2

            We were very alert.  I had the baseball bat and Arnie had the ax.  If anything besides us pigs moved, we planned to fight to the death.  After about twenty minutes of attentive creeping around the woods, we found a decent spot.

            "This looks good," I said.  "What do you guys think?"

            They all shook their heads in agreement.  Arnie sat down on a large log.  Everyone else did the same.

            "Maybe we can reach the Medicine Pig and never have to worry about the Wolf," said Frank.  "Perhaps we can avoid him the entire time."

            "I don't think so," I said.  "That was only about a half-hour.  We have a lot more traveling to do."

            We rested at the log for a few minutes.  Then Timmy said, "Let's go back to the salesman.  We can get some supplies now."

            "Okay," I agreed.

            "I want the house to be made of straw," said Timmy.  "I love straw."

            "You idiot," I said.  "You don't make a house out of straw.  That's no protection."

            "Says who?" questioned Timmy.  "You?  I bet I would do just fine in a house of straw."

            "No you wouldn't," I told him.  "You would be killed.  We need to use bricks for our house.  It will be very difficult for the Wolf to get in a brick house.  I don't think he is that strong or has anything powerful enough to knock down bricks."

            "I hate bricks," said Timmy.  "They're ugly.  I don't even know why people use them.  It's just a bunch of rectangular rocks glued together.  Straw is just so much homier."

            "It's not about what feels homier, Timmy," I said.  "It's about what is safe."

            "Well, you know what?  I don't have to listen to you, Charlie.  We aren't at home anymore.  I can do whatever I want to.  You can't boss me around out here."

            "You need to be bossed around," I said.  "You're not smart enough to handle things by yourself.  If we let you do anything you wanted to, you'll be dead by nightfall."

            "We'll see about that," said Timmy.  "I think I'll do just fine without you.  What about you, Arnie?  Are you just going to let the bookworm here boss you around?  You don't have to listen to him out here.  We are on our own now."

            I looked at Arnie.  Arnie seemed to be giving in to what Timmy was saying.

            "He's right, Charlie," Arnie said.  "You do boss us around.  Maybe we don't need your help.  Perhaps we need to do something on our own for a change."

            I could not believe what I was hearing.  Those idiots actually thought they'd be better off without me.  What could I do?  I couldn't force them to listen to me.

            I turned my head to see what Frank's reaction to all this was.  Frank wasn't there.  "Where's Frank?" I asked.

            Timmy and Arnie looked around.  They didn't see him either.  Where did Frank go?  A fat guy like him couldn't have gotten far.

            "There he is," Arnie said, pointing.  Frank had wandered far into the woods.  Where was he going?

            "Frank!" I yelled.  "What are you doing?  Come back here!"

            Frank turned around and waved.  "I found something!" he said.  "It's a tree full of fruit.  Check it out!"

            "Come back here!" I repeated.  Instead of returning, Frank started to pick fruit off the tree.  We walked toward him.

            "I don't think we should have brought him," said Arnie.  "He's not going to help the situation."

            Then I saw something far in the woods.  I stopped and told the others to stop.  I couldn't tell what it was at first, but it was coming closer.  The closer it got, the more I could tell just how big it was.  It was coming up behind Frank.

            "What is that?" asked Timmy.  "Is that the Wolf?"

            It was.  The Wolf was free and ready for killing.  We did not move an inch, but Frank did.  He did not see the Wolf behind him.  Frank was still picking off fruits.  I saw him take a bite of one.  He nodded, happy with the taste.

            "What are we going to do?" asked Timmy.  "Are we going to just let the Wolf get Frank?  We've got to help him."

            The Wolf moved slowly and silently.  Frank didn't notice a thing.  He was enthralled by the delicious fruit.  He knew the danger of being in these woods, yet he did not look out for his own safety.  The Wolf was definitely moving for Frank.  I had to do something.

            "Frank!" I yelled.  "Run!"

            Frank turned around and saw the Wolf.  He threw a fruit at the Wolf and dropped the rest.  Then he ran as fast as he could in the opposite direction.  The Wolf was quite angry.  He wiped the fruit out of his eyes and charged after Frank.

            I jumped behind the large log so that the Wolf would not spot me.  My brothers did the same.  We peeked over the log so that we could see what was going on.

            "Guys!" Frank yelled.  "Help!"

            We wanted to help Frank, but we were too astonished by the size and quickness of the Wolf.  The Wolf was everything we've heard about him.  In fact, he was bigger than I had imagined him.  I was frozen in place.

            Arnie got up and grabbed his ax off the ground.  Frank was running in our direction.  The Wolf was closing in on him.  Whatever Arnie was planning, he needed to do it quickly.

            When Frank passed us, Arnie rushed out with the ax.  He raised it in the air and started to swing.  But before he could swing it all the way around, he was slammed by the Wolf's powerful arm!  The ax flew out of Arnie's hands and landed behind me, narrowly missing my face.  Arnie was tossed through the air for what seemed like ten seconds and hit the ground hard about twenty feet away.  Timmy got up and ran over to him to make sure he was okay.

            "He's okay!" confirmed Timmy.  "The ground broke his fall!"

            I brought my attention back to Frank.  He was still running, and the Wolf was still behind him.  Then the Wolf paused, sprang into the air about fifteen feet and slammed himself onto Frank, drilling him into the ground.

            "Aaaah!  Help!" Frank screamed.  "Nooooo!"

The Wolf threw up his large paws.  I could see his incredibly sharp claws out and ready for slashing.  He swung his massive arms wildly in the air and growled ferociously.  His arms then slammed downward, his claws tearing into Frank's flesh.  I saw a large pink hunk of Frank's flesh soar in the air and land on the ground.  Another slash of the claws and blood splattered in all directions.

I wanted to close my eyes but somehow I could not.  I was forced to watch this horrible carnage.  I saw an entire organ ripped out of Frank and flung yards away.  Then the enraged beast plunged his head into Frank's body, ripping apart flesh and body parts with his teeth.  He raised his head again and I saw his mouth, completely covered in Frank's blood.  Inside was a large chunk of flesh.  He chewed the flesh quickly, and swallowed.  Then he bent down again, ripping apart more of the now dead Frank.  My friend was a bloody mess from the Wolf's rage.  I fought the trance and jerked my head away from the unpleasant image.

Although I did not see it anymore, I could still hear it.  As I heard the Wolf chew at his prey and growl, I wanted to scream.  I was listening to my friend being eaten.  I tried covering my ears, but I still heard it.  Cruch, crack, gulp.  It was all I could hear.  It was horrible! 

I looked behind me to see where Timmy and Arnie were.  They were hiding behind a tree.  They were still watching what was being done to Frank.  I could see tears streaming down Timmy's face.  I glanced back at the Wolf to make sure it was okay to move without being seen.  Then I stood up, ran over to Timmy and Arnie and dived behind the same tree.

"Let's get out of here," I said, feeling tears form in my eyes.  "We have to go.  There's nothing we can do."

Once we were all standing, we knew what we had to do.  Run!  We were all moving so fast, I do not think even the Wolf could have caught up with us.  Or maybe that was just the fright talking.