The Night Life
The last rays of a friendly sun settle deep within the earth. The warm breeze swept one last time through the trees, whispering promises of tomorrow. Then it came time for it to depart with its ally, leaving an uncanny calm over the forest floor. The obscurity amplifies. The moon, encompassed by its murky guards, is already slowly accelerating to the perfect height to watch.
Dead leaves rustling break the eerie hush of the forest, as day time animals' scurry to beat the night. They skid into holes, burrow deep, hoping that nothing would be desperate enough to dig for them this night.
Within moments the sky is abundant with darkness, the moon still fully hidden by ominous white clouds. The cold crisp wind comes alive now, whispering menaces of unknown shadows through the immensity of trees. The trees react with a shiver of unease, knowing that the night's wind is a foe carrying secrets and knowledge to the hunters of the night.
The murky clouds shift, slowly exposing the moon to the night. From the unvisited provinces, deep within the shadows of the forest, came a vile howl devoted to the moon. A second later another howl joined the first. Another second passed and more howls joined, making it impossible to tell the amount of individuals that have entered this region of the forest. A forest that by day buzzed with life, where animals ran unsacred and the warm breeze whispered sweet secrets of harmony.
Trees swayed frantically, trying to escape the madness of the wind as it begins to whip intimidations in every direction. Animals shivered in their burrows, hoping their closeness to the earth will keep them small, unseen and safe. A herd of deer crowded close around its young ones, trying to make as little movement as possible, knowing the wind would betray their whereabouts to the unseen hunters.
A total of eight male wolves stood in a clearing sniffing the ground for evidence of prey. The four females stood watch over the nearly year old pups. The alpha wolf was keeping a watchful eye on his partner when he caught a faint smell in the wind. He walks over to the edge of the clearing and raises his snout to the cold gush of wind. A herd of deer about a mile ahead, is what the scents his ally has brought reveal to him. He glances up at the moon; he feels it watching him, and then rounds up his troops.
A foolishly daring mouse rushes over a fallen log, its whiskers splayed wide. It gains view of its destination and dashes towards it. Inches before it reaches its burrow sharp claws pierce its sides, crushing bone, spilling blood. The mouse was allowed one last squeak of pain before its heart was stopped.
The moon shown down bright upon the owl as it soared with its prey to a high perch. It was as if the moon was applauding the owl's success. It following every movement the owl made as it rained a glowing appreciation onto the owl's clean shiny feathers. Once under the cover of the nervous trees, the owl ripped and ate its prey head first. Dripping blood and swallowing whole when something slipped.
A fawn shivers from the cold wind blowing at its fur and snuggles closer to the warm protection of its mother. It hears leaves rustling high above its head, but pays it no attention, trusting its mother to keep it safe. It was slipping into slumber when it felt something cold, solid and moist drop onto its head. The nauseating smell of blood encompassed the little fawn's nostrils. It shook its head wildly trying to rid itself of the liquid of death.
The wolves, some tawny, others grizzled or gray and one black began their trot following the directions of the wind. It blew encouragement of the kill over the wolves raging hungers. The moon peeked through trees to add to the encouragement. The night was quiet, not even the insects gave away their positions. In the distance the wolves heard the angry cry of a bird of prey thread its way through the trees towards them. The scent in the wind whispered that they should follow the cry, so they did.
An angry cry of a bird of prey erupted above the herd of deer. Spooked the herd became fully alert and a few deer glanced up. They decided the creature was no real threat and settled back down. A doe looks down into the fearful, distressed eyes of her fawn. It had a crimson smear on its forehead and the headless body of a small rodent lay at its feet. She began to sooth the fawn and removed the stain, though the effort took its toll on her weakened body.
The owl stared with menace down at the forests floor, his eyes spotting the lost half of its meal. It loathed itself for being so careless. There was not a large chance that it would come by another arrogant mouse at this time and it could not just fly into the herd of deer surrounding the cadaver. It hooted.
Deep within the ground, small animals felt a disturbance above them and cowered closer together. They seek comfort from each other in attempt to stay silent. One lone mouse awaited a partner but silently shivered in sad understanding.
The wolves are nearer to the herd now. They begin to spread out so that they can have the benefit of attacking from all directions. They have hunted together for all their lives and automatically knew their positions. Within a good distance of their potential prey, they picked out the youngest and oldest, this made for an easy kill. Two of the wolves spotted the fawn, the others kept their eyes fixated on the diseased doe grooming the fawn. The black wolf, the alpha male, made the first move.
The deer sensed the unseen danger a moment to late as a black wolf sprang into the clearing. Fear and surprise brought them to an awkward bolt. They pushed and hopped over the wounded doe to escape.
The owl was also surprised as the eight wolves burst into the clearing. With a shriek, it clumsily fell off of the branch where he was to busy looming to notice the approach of the larger hunters. He recovered before hitting the lower branch.
The wolves began to pounce on the diseased doe. She struggled against them as the fawn fled, but she was brought down within three attempted steps. Three wolves worked her back and legs, ripping flesh. The crushing bite of two wolves to the throat cut off her air supply and she lay their helpless as she watched two other wolves bring down the little fawn she held responsibility for. Silently she watched as one of the wolves snapped the neck of the fawn. The sound of its neck being broken was the only audible noise she heard as she drifted into the calming abyss. The last thing she saw before she was done with was the satisfaction on the wolf's face as it lifted its head and met her dead stare.
The wolves began to feast, tearing the larger cadaver into pieces, saving the smaller for the rest of the pack. A grizzled wolf, which had not yet a rank in the group, cautiously attempts a bite, but is warned away by the alpha male. The alpha stands tall, his ears erect and tail vertical. The grizzled wolf lowers his body and draws back his ears and lips in submission. The alpha grunts as the other wolf backs away and then returns his attention on consuming the cadaver.
The owl returns to its perch and searches the ground for its lost meal. It spots it and glides down to retrieve it when a grizzled wolf comes into view. The owl stirs in the other direction and lands on a low branch to watch the wolf sniff around the ground. It had come upon the owls leftovers. The owl watched as the wolf happily ate the rest of his recently killed mouse. With another cry of anger it soared high were the moon shone shame onto its back and the wind mocked it as it flew in search of another kill.