Wolves and Men

The sun’s rays were not as hot as they were yesterday. The two travelers were moving at a good pace but he was still cool. He lost track of time as the two ate up the distances they were traveling. He felt the cool mountain air flow through his lungs and body bringing life and circulation. The sun continued up its track and reached its zenith without his notice. His eyes were rhythmically shifting from the ground to the she-wolf’s tail and back again. They were not traveling in a nice crevice today. The rocky ground was open and that was enough to motivate him. They were too open out here on the rocks. There was no cover and no escape route. If they were spotted out here, they were as good as dead.

The wolf seemed to understand this as well because her pace had been increasing throughout the morning and now, they were at a run. Not a full out sprint but more like a marathon’s pace. He breathed as he concentrated on his feet and controlling his body, not to give too much energy and to stay calm and steady. He concentrated on his breathing, deep and even. His legs pumped thick blood throughout his body. He was in good shape but that gave him little comfort when he contemplated the shear distance they had to travel.

The wolf ran over the rock surface and didn’t slow or waver in her direction, north. His mind worked on that for a moment. Could she really be taking him the couple hundred miles to Canada? He wavered in his pace as the distance that would have to be traveled on foot hit him with crushing force. That was impossible. Canada couldn’t be reached by foot you needed a car or something. A plane would be nice. He stumbled to a stop and rested his hands on his knees, breathing raggedly. She’s crazy. If Canada was their destination, and he couldn’t think of anything between where they were and that frigid northland, it would take them months to get there. He looked up. The wolf had stopped and was looking at him.

He began to hate this animal. This silent guide that had led him to the middle of nowhere and now what, she expected him to just follow her for weeks on end till they got wherever they were going? He stood up and walked toward the wolf but he made no attempt to hide the anger and contempt from his stare. The wolf stood there watching him approach, not moving.

He growled low in his throat. “Where are we going? Are we going to Canada?” The wolf stood there staring at him. “You expect me to just follow you till God knows when till we get to wherever you’re taking me, don’t you?” His muscles tensed and strained more and more with each word as he allowed his anger to build. “How in the hell do you expect us to reach Canada on foot?” His neck muscles were working, and the wolf still just stood there. “Answer me. How do you expect us to get to Canada with winter coming? Snows are going to start falling soon especially if we keep going north the way we are.”

The wolf watched and listened as he continued to raise his voice, forcing it to echo off the barren rock.

“I’m not like you,” he explained. “I don’t have a nice fur coat to keep me warm out here. All I have is this half vest which I wear during the summer.” He waved his hands to take in and illustrate the barren rocks they were on. “Granted, if those fucking cops hadn’t showed up and sacked my burrow and probably stolen all my gear I wouldn’t have had to leave and I wouldn’t be out here with you.” He jabbed a finger at the wolf and turning around he began to pace throwing his hands around like a madman as he continued to rant, half to himself and half to his guide. His anger was building, a sensation he had not felt in a long time and the fire of it warmed his body and enflamed his purpose, giving him strength.

“What the hell do those cops want with me anyway?” He looked up at the old man in the sky, squinting from his bright glare. “What the hell is so special about me? Why couldn’t they just leave me alone and let me live my life the way I wanted to live it?” He punched his hand down into his fur vest and ripped out the plastic bag that carried his life savings. All he was worth monetarily was in that bag. “Oh no, we can’t have some guy out there that doesn’t want the latest electronic gadget. Nope, can’t have that. Everybody has to be the same and those that aren’t, need to be reeducated to learn how to be like everybody else. You need a job. You need to buy shit to fill up your house or crappy apartment.” He was yelling to nobody in particular, pacing and turning around, wandering in no special direction.

The she-wolf watched and listened to him sitting down on her haunches. The rock had been warmed by the sun. The piece of denim still held securely in her jaws.

He held the bag up so the wolf could see the green paper inside. “You see this?” The wolf looked at him, her white starburst on her chest showing underneath the piece of blue denim hanging from her mouth. “This paper is the only thing that matters, and this is what a person’s worth is measured by.” The wolf continued to watch him, her golden eyes tracking his every movement. Hers was not the blank look of a dog but of an intelligent creature that was absorbing and observing everything around her.

“You see? You need a job. A crappy job you hate so you can earn more of this,” He held the bag up to the sky. “You need to earn more so you can give it away again. You work your whole life to get it then spend it faster than you make it. And then you have to pay more money because you made the money in the first place. You have to pay your taxes and if you don’t? We’ll hunt you down.” With that last he threw the baggie down on the ground. A wet slapping sound met their ears. He took a few deep breaths and put his hands on his hips. The wolf continued to watch him with the same intensity as she had been all along.