The Girl and The Three Wolves

Once upon a time, in the middle of a deep and dark mystical forest, there was a mangy little cottage that was falling apart. The door was barely hinged on and the windows were jagged with shards of glass, sparkling like glitter on the ground. The wall panes of house were rotting and the roof was caving in. No one ever dared to enter the forest because everyone knew that there were a pair of vicious wolves who lived there. If you got too close to the forest, the wolves would snatch you up, carry you away to their rotting cottage and eat you up. Sometimes they would even dress in disguises, go into town and kidnap little children who strayed too far from home.

One day the she-wolf felt something jumble around in her belly and she fell down, howling in pain. She felt like she her guts were exploding inside her. Before she could do anything about the pain, she heard an electrifying scream and found herself lying in a puddle of her own blood. There was so much blood everywhere. When she looked up she saw a human baby, naked and crying on the blood-drenched floor. She was about to take a closer look at the child, when she felt another exploding jumble and the floor was slapped with a second gush of blood. When she looked again, there was a bloody wolf cub lying next to the crying child.

Then the she-wolf looked from the blood to the cub to the child and back to the cub. She was confused. How could that be possible, she thought to herself. She thought about eating the human child, but then the brilliant thought came to her that she could use this human. She could raise it, send it to town to nab supper and she’d never have to leave the forest again. When the papa wolf came home, she told him of all that had happened and he was excited to have a new pup in the family, but he looked at the human child with disgust. He would tolerate the child, but by no means what it his child.

As time went on, the little pup and child began to grow. The pup went out everyday with her papa, learning the different scents and trails in the forest. The pup was eager to please her papa, and soon she was so pleasing to him that she was just as vicious as him. She had learned how to attack and use her razor sharp fangs to tear into living flesh and rip it to shreds. The child, on the other hand, grew into a beautiful young lady. She had emerald eyes that dazzled captivatingly. Her hair was the color of the sun and was overflowing like the streams in the forest.

She was the sweetest thing and no one would have ever guess that she was raised by wolves. She didn’t share their temper or their thirst for human flesh and blood. Growing up, she refused to eat the meat in the cottage. She felt wrong about eating human flesh and instead she would walk through the woods collecting nuts and berries, and occasionally she caught a few fish. One day she brought some fish home to the cottage and the three wolves were so angry that her sister wolf, attacked her and was chomping down on her legs. The beautiful young girl screamed in agonizing pain. Before her sister wolf tore her legs to shreds, the mama she-wolf jumped in and threw her off the young girl.

“We need her,” she barked to them. She then took the girl, licked her wounds and bandaged her up.

For the next few days the girl was unable to move, because her legs were so badly cut and bruised. After a couple of weeks she regained the ability to use her legs and walk, although she did so quiet slowly and limping all the way. She was sitting by the opening of the stream in the woods, soaking her sore legs in the stream’s soothing water when the mama she-wolf approached her. She said to the girl that it was time she make herself useful and go into the town and bring back a child. The girl shuddered in horror. She couldn’t do that, not to anyone, especially a young child, but the she-wolf reminded her that this was her only use to them and if she didn’t want to do it then she would simply be tonight’s supper. What choice did she have?

She pulled her legs out of the water and they instantly started to throb in pain as she made her way through the forest to the town, limping all the way. Just as she was about to reach the edge of the forest she saw an amber glow, beckoning her forward with a faint melody. As she walked closer toward the glow, she began to feel a warm tingling sensation course through her body down to her legs where she could feel her it pulsating. The closer she got to the amber glow, the more it started to take on a shape, and before she knew it she was standing face to face with an old woman who had the most crystallizing blue eyes like sapphires. The pain in her legs had completely vanished.

The glowing old woman with the sapphire eyes looked down at the child.

“I know what you’ve come here to do,” said the old woman. “And you mustn’t go through with it. This town has for too long been preyed on by those wolves in there. You are not like them. You are different. You are special and you mustn’t do this.” The girl looked at the woman with amazement and curiosity. How could this old women know so much.

“Who are you,” asked the girl with the emerald eyes.

“I’m your fairy godmother,” the old woman said. “I bewitched those wolves in the forest and that is how you came along. I put a charm on the she-wolf 15 years ago and that is how she came to give birth to you. I knew this day would come when you would venture into town to do the wolves bidding and now I’m telling you as your fairy godmother, you mustn’t go into town. Turn around and go home.”

“If I do that, they’ll kill me and eat me for supper tonight. My sister wolf has already had a taste of my legs. I must go to town,” she said.

“You’re legs are feeling much better, aren’t they? Do you really think that you must go to town to take the life of an innocent child? I don’t think so, my dear. They will not kill you tonight. They will give you a warning,” said the old woman. The girl looked up at the old woman and was about to argue, but when she looked into those sapphire eyes she felt no fear, but complete trust and faith that the woman was telling the truth. The old woman kissed the girl on the forehead and told her to go.

When the girl arrived back at the mangy cottage without any fresh flesh to destroy all the wolves grew angry. They barked and howled. Then without any warning the papa wolf jumped on the girl and started digging into her back with a serious of slashes. The girl screamed a bloodcurdling scream of piercing pain. The she-wolf tackled the papa wolf to the floor where they both began to grapple with each other, until the she-wolf pinned him down.

“We. Need. Her,” she growled slowly through her gritted fangs. She turned to the girl, licked her wounds and bandaged her up. Her back was bruised black and blue with crusted blood around the slashed wounds on her back. She couldn’t move for weeks, and when she did she was hunched over, hobbling toward the stream. When she reached the river, she took off her clothes and submerged herself in the soothing waters of the stream. When she was in the stream she closed her eyes, floated on her back and felt no pain, like she was almost numb. When she opened her eyes again, she saw the she-wolf on the bank of the stream looking down at her.

“It’s time,” the she-wolf said. “You must go to town and fetch us a child for dinner tonight, and this time if you don’t come home with supper, I will be the first to rip you to pieces.” The girl nodded to the wolf, got out of the stream and got dressed before she headed to the edge of the forest again.

When she found herself on the outskirt of the town, she saw the amber glow again. She approached the old woman with the sapphire eyes, feeling the warm tingly sensations flow through her body, pulsating in her back. She was no longer hunched over and hoppling forward, but gliding with grace.

“I know what you’ve come here to do,” said the old woman. “And you mustn’t go through with it. This town has for too long been preyed on by those wolves in there. You are not like them. You are different. You are special and you mustn’t do this,” the old woman said to the young girl.

“They almost killed me,” cried the girl. “My legs were chomped by sister wolf, papa wolf ripped my back open, and mama wolf said that if I don’t bring home a child that she will be the one to finish me off herself. I’m afraid.”

“Don’t be afraid, my dear child,” the old woman said consolingly. “They will not kill you this time. Here, take my amulet,” she said as she handed over a locket with a ruby fastened in the middle of it. “It will protect you.”

“What do I do when I go back to them empty handed? They will surely kill me where I stand,” she cried.

“Remember dear, they’re a pack of wolves and you’re different. They are not your family and you don’t owe them anything,” the old woman said. “You must be strong and have courage. You must tell them that you won’t do their bidding for them and don’t be mistaken they will get angry. They will try to attack you, but you’re strong and you have the amulet so you will be protected. Next, I will give you this red glove. Put it on,” she said handing the glove to the girl.

“What’s this for,” the girl asked.

“Once you’ve told the wolves you will no longer do their bidding, they will attack you and you won’t be injured because of the amulet, but with this glove you can do quite a lot of damage. When you smack them with this red glove, you, the forest and the entire town will be safe again. I still have one more gift for you,” the old woman.

“What’s that,” asked the girl. The old woman pulled the young girl into her arms and gave her a great big hug and a tender kiss on the forehead.

“Love,” said the old woman. “Love is the greatest gift I can give you and you, my precious child, will always be loved. Now go on,” said the old woman.

When the girl returned home empty-handed, all three wolves went crazy, barking mad. They went on a rampage, striking everything in the house. What was left of the ceiling began to fall down in chunks and dust rose from the ground in a whirlwind of chaos. All three of them winded on the girl. All three of them were ready to attack, showing off their ferocious fangs that were dripping with saliva.

First it was her sister wolf who lunged at her and grabbed a hold of her legs with her fangs. She tried to chomp and chomp, but the skin of the girl refused to be pierced by the salivating fangs. The girl took her hand in the red glove and gave a good smack upside the head to the wolf around her ankles. The instant her glove made contact, the fur of the wolf began to singe and smolder, and before any of them knew it, the wolf was running around in complete flames. The mangy cottage began to catch fire.

The papa wolf furious with the girl, lunged at her with his dripping fangs. He tackled her to the floor and tried to shred her back to pieces like he had once done before, but every time he tried to slash her the girl laughed. Her skin refused to be pierced. The girl rolled over and kicked the beast straight in his mouth and then punched him in his ear with her gloved hand. The smell of burning fur tickled her nose. The she-wolf couldn’t believe what she was seeing. The girl had barely kicked off the one wolf when she got to her feet and saw the she-wolf in mid jump about to tackle her. She lunged toward the she wolf and punched her square on the nose with her red gloved hand and with that the she-wolf burst into flames.

The girl looked around and saw the two wolves running around wildly in blazing flames. Smoke was everywhere. The whole cottage was on fire and smelled of burning fur and flesh. The door was blocked off by flames dancing to the song of death. The girl looked around frantically, coughing on the black smoke. She had to get out. She looked at the broken window with the jagged pieces outlining its frame. That was the only way out. She backed up a couple of paces, before she sprinted toward the window and dived through it. She passed over the shards of glass, barely untouched, and landed in a somersault away from the house, breathing frantically. She looked back at the cottage and watched it completely fall apart and collapse.

She got up, dusted herself off and began to walk toward the town. She hadn’t even reached the edge of the forest when she saw the amber glow of the old woman with the sapphire eyes. She was smiling.

“Well done, my child,” she said beaming with pride.

“The cottage has completely collapsed in flames,” said the girl. “We must put out the fire before it spreads through the forest to the town.” The old woman looked at the girl and gave her a soft smile that seemed to twinkle in her eyes.

“I told you that you were different; that you were strong; that you were special,” said the old woman. “You may have been raised by wolves, but you have more heart and love in your being than anyone I’ve ever seen. Do not worry about the fire. I have it taken care of,” she said as she snapped her finger three times. Suddenly thunder echoed through the forest, followed by a downpour of giant water drops that drenched the entire forest.

“Where do I go now,” asked the girl. “That cottage was the only home I’ve ever known, and the wolves were the only family I’ve ever had.

“Those wolves are not and were not ever your family, my dear girl. I am your family and I love you dearly. You will come live with me and I will teach you to find your own glow,” said the old woman as she pulled the girl in, embracing her with a powerful hug and kissing her forehead.

And so the girl went to live with her fairy godmother in a castle in the clouds where she was very happy and very loved. The town, the forest, and the girl all lived happily ever after.

by Rachel Prewitt