Title: "A Wolf Cub's Christmas Miracle"
Author: Kat Lee
Dedicated To: This is the 4th Christmas story of my 12 Days of Christmas 2012 series for my beloved and wonderful husband, Jack aka Drew, who's always such an inspiration, and also our sweet children! Thank you, my darling soul mate! I love you!
Rating: G
Summary: She doesn't remember the first time her wolf was tamed.
Disclaimer: All recognizable characters, names, codenames, places, items, fandoms, titles, and etc. are always © & TM their respective owners, not the author, and are used without permission. Any and all original characters and everything else is © & TM the author and may not be reproduced in any way without the author's express, written permission. The author makes absolutely no profit off of this work of fan fiction, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Author's Note: 244. That's the number of stories that were sitting on my hard drive collecting dust because I lack the energy and time to take care of them as I once did. My betaing pattern has always been to write, then type up if written on paper, the story, read it aloud to my beloved Jack and our children, editing as I go, and then finally format and post. Sadly, this part is simply taking too much of my time and energy, and my beloved Jack and I have too little time together in person these days to be able to keep up with my stories. So what to do? Give up writing? I actually considered it for a while, tried to make excuses to myself other than the large number of stories collecting cyber dust on my computer, as to why I lacked the energy and Muse to write new tales. And then, with the turn of the new year, I decided to stop running and face the problem. The problem is, quite frankly, that once one gets so bogged down in formatting and editing that writing is no longer a pleasure but the actual posting of those writings becomes a hassle and - egad! - work, it's time to cut something out, and that will never be the writing process. So, in short, yes, there will be mistakes in this tale. Yes, it's missing about half of the header information I usually include. But I wrote it for pleasure and am posting it in hopes of sharing that pleasure with others. Do with it as you will.
Ruby thinks she knows the first time her wolf was cajoled, the first time the beast within her was released but her soul remained peaceful. She thinks her mother taught it to her, but she's wrong on both accounts. She doesn't remember that first time, neither as Ruby nor as Red, and how could she, really, when she was only a babe in the woods when it happened?
She was a babe in the woods, both literally and figuratively. She knew very little of the world at that tender age and nothing of the wolf within her. It was a wonder her parents ever let her go missing, but they had. She'd fallen off of their wagon when they'd hit a snowbank, and they hadn't noticed until hours later when they'd arrived home. Only then had they started screaming, crying, and panicking, but their daughter had already been doing all of those things.
Her panic had overwhelmed little Red, and her wolf had come out. She had been so young, though, truly just a baby, and her wolf had been nothing more than a tiny cub and as terrified and saddened as the human baby. She had howled out her loneliness, misery, and terror and ran blindly throughout the forest until she'd been unable to run any more. Her chubby, little legs had fallen out from underneath her, and she'd hit the snow face forward. She had laid there, trembling, until a gentle hand had reached down and tenderly stroked her tiny, furry head.
Unused to a human hand, she had jumped and started to pull away, but her small body had been too sore to move again so readily. The man who had found her had knelt beside her in the snow and reached out scarred hands to comfort her. She had gazed into His deep, brown eyes, and somehow, her little heart had recognized her Savior. She'd let Him pull her close against His side and keep her warm and safe all night.
Somehow, in His arms, the forest had no longer seemed such a dark and fearsome place. She'd lovingly licked a hole thorns had made in His hands, then closed her eyes and fell asleep. He had stayed there with her all night long, keeping His little one safe.
A blizzard had whistled through the forest, ripping up tree trunks, freezing bark and lakes, and sending the woodland animals scurrying, burrowing, slithering, and flying in search of heat. They had found that heat in Him - both the warmth and safety they'd needed so sorely and had circled all around Him. Wolves had laid down with lambs around His sandaled feet, and panthers had cuddled with mice. Enemies were friends in His loving presence, and all there were warm and safe.
When morning had came, the little wolf had not awakened as the other animals, one by one, had began to stir. Still, they'd remained reluctant to leave their Master and had stayed by His side until they'd sensed the approach of their Father's deadliest creation. They'd looked up, some actually fearful for the first time since finding their Messiah. "It is all right," He had told them. "You may go," and they had fled from the human being after thanking Him.
The wolf cub had again been left alone in the freezing woods with only her Savior by her side. Jesus had looked up as a voice full of fear had called out for her missing loved one. He had smiled and moved the cub for the first time.
Little Red's eyes had blinked open. She'd looked up at him and whined until He again stroked her head. "You'll be fine. You're safe now, little one." He'd stroked her head; she'd licked His fingers. He'd stood and smiled back down at her. "I'll be with you always," He'd assured her as she'd started to whimper again.
She'd hushed mid-cry, cocked her head, and looked at Him once more. Somehow, even at that early age, she'd known He'd spoke the truth. He had disappeared from her sight then, but the wolf had no longer been afraid. She was loved. She was saved, and nothing could hurt her for she was one of Jesus Christ's beloved children!
She'd looked to the human voice who was calling her name and had still been gazing bravely in that direction when a red cloak had fallen over her. A woman had come into the clearing just as the wolf fell back asleep and the human girl again cried.
"OH, RED! RED, I FOUND YOU!" Her grandmother had sobbed as she'd hurried to her, and yet, she had known she would find her in this clearing for a strange comfort had settled into her heart the moment she'd come into the clearing. She had continued to sob with her relief and joy as she'd picked up her grandbaby and had held her close. "Thank Heaven! Thank God! Thank Jesus!" she'd cried, never knowing how true her words actually were. "It's a Christmas miracle!" And that was the truth.
To this day, Ruby doesn't remember that night or the man who'd held her close and kept her safe. She doesn't remember, but she will one day and still, even without that memory, Ruby still loves Christmas and always finds peace in church.
The End