Prologue
The last beams of sunlight flickered across the ocean, illuminating every glitter in the waves, and making the sand shine gold. A gentle breeze rustled across the beach, escorting the ocean's visitors as they packed up their blankets, picnic baskets, and umbrellas, and left the white sands for their cars.
It took an hour for the last person to leave the beach, and then the waves were left to themselves. But wait! One more visitor remained.
A gentle mist drifted over the water and then covered the sand, a beautiful blue shade of fog beneath the stars and moon. A faint sound drifted on the waves as a soft, padded foot touched the sand. A dog, large, pure white, and magnificent, moved cautiously onto the beach, her large, pointed ears twitching in every direction. She put her nose to the air, took in a deep breath, and then broke into a slow trot across the sand. Her mouth was open, revealing several pure white, pointed teeth, and a panting tongue.
It made quite the picture, the dog trotting across the sand. There wasn't a single blemish on her body, and her whole white coat glowed in the moonlight. She slid to a stop at the edge of the water, gazed down at it for a moment, and then began to back up. As the water rolled up against the sand, she trotted backwards, and then she chased the water back towards the ocean as it ebbed away. With a happy yelp, she raced across the waterline, racing the water, dancing away from it as it reached out to grab her, and then dancing back to chase it to its home.
She played this game for ten minutes, chasing the water, but then she began the most awkward movements. She moved her lithe body gracefully and perfectly, and seemed almost to be dancing. Her feet padded gently against the compounded sand, leaving large marks as she moved from side to side. She hopped up in the air a couple of times and then came back down, one leg stretched out before her and her nose to that leg, bowing to the water as though it were her dance partner. She then skipped about, hopping and spinning, her legs moving in the most complicated patterns She was the most talented of ballerinas, the lightest on her feet and the most careful with her footing.
The dog stopped suddenly, her head swinging towards the palm trees that lined the beach, her alert ears picking up every sound. Her left ear twitched slightly, picking up on the sound of a footstep, and with a swift bow of her head, the dog raced across the beach and disappeared into the fog.
A man stepped out of the cluster of palm trees and moved quickly towards where the dog had been. He hadn't seen her, but his keen ears, just as sharp as hers were, had picked up the sound of her dancing. He dropped down to the sand and ran his fingertips across the enormous paw prints, far too large to be any normal dog's. The man scowled and then gazed down the beach, knowing that the white wolf had, once again, evaded his grasp.
He would find that wolf, and he would catch her. She had escaped from him for the past six months, but upon his word, he would catch her.
The man got up swiftly and then turned away from the ocean. He walked sullenly across the sand, hands buried deep in his trench coat, and then he too disappeared into the mist.
The ocean, the only witness to these events, remained silent, bound never to tell a word of what it had seen to any soul.