Wolven Wishes
By ShinobiWolf
Chapter One: Toboe and the She-Wolf
I wrote this for my final Creative Writing project. And as you'll come to notice, this is the only chapter that mentions a wolf disguising themselves as human. That's because my Creative Writing teacher is a bit old fashioned. The idea of a wolf "disguising themselves " as human would have been a bit hard for her to grasp, so I just kept them in wolf form. I'm so happy… My Wolf's Rain poem "Last One Standing" I posted when there was like, only about fifteen other stories. Now there's over a hundred… That exploded rather quickly.
Toboe tried with difficulty to scratch an itch between his shoulder blades. It was just out of the reach of his hind legs, and he could never quite seem to reach it. But as annoying as it was, it put his mind off food for once. Until the growls of his stomach made him lose all interest in that one little itch.
He wandered the streets of the dome city as he did every night, hungry.
The most heavenly smell wafted to his sensitive nose. It came from a house with its lights still on. Someone was making turkey stew! The old lady had given him some every now and then. Oh, how he longed to taste it again! And he was so hungry…
He stood below the lit window and whimpered. A woman did come to the window, but she was frowning.
"Shoo!" She waved her arms at the half-starved wolf. With a pitiful whine, he drooped his ears and loped off.
He wouldn't be enjoying a hot bowl of turkey stew tonight. But perhaps there would be some scraps… He sniffed at the heavily laden trash cans along the outer wall of the house. Toboe turned his head when the door opened.
"I said shoo! Go on!" The woman made her point by banging a ladle loudly against a baking tray.
Toboe was frightened by that sound something terrible and made a mad dash for the streets. He cried out in pain as he felt a sharp pain in one of his forepaws. He hadn't paid much mind to where he was going when he ran, and so wedged a shard of glass into his paw. It was between his toes where it was soft and sensitive, and he couldn't reach it. His human form would surely be able to pull it out… But the pain distracted him greatly, he wouldn't have been able to hold his form.
Ever since the old woman who raised him died, that was his life. Toboe thought about the others who had it better than him.
Kiba, the snow-white wolf who grew up in the wild and still retained most of his natural instincts. Wild as he was, at least he had a purpose.
Tsume, the scarred, gray wolf who had formerly led a gang while in his human disguise. At least he had food and shelter.
Hige, the portly, light brown wolf who lived amongst the humans with ease. He was laid back, and very easy to make friends with.
And here was Toboe, the youngest of the four, with a brown coat of fur. Half-starved and wandering the streets like a stray mutt-dog with no shelter, limping along with that piece of glass in his paw. If it wasn't removed soon…
He couldn't stand the thought of being permanently lame. It couldn't get any worse.
Toboe stopped in his tracks as a downpour started. This would have been what humans call a "jinx". He limped on his way, stopping outside an abandoned building to lick at his throbbing paw. It would make a perfect shelter! The doors were boarded up, but a hole between two of the boards was just big enough for a wolf to squeeze through.
It was dark inside, but it was dry, and not as cold as the outside air. He heard a floorboard creak and swiftly hid behind a box.
The soft glow of light emanated from the end of the hallway, a canine shadow slowly growing. Into the darkness stepped a large dog. Or so Toboe thought. But it was no dog, and he soon realized that.
He happily stepped from behind the box, wagging his bushy tail. Wolves were nearly extinct, so what were the chances of finding another like him in just one city!
She had a wise look to her eyes, although she was no older than him. My, it seems I have a visitor…
She directed for him to follow her, but when he tried, he unintentionally stepped on his sore paw. The she-wolf looked at him with concern, but he quickly righted himself.
I'm fine, really. He followed her to the lighted room, and was better able to see her. She had the most beautiful auburn and white fur, with black fur covering her four slender legs.
She changed to her human form in order to examine his paw. Her hair was the same auburn, but the tips were black. In no time at all the glass was out and his paw was wrapped in a clean, white bandage. She served him some leftover soup and reverted to her original wolf form to sleep. Toboe fell asleep quickly; it was the best sleep he had gotten since the old woman cared for him.
