The Beast in The Winter Woods

It was a cold and quiet winter's night with the snowflakes falling through the branches above scuttling across and down the snow cover, producing a winter lullaby. Though my sobs disturbed that silent lullaby and echoed throughout the large snow-covered trees. My feet carrying me through the snow, my cries continued to ring out undisturbed in the night only stopping when I heard the snap of a tree branch. Gasping and coming to a complete stop, tears still falling but instead of sobs only sniffling and sharp intakes of air as I hiccup from my crying. Listening intently for any other sounds. When nothing else came I began to assume that I had stepped on a fallen branch. I continued walking still sniffling and hiccuping only stopping altogether when a growl came from behind me. I turned around to see in the moonlit forest, two glowing blue eyes staring right at me.

I then began to run through the woods, over snow-covered earth my little legs carrying me a swiftly as they could in fear and with my lack of knowledge that running had only made this beast need to hunt spark and chase me the prey down, so using my limited knowledge I had to get away from the Beast, I ran and I continued to do so. The snow was once again coming down harder becoming a snowstorm, I was lucky the wind was blowing towards my back and the snow was filling in my footprints making it harder to pick me out from the storm so I was able to get some distance from the monster that was chasing me as I kept running until I came across a small cubby of a cave. The entrance was small enough for my eight-year-old body to fit but not the monster. So I hide waiting out the storm, only when the storm had calmed in its veracity did I leave my little cave. When it seemed I was safe, with the creature nowhere in sight did I leave. I continued walking through the woods being very careful not to make any noise, I came across a large opening surrounded by trees making it a semicircular meadow with bushes dotted around the edges the storm had dialed down more, that all that was coming down were handfuls of snowflakes. Though this tranquility did not last for once again did I hear the beast, and again I began to run.

I only made it about halfway across the meadow when I felt its claws slash into the left side of my abdomen I fell to the snow. Landing onto my uninjured right side, my body somewhat curled up with my right hand on my wound I could feel the warmth of my blood but I can't feel any pain from where the wound is due to the shock, and so I lay there my blood staying the once white snow. I became aware of what was going to happen to me, so I laid there with silent tears falling across my face. I heard the snow at my head and curled torso, scrunch when the weight of the giant wolfs... hands? Came to a stop upon its surface.

I was astonished when it didn't start to eat me, but it instead touched it's muzzle to my forehead and licked my cheek. The wolf then curled itself protectively around me to keep me warm. It then moved my hand away and began to lick the wound it had caused clean of blood. I lay there curled in a ball being kept warm by the wolf's own body heat. Surprised by all of this, only then did the exhaustion finally take hold did I began to feel sleep trying to take me. Nestled within the wolf's protective embrace, I began to drift off to sleep. Feeling safe and warm in the presence of the very thing that had nearly killed me just moments ago.

Now all of that just seemed to have been a thing of the past, a time that no longer fits this moment. I laid there and slept, nestled in the warm embrace of the wolf. With the snow still falling with only the occasional flake's landing on my face, and the ground around us, blanketing the scene in white. The snow still stained ruby red from the wound I received earlier.