested in wolves since I popped out of my mother's womb. Apparently, when I popped out I was bawling my eyes out. But, there was a poster of the wolf in the clinic. It was an ad for some random medicine. The second I saw that, I stopped crying. Like, total silence. My red face turned back to normal peach again. And I just stared at the poster. Just stared. When the nurse tried to carry me off I would cry. But when she put me down again, I stopped. This continued for a while. So they had to move the poster to the room where I was to sleep in. In my incubator, I would fall asleep. The last things my little eyes would see before resting was that poster.

Eventually my parents had to bring me home. But even then, they had to persuade the doctor to let us bring the poster home. After some heated discussions, the doctor finally agreed let us have the poster. Ever since then, that poster has been stuck to my bedroom wall. Even now at nineteen.

Then, when I was seven, I started to draw wolves. And guess what my first drawing was! A wolf. Just a simple drawing as close to a wolf as a squiggle can be. Still, I knew it was a wolf nonetheless. I kept drawing wolves and a few years later, when I was thirteen, I finally perfected my drawing of a wolf. Every strand of fur in place. The posture perfect and tall. Every aspect of the wolf screamed alpha male. When I drew everything perfectly, I was finally satisfied.

But that night, I saw something in my dreams. A face. It was very blurry but I was sure it was a boy. A boy just a little older than me, 15, 16, perhaps. Then the image blurred some more and he was changed. Something furry. At first I thought that it was a dog. But then I realized. It was one of the wolves I drew. Not the alpha male one, the perfect drawing. But one of the other drafts, a normal wolf. A follower.

The morning after, I awoke. But I was not suspicious of the dream at all. The dream was pushed right to the back of my head. Slowly forgotten as the days turned into weeks, weeks into months. But exactly a year later, I had the same dream. This time the boy looked older, taller, more built. Not exactly muscular but getting there. Hair, shaggy and growing over his eyes. Even when he changed, his wolf looked older. A little bigger, and his eyes would look wiser, more somber. The childish, innocent sparkle in his eyes gone. Replaced by a more mature look. But those eyes, those were eyes I don't think I would ever manage to forget. They were a golden brown. Like liquid chocolate with a golden tinge. Because of that, my drawings also changed. The adolescent wolf replaced by this bigger, more mature wolf.

This occurrence of seeing this man/wolf in my dreams happened annually. On that exact same day every year. And always on that night, before I went to sleep, I would place a notepad and pencil on my bedside table. To be sure that I could easily draw the older looking wolf the second I woke up.

And now, at nineteen, that wolf still appears in my dreams. Now, he is fit and lean. A tanned man. His hair still shaggy, but now a little neater. Not that neat, but at least they were out of his eyes. That rich brown colored hair would always be the hardest to draw. Every strand having to be precise. His wolf fur took on the same color. His wolf now big and lean.

Now, 19, I awoke from the same dream. Quickly grabbing the notepad and sketching both the wolf and man. Halfway through sketching, I looked at it, satisfied. I flip back to the first page, the first drawing of the boy I had seen in my dreams. He looked so... different. A young, innocent face compared to the hardened, set jaw of the present man, the only reason I could see that they were the one and the same person was their eyes. Those same soft, golden brown eyes. That liquid gold was the only thing that showed he had a big heart, so full of love and tenderness. Compared to the serious look of his adult face .

I can fill in the details,later. I say to myself as I get up, brush my teeth, comb my hair and get dressed.Getting ready for the day. I go downstairs with my notebook in hand as I sketch the man at the table. Chewing on my cereal half-heartedly.

Oh! I almost forgot to introduce myself. I'm Skylar Mae Collins. Sky for short. Sky Collins.I hate the Mae in my name. Sounds too.... girly. I have no idea what my parents were thinking when they named me. I'm nineteen this year. I know, I'm supposed to be in college this year, but I decided to start when I'm 20. I'm taking a year off studying to relax. To prepare myself for the four torturous years of studying ahead.

" Hi honey! Well, you're looking chipper." my mom says sarcastically as she enters the kitchen.

" Hi mom." I reply in a bored tone. Not really listening as I carefully draw each strand of hair on the mans perfect head.

" Hopefully, your mood will change once I tell you what your father and I have planned for you before you leave for college in a few months." she says as she glances over my shoulder to look at the drawing.

I quickly cover the drawing with my hand as I groan. The thought of college giving me a headache. " Well, what is the plan?" I try to add an enthusiastic tone into my voice. Not wanting my mother to feel hurt.

" We" my mother says while she sits in the chair. "Are planning a trip to Alaska!" She looked at me with sparkling eyes.

" Alaska...." I say trying to sound excited. But then I remembered, snow wolves live in Alaska! The fake excitement turned into real excitement. " Alaska! Wait, when are we going? During winter right? Where do we stay? Will we see the wolves? Oh my god are we going just to see the wolves?" I shoot questions at her. Not being able to stop.

" Calm down, sky!" She says as she pats my shoulder, trying to stop me from asking question at 100mph. " Yes, we are going during winter, we will be staying in some lodges near mount McKinley. Yes, darling Mount McKinley." She says just when I open my mouth. " And finally, yes we will be able to see the wolves since that's basically the reason we are going there." She says with a wide smile.

I am speechless. So the only thing I do is wrap my arms around her and give a hug. I stay there. Wondering how long it was since I really hugged my mother like this. " Thank you." I whisper into her ear. Feeling guilty at talking to her in a bored tone. Making her feel ignored.

" It's ok, honey." She says. As though she was able to read my mind. " And I'm really happy that you seem genuinely excited about it." She smiles as she hastily wipes away a tear before releasing me from the hug.

I smile gratefully at her before heading upstairs with my notebook to finish the drawing. Alaska... Wow. I say to myself. Still amazed that my parents would do that for me.

******

Authors Note:

Hey guys, it's Danielle. Hope you're enjoying the story so far. I'll try to update as frequently as possible. Please fan, comment and vote!! I would like to thank my friend and editor , Annie for helping me out. Go check out her story, her username is girlwithgeekyglasses