The Stealth of a Beating HeartTrevor, Gloria, Alexander and I were on our way to see my relatives on the other side of the country. We drove to the airport, about a hundred miles from our hometown. I had gotten restless, and Alex was already driving Gloria, my foster mother, crazy. Trevor, my foster father, was screaming at Gloria every time she wouldn’t answer him. He swerved a few times, when he didn’t pay attention. The warm air blasting suddenly stopped, which meant the antifreeze shut off. Trevor was worried about a lot of things, but this didn’t bother him. He was all bundled up in a nice red furry coat. For such a little girl, my head was spinning, and I thought something bad was going to happen. I felt a pain in my left arm, where I sat on the right side of the van, and I was lucky. I screamed out, automatically looking over at Alex. He had bitten me, and sat there laughing about it. Trevor had jumped up in panic. His hands moved, making the van swerve, to an almost stop, until we got hit by something big. A huge eighteen wheeler truck hits us from, the left side, on a bridge. The car rolled and my door opened wide up, throwing me out. I grabbed a hold of the door, as the car tilted on its side, hanging almost halfway off the bridge. I looked up at Gloria, her head busted. I could see the skull cracked underneath her skin. Alex was lying on the floor, his little body probably shook. I couldn’t see Trevor, maybe he got pulled out like I was. My hands slipped, and the icy snow drifted on my hands, moistening the door I was holding onto. I heard the loud squeak as I slowly slid downward, and finally let go of the door. I was free falling now. My heart was moving too fast, and I couldn’t see anything coming, I only saw the cold, dark blue river below me. It felt like a horror movie. It was all slow at first, and then when you’re almost there, you feel the sudden cold before you hit the water. I felt something cold, but it wasn’t any water. I landed on a patch of hard moss, or leaves… But it mostly felt like… fur… The back of my head hit against whatever the hard base was, and I could see myself drifting away from the bottom of the bridge. I awoke later in a daze, the sky dark, and the forest even darker. My eyes watered, as my small 11 year old body shivered. A dark and large beastly wolf stood in front of me, his dark golden eyes were black slits, and his fur was as black as the forest. Stealth was probably his best gain. Instantly, I grabbed a stick and held it up, trying to scare whatever the beast was. It didn’t seem very harmful, but more as if, he was friendly. He butted his head against my palm that was spread out to push him back if he got too close to an attack. I dropped the stick, and lifted up my other hand. My hands barely slide down the dark fur, and it was as smooth as silk, and it felt as strong too. He pulled his lips back, in a smile. My heart thudded loudly against my chest as I saw his large teeth. I let out a whimper, but he butted my torso, knocking me down playfully. This beast was huge… about, eight feet tall, and sixteen in feet. He licked my face, and I felt the warm moisture on my body. “Eww! Gross!” I played around, wiping my face off. My little brown hair stuck out of my hood. I pulled my hood down, and batted my deep brown eyes and smiled, hugging the creature. I should be a little scared, but my instincts aren’t really what normal little 11 year old girls’ instincts are supposed to be. I’ve been abandoned most of my life. My real parents were killed while I was at the hospital one night with pneumonia. The attacker, also tried to kill my grandmother, but she got out safely. The state of Michigan never let me see her though. They always said it would leave me heartbroken. I felt a large push, as the wolfy creature let out a big sigh, and I started to freeze. He bit my coat, and I yelped, thinking he bit me, but it was only my coat. He lifted me, with barely any muscle, apparently, and put me on his back. I lay down forward, curling my hands around the dark fur, rubbing my cheek against the smooth silky hair and felt the wind behind me rush off. The speed… It was incredible. I t felt like soaring through the sky and flying with no wings. I looked forward, feeling the sting in my eyes from the wind. The wolf was coming up to a large jump. I was waiting just for this. My hands clamped down on the wolf’s shoulders, and I hung onto him. My heart was racing and I felt the blood run through my veins. I felt the kick from under me, as he kicked off the side of the large canyon. It felt so. Majestic as the power in him lifted him off the ground, and used the Earth below him to help him across the canyon. I thought we were going to fall. Maybe we were… But I had faith in him. The other ledge came up close, and the air was cold. It felt like I was a part of him, because I felt the landing on a soft patch of Earth. “Please…don’t scare me like that,” I said softly, hugging him. The wolf nodded, and then his ears plopped straight up, as if he were listening to something. His teeth bared back in a growl. The low rumble in his chest was vibrating his back. It scared me, because he was getting mad. I pulled one of my legs over, to get down, but then he let out a bark. I got scared and pulled my leg back over, holding on. “What’s wrong?” I asked, hearing the shaken tremble in my voice. He backed up and crouched down, as if to spring. My heart raced more and faster, and then I heard it. The loud cracking boom came within ear shot. I felt the wolf spring upward, as if he were dodging something. I heard another cracking boom, and felt something hitting us. The wolf let out a yelp. His tail straightened out, and I saw a hole in his tail. “Wolfy?” I asked, in a whispering tone. I jumped off, and ran to his tail. He growled and jumped around, grabbing my hood with his teeth and pulled me back. I heard one more cracking boom, and saw a black spot, where I was just standing. They were gunshots… and someone was shooting at me… I looked the way the gunshots came, as the wolf still had my hood in his jaws. I was scared, and I wanted to cry. The wolf threw m e up into the air and jumped up, catching me on his back. He started running. I heard barking behind us, and two vehicles following. I looked back, seeing mountain four-wheelers, with two men one, on e on each. Their guns where in their hands, and they were driving with one hand. One was a rather large round man, and the other was fairly skinny. We were coming up on the canyon again... I knew he would make it if he jumped. I held on, and then heard a cracking boom again. I felt the bullet graze over my right arm. “Ow!” I shrieked clutching my arm. I cried and lay straight down, on my stomach on the wolf’s back. The wolf then made the jump. I grabbed on, with my left arm, leaving my right arm snuggled against his fur. I watched the ground disappear from underneath us, and I looked forward, seeing only a few more feet, then we were home free. One more shot came from behind us, and then the wolf stiffened beneath me. He let out another yelp, and then was limp. He crashed into the ground, as I fell off and hit the ground a few yards from him. My eyes were closed, but yet somehow, I knew the hunters were on their way to pick up their gain. I whimpered and pushed myself up, using only one arm. I half crawled, half walked over to the wolf, seeing his big dark golden eyes stare at me. I cried and hugged his fur. “Wolfy get up… Please get up and run away from here,” I said, pushing him. He wouldn’t budge. “Get up,” my voice crackled, and I heard the four-wheelers starting to come from around the back way. He nudged me with his nose to start running away. I wouldn’t leave him; my heart wouldn’t just let me. I stayed next to him. He growled at me to go. “I’m not leaving you,” I said, petting the top of his head. The vehicles droned out, and the sound of a much bigger car came. Of course, they would need something to put him in after they kill him. I looked at the pathway, waiting for them. I stood up, and held my arms out, protecting him, as he protected me. It felt like forever, but a large white truck came, with a large jeep in front of it. My eyes grasped to the letters on the Jeep. “Wildlife Sanctuary Response Unit”. People ran out of the jeep and to the wolf, checking him. One of the women rushed me over to the medical team, to check for anything wrong. They stitched up my wound, and asked how I got there. I shook my head, forgetting what actually happened. A police cruiser pulled up, as I was sitting on the hood of the jeep with a blanket. My eyes never left the wolf. “His name is Sam,” a woman said, trying to get me to talk. My hair stayed down in my face and I shivered. He looked so majestic to me, and he was a rather wonderful creature. “He kept me safe,” I said, my voice trembling. I looked at the policeman, coming to talk to the woman who was standing in front of me. Her long brown hair swayed against the cold winter air. Her tan skin looked natural. Her brown eyes wandered back at me, as the policeman talked to her. She nodded a few times, then grabbed some paperwork. She walked back to me. “Can I have your name, sweetie?” she asked. I looked down and back at the wolf. My heart wasn’t able to take that the wolf was in so much pain. They made him stand up, to get him moved into the white truck. I looked back at her… My lips cracked and my hands felt numb… “My name… is Alyssa,” I said, watching the white truck pull off onto the path, to take the wolf away. That was the last time I ever saw him, before he died at the Sanctuary vet, a few moments after arriving. __________________ 1,879 words 33 Paragraphs 7,772 characters (no spaces) 4 Pages 153 Lines
