As White As Snow

The breeze brushed caressingly against the trees, whispering for them to awaken.  The great trunks responded by tossing their leafy boughs with wild abandon.  Along the dull river the wind poked and prodded the sluggish waters until they churned with enthusiasm.  The gusts gradually heightened into a windstorm, playfully butting the banks of a bright little creek winding through the Alaskan mountains.  Even as they were muffled by the protective pines, the leftover gust ruffled the ear fur of a young wolf.  Her copper-colored muzzle twisted into a wry smile as she stepped closer to her mate.

"Winter's coming, all right," she stated.  "Soon."

"Indeed," her mate replied, hooking her jaw under his nose and rubbing it affectionately.  Together they watched the fiercely blundering gusts rock the towering poplars and pines.  In spite of the constant murmurings of the creek and trees, everything was quite peaceful, as if they were watching from far away.  It seemed as if the two wolves were the only beings in the world.

The feeling lasted several precious minutes.  It was broken, however, by a posse of wolves, who nodded to the couple as they passed, glancing back to admire the powerful wind in the boughs. The two lupines turned to watch as their pack members materialized from the fog, trotted past, and dissappeared again into the far recesses of the pack's main lair.  Just as they were about to head inside also, a young wolf the color of the midnight sky stalked up to them. 

If the two mates hadn't known this particular wolf so well, they would have taken offense at his posture.  His hackes seemed perpetually raised, his claws unsheathed, as if stalking an unseen enemy.  Yet there was a grave kindness etched into his youthful, dark face that wasn't there on others of his age.  It seemed only to come with great wisdom, which, in turn, usually sprang from the passing of moons.  But not so with the black wolf, Eli. 

After several prolonged moments of studying the face she had known from early puppyhood, the copper wolf opened her muzzle to speak.  What was he, Eli, doing here?  What did he want?  He was normally shy and silent around her, wary.  It was unlike him to make the first move.

Eli spoke suddenly, his black jowls snapping open.  "Your pups are due soon?"  The words seem forced, an unusual derivation from his normal voice. 

"Yes," the she-wolf growled.  She meant for it to come across as sounding annoyed; the black wolf had known the pups were coming for months.  But it ended up being a pleased growl, one that would pass for a purr among cats.

Eli eyed her in a way that made the hairs on the back of her neck rise, yet also spread a feeling of curious warmth in her belly.  "The pups you will bear will be shining lights for the pack," he said quietly, in a strange, regretful voice.  "But they will be forced to fuel the flames of hate and malice before they can burn brightly."

The copper wolf's male companion gave a start.  This was out of character for the wolf he too had known since his early days.  "Wh-what are you taking about, Eli?"

But Eli just stared at the sky, hard, before backtracking to the main den.

The two mates looked at each other.  The male wolf cleared his throat.  "Erm...well, he's always been..."

The copper she-wolf nodded a bit too quickly in response.  "You're right, he's probably..."

Talking over each other in an effort to cover their feelings of confusion and bewilderment over their friend's behavior, the young mates trotted back to their den.  

Some distance behind, Eli gazed at them unblinkingly.  He sighed.

Many days passed on the mountain bluff, and as the copper wolf became heavy with child she forgot about her friend's prophecy, which had faded into obscurity.  When the time came for the pups to arrive, all that the she-wolf could remember afterwards was that there was a period of unendurable pain and that Eli's voice kept playing in her head.  It wasn't even his last prediction that kept returning - it was little things, like when he had asked her to climb to the waterfall with him when they were adolescents, or when they had shared a corner of the cave when they were sick with the mountain fever. 

At last it was over, but the pain made the copper wolfs' head spin, and it wasn't over yet.  As she lifted her sweat-soaked head to rouse her pups, she could sense that something was wrong.  Only one pup responded to her nudges and licks.  It was a small, jet-black little girl who whined and began to nurse.  As the realization of what had happened to the other pups dawned on the new mother, tears mingled with the sweat that ran down her furry cheeks.  She didn't have the strength to cry out. 

The copper wolf recovered enough from her pain-filled stupor to dry her pup with her rasping tongue.  Then she lay down, her delicate head resting against a stone as her pup nursed, her thoughts swirling dizzily, clearing out the last vestiges of hurt in her body.  Despite the lack of pain, the throbbing of her heart filled up her insides.  Sleep gradually encumbered her thoughts until she gave in to its lull.

 As the gloom encircled the wolves' camp, a dark figure padded from the slanting sleet outside to sit solemnly next to the female's bedraggled head.  No one else in the pack knew of the birth; the new mother was left on her own to bear her pups, as was the custom.  But somehow young Eli had known.

Stooping to lick the copper wolf's head, he gazed tenderly at the pup.  It raised its tiny head to look at him even though it was still blind.  It looked the picture of innocence, like a lost sheep who has looked up and seen a beautiful light, perhaps a benign shepherd with a long, curved staff...

Eli's imagination drew him into a world indifferent to the present circumstances.  He lay down with the copper wolf close by.  Her lamb, like himself, hid from the world, buried in the warm resonance of the safe place.  The sleet draped itself mystically across the cavern entrance.  In a dreamlike state, the dark wolf lowered his shaggy head and nuzzled the coppery head again.  A tear that was not hers ran down her ear and plopped to the ground.  This was not his pup.  It was the copper wolf's and her...her mate.  If only the beautiful copper female had known sooner.  If she had, she might not have been mates with another wolf. 

If only she had known that he, Eli, loved her...

Aniu (c) Universal

Everyone else (c) Iditarod