Looking for something to do this Saturday? Come meet me at the Havre de Grace Library. I’ll be reading WOLF DAWN.
Tag: wolf
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A. L. Kaplan Wins Another Flash Fiction Challenge
Two weeks in a row! Another flash fiction challenge win at Indies Unlimited.
A. L. Kaplan is the Readers’ Choice in this week’s Indies Unlimited Flash Fiction Challenge. The winning entry is decided by the popular vote and rewarded with a special feature at Indies Unlimited today.Thank you all for your votes.
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I Remember Mama
Kara gripped Ethan’s hand and grimaced. The contraction felt like a knife twisting in her lower back. Pain radiated down her legs. Had Mama felt this much pain when she was born? More than anything, Kara wished she could ask, but Mama died in the upheavals many years ago. All Kara had left were distant memories of loving warmth as Mama’s arms wrapped around her. A simple hug and kiss was all it took to cure a scraped knee or drive away bad dreams.
Another contraction snapped her to the present. That old life was gone. Ethan wiped the sweat from her brow and whispered words of encouragement. Her adoptive wolf mama didn’t labor like this when she gave birth. Was something wrong? Outside the cave she heard the pack pace. The three young wolves had come with her when she and Ethan joined. What a strange family she had now with three wolf siblings and a human mate. Both Mama Wolf and Mama would have liked Ethan. They had both passed on, yet Kara could feel them watching over her labors.
Pressure built with the next contraction. Invisible hands rested on her shoulders. A warm tongue seemed to caress her cheek. It was time. Kara bit her lip as she bore down. Silence filled the cave. Fear made her heart clench. Then a cry reached her ears, strong and hearty. Ethan grinned as he placed the newest member of their pack on her chest. Now she was the Mama.
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MIDNIGHT WOLF
“Leave him be, Billy.”
“Dumb wolf cur always stares at us.”
“It’s just his way.”
Billy hurls another rock, but I knock it down with my book. Not a sound comes from the fenced in junkyard, but I know from the look on Billy’s face that Midnight is showing off his pearly whites.
“Fine,” he yells, then disappears around the corner.
Midnight’s golden eyes meet me when I turn. “Sorry, Midnight. See you tomorrow.”
Silence greets me, as it has every day for the past five years. I smile anyway, then hurry to catch up with Billy.
A hand slaps over my mouth and I’m dragged into a dark alley. I crash into a wall. My head spins. Three masked figures loom over me. Hands dig into my pockets, yank off my sneakers. A fist slams into my gut. My heart pounds as a knife flicks into view, arm ready to strike. Billy’s body lies nearby. I clamped my eyes shut, and wait for death.
Screams fill my ears, but they aren’t mine. When I finally open my eyes, my attackers lie in a pool of dark liquid. A pair of glowing gold eyes stare at me from across the alley. Then they vanish.
***
The police never found Midnight and the junk man claimed he never had a dog. I don’t walk that way anymore, but sometimes, out of the corner of my eye, I see Midnight in the shadows, watching out for me.
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Winter’s Night
“Go ahead. I know you’ve hungered after my flesh your whole life.”
The old wolf sat only inches from Buffalo’s throat, but only licked the festering wound on her hip. With one golden eye and the other silvery blue, she studied his face. A jagged white stripe decorated his brow.
“You’re old and stringy now, too tough for my teeth. A calf would be easier to chew.”
Buffalo stifled a laugh. “There’ll be none until spring. You’ll have to make do with me. I’m too tired to fight anymore, easy game. One of us at least should live.”
“Well it won’t be me. I no longer have the strength to bite your shaggy hide. Even my pack has left me for dead.”
“Perhaps Bear will put us both out of our misery.”
“Bear sleeps. Even Crow hides from this blustery snow, warm in his roost.”
“Then let me die in peace.”
“Humph. Peace. You think I don’t wish for such a thing. I’m cold and tired. Death claws both our hides.”
“Rest with me. Perhaps some good will come of this end.”
Wolf curled up against Buffalo and closed her eyes. Content, their spirits leaped for the sky together. Snow soon hid their bodies.
***
“What odd looking hatchlings we have this spring,” said Mother Hawk.
Father Hawk studied the two chicks. One had a strange white stripe across his face; the other had one silvery blue eye. They snuggled against each other as if winter clawed at them.
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For the Love of Canines: Wolves
Growing up I read all sorts of animal books including those of Jack London, and Albert Payson Terhune, a local author who wrote about collies, and of course, Julie of the Wolves. So I guess it shouldn’t have come as a surprise when I had a dream about wolves. It wasn’t an ordinary dream. It was one of those half-awake dreams where you can remember every little detail. I immediately wrote it down, and then began researching wolves. Until that moment, wolves were minor characters in stories, but I really didn’t know much about them. The more I learned, the more I liked. I now have a shelf full of fiction and non-fiction wolf books and wolf art decorates the house.
This past summer I had the pleasure of visiting the International Wolf Center in Ely, Minnesota. I’ve been a member since they were established. It was a wonderful experience to finally meet their ambassador wolves, Aiden and Denali. (Only a foot away through the glass wall.) I even got to meet their three retired ambassadors, Malik, Shadow, and Grizzer, on a behind the scenes tour. The biggest thrill, however, was listening to the wild wolves howl back to us on the Wolf Communication field trip. I guess Buck isn’t the only one who’s heard the call of the wild.
(Call of the Wild published in 1903, was written by Jack London. Julie of the Wolves published in 1972, was written by Jean Craighead George. A few Albert Payson Terhune books are still in print or as eBooks. My favorite was Gray Dawn, but Lad: A Dog published in 1919, is the most well-known.)
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Feeding Frenzy
Kara forced herself to remain still, waiting for just the right moment. The seagulls squawked and fought over the diminishing scraps of bread. More of the feathered scavengers circled above, waiting for a chance to dive into the fray. They were pests, brazen creatures who snatched food right out of people’s hands. Kara’s hand to be exact and it had been only inches away from her mouth. She had been too stunned to react then. Well, not today. Today she was ready for the greedy creatures.
Stealing food in the dead of winter is never good, especially from someone like Kara. Kara was human, but her heart was wolf, part of the pack that had sheltered her after the collapse. The only human she trusted was her mate, Ethan, who crouched on the far side of the snow pile. The two of them lived somewhere between the wilds and the occasional human village. Kara’s nose flared in distaste. The villagers were too wasteful; their refuse drew vermin for miles.
Nearly twenty birds now fought over the last few crumbs. Signaling Ethan, Kara sprung from her hiding place, moving with the silent precision of a hunter. By the time the gulls noticed the soft hum of the nets it was too late. Ethan and Kara pounced on the birds with small clubs until all was still. Meat to eat, bones for soup, feathers for fletching and pillows, and nineteen thieves who would never steal again. It was a good hunt.
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The Rendezvous
There was no moon tonight, which suited Kara just fine. She preferred to stay in the shadows. Out in the woods she felt safe, but this close to people made her nervous. Kara had promised Ethan she would wait here under the streetlamp while he gathered supplies, but she longed for the comfortable feel of her pack mates. Only her overriding need to be with Ethan kept her here.
Until she had found him, bleeding and near death, Kara hadn’t realized she needed human companionship. Maybe it was the eyes, or the soft way he spoke to her as she nursed him back to health, but something awoke in her. Perhaps it was the way he accepted the wolves that had been her only companions these last eight years. Could he hear them the way she could?
Footsteps approached and Kara ducked into the shadows, as skittish as a young wolf, ready to bolt. Relief flooded her as she recognized Ethan, and her heart began to flutter with something more.
“Ethan.” she said, a wolfish whimper slipping into her voice.
“I’m here, Kara,” he said, “now and forever.”
She stepped back into the lamp light and looked up into his brown eyes, longing for his touch. Shivers ran up her spine as he brushed a hand across her cheek. Kara nuzzled into Ethan’s chest and felt his love telegraphed through his beating heart.
He was hers, and she his…for life.
It’s the way of the pack.
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Twilight Hunt
Kara tightened the cord holding her parka hood closed and retrieved the knives lying on the hardened snow. Cramps gnawed at her legs as she crouched, but she kept her vigil, carefully scanning the icy landscape, as still as stone. The sound of drumming feet reached her ears, growing louder as the elk ran over the rise, pursued by three silver furred wolves. Mist exploded from the elk’s mouth with each step, sides heaving with fatigue and eyes wide with terror. The elk tried to turn, but the lone female of the pack charged and snapped until the elk returned to its original path.
Heart hammering with nervous excitement, Kara remained frozen in place as the five hundred pound cow drew near. One strike from its massive feet could kill her or the wolves. It was risky for their small pack to hunt an animal this large, especially with an untried pup that had dull fangs and only two legs. But they needed meat and this was the only game for miles.
The two lead wolves struck the elk simultaneously, causing it to rear up almost on top of Kara. Flush with the fervor of the hunt, Kara sprang from her hiding place and sunk her blades into the elk’s neck, only barely missing the thrashing animal’s deadly feet. She leaped back in triumph as the elk sank to the ground. Finally, she had proved herself more than a mere puppy.
