The torrential downpour tore at the ground outside the small cave. An atrocious show of the horrid power of nature.
The ominous clouds hung low in the sky, weighed down by the water that viciously fell from them, with no foreseen break from their assault.
From underneath the mighty cacophony of clashing rain, a saddened whimper resonated from the small rock outcropping.
Here, Humphrey, the once happy and optimistic wolf, lie in a murky puddle of his own blood and tears.
For 3 days, he has remained in this pathetic state of disrepair. No reason, nor will, to move.
A horrifying series of thoughts and images flashed rapidly through his head, trying to forget the aching memories of the days prior.
For all his life, he had loved and cherished his times with Kate, the love of his life.
At every moment she was in trouble or needed a shoulder to cry on, he was there.
His emotions always locked away, like a rusty vault that was ever so slowly eroding.
Their times in Idaho remained the greatest part of his life.
He protected her with his life, falling even deeper into infatuation with her.
They had howled together on the train, their voices twisting into a perfect blend of effervescent beauty.
Grasping this memory, he tried to howl, but this was not of joy, but sadness.
Only a sorrowful moan escaped his trembling mouth. With his failure to fight his emotions, a bout of tears trickled down his face.
"Why Kate?, I loved you, you…you used me!". She had accepted the marriage to Garth upon their return to Jasper.
He had slowly and painfully walked to the cliff overlooking the park where he surveyed the ceremony.
How Kate looked so happy to be with Garth. As if Humphrey never mattered.
The memory stung like a searing needle, slowly plunged into his heart.
Far away he had run, even cutting himself on the piercing shards of rock that lay on the park border.
How the blood spilled from his mortal flesh, dripping behind him as he continued on, blindly running from his emotions.
Yet they were always there. Collapsing in a cave, bleak clouds brewed overhead, ready to open their deadly tendrils.
This is where the gray wolf found himself, bleeding, hurting, full of sorrow. His only reason to fight the frailty of life...now gone.
Those who he trusted, betrayed him, spitting in his eye, and seeping into his heart.
He wished only for an end to the eternal tormentation he now felt. The frosty air itself seemed to wrap him in an blanket of misery.
Consuming him, trying to break him, yet he was already broken.
His life, his love, his very soul, sheared in two by the wretched jaws of the darkness he felt inside.
His whimpering stopped and a mournful silence befell upon him, save for the almost angered storm outside.
The will to live left him slowly, as with the crimson flow of life the seeped from his wound.
A chilling aura crept into his bones, leaving his body paralyzed. There was now no hope for his seemingly worthless life.
Darkness slithered into his eyes, like a snake, sucking away his will. His limbs went numb and his lungs dropped to a slowing rate.
His heart was quickly stopping, but Humphrey didn't care. For the first time, he found no reason to fight.
As he took his last sweet breath of air, he muttered 4 simple words,
"I loved you Kate".
