Return of the Wolf

Shocks and suspension stretching on the verge of snapping, my side by side carried me down a mixed terrain trail. As the four-wheel drive kicked in, the trail morphed into a rocky river crossing and I barreled right through, not slowing a bit, lurching towards my destination. As I approached the cabin, I noticed a dirty white wolf pup inspecting the grounds by the lake. The wolf pup curiously sniffed the ground and seemed not to notice my approach as I crept closer and closer. When I got a little too close for comfort, the wolf turned around in a non-threatened manner and just stared at me. It slowly traipsed towards me as I crouched down to its level and cautiously extended my hand. Suddenly, the brush behind me rustled and the pup vanished without a trace.

After the disappearance of the pup, I unpacked my necessities of life which included; kindling, a lighter, a cooler full of food to last for the week, a fishing pole, my Swiss army knife, warm sleeping bag, canteen, my rifle and my pistol. Keeping the pistol in the holster and continuously looking over my shoulder for what created the mysterious noise in the brush, I left everything in the cabin and proceeded down to the dock. As I approached the dock, I saw ‘Ole War Horse', a wooden boat my Grandfather made when he was a younger man. It was created from the same stand of fir trees he used to build the old cabin back in 1944. I slid into the hand carved boat, grabbed the splintery oars in both hands and meandered over to the other side of the lake. The trip normally takes about 30 minutes and that day was no different. I wanted to see if my friend Thomas was at his cabin. We became friends years ago, mostly because we had so many things in common. We both inherited our cabins from our fathers, along with wooden boats. We both lived in the city and we both love ‘roughin it' out here on the lake. Explaining my morning journey, I mentioned the white wolf pup and Thomas paused. "Wait, wait a minute. Did you say a wolf pup? There hasn't been a wolf up here for nearly 100 years!" I asked Thomas how he knew that and he got a strange look on his face.

"When my Grandfather was a young man," Thomas began, "the whole county barred wolves and conducted a massive wolf hunt to get rid of them all. During that same time, there was a young man who found and fell in love with a young wolf pup and decided to raise him as his own." I listened as he continued. "The young man and the wolf pup grew up together. He was constantly up here at the lake, away from town, spending time with his wolf friend. Eventually, he built a cabin where he could comfortably spend more time at the lake with the wolf pup. One day while the man was in town, the hunters killed his wolf and left the carcass to rot. The next time the man came up to visit the cabin and his wolf, he brought his young son. He told his son all about the wolf