by Willow Rose
Luckily for me it hadn’t snowed at all. I could still see the tracks from the car that the soldiers had driven across the field. I could even see my own footprints, and the mark where I had landed in the snow. It was all there.
So was the sack. As I scanned the area with my eyes I spotted it in the snow not far from where I had landed, right where I had seen it from the car. I ran towards it and threw my bundle of clothes next to it. Then I sniffed it. The sack had been chewed by a mouse in one side and some of the bread was eaten. I didn’t care about that. I didn’t even care about my only spare shirt and pants. It was all there, I was happy to see, but that wasn’t the most important to me. All I cared about was the sack that the man had left.
The belongings of the other wolf.
Chapter 14
Sunrise came and I was about to change back. I heard the sound of a car engine in the distance and turned my head. It came over the hill, its headlights flashed in my direction. Afraid of being seen by soldiers I grabbed all my stuff in my arms that were almost human now and started running. Slowly and still painfully my body transformed back while I ran. I had to find a place to hide, I thought and looked around desperately searching for something, a barn, a farm, anything.
But there was nothing but the forest in front of me. Hiding in there was my only chance.
I was still panting heavily as I ran towards the dark forest, my eyes fixated on the large trunks of the oak trees in front of me. The Hoia-Baciu Forest. No one ever went in there. In there I would be safe and the world would be safe from me. I would never meet a living soul, I thought. It was believed the forest was haunted and rumors of the strange things that had happened to people who dared to cross the borders of this forest were widely known throughout the entire country. Locals avoided it as it was considered to be a place of pure evil. Everybody knew that once a person walked among those trees, they were able to hear the rustle that came from another world where all the fears of the human would come to life. Only foolish people would venture into such a place. Stories went of locals that had gone into the woods anyway to chop wood or pick blueberries or flowers, stories were told that even from the first steps into the wood, they were hit by inexplicable states of nausea, anxiety, headaches and, sometimes, even burns on their skin. The Hoia-Baciu Forest was a place people were even afraid to talk about since the place was considered to be cursed and a dwelling of the devil.
I stopped in front of the row of trees. They were tall like they were they trying to reach all the way into heaven. Between them it was dark, pitch dark, yet somehow I was able to spot a light in there somewhere. Like the sun was shining in there when it wasn’t even shining outside where I was standing because of the heavy snow-filled clouds. It woke something inside of me, some kind of curiosity, a longing to go in there and see it for myself, what it could be. I looked back at the village one last time before I took my first step in between the trees and entered the haunted forest.
As soon as I set the first foot on the soil I heard a whisper in my head. I gasped and looked around but saw nothing. I stopped and listened. The voices were small and sounded like they were blowing in the wind. I realized I wasn’t afraid. On the contrary I felt completely calm inside. I dropped all my belongings on the soil and got dressed.
With the rest of my things in my hands I took another step into the forest and soon realized that I didn’t feel nauseous nor anxious. Not the least bit. I had no headache or burns on the skin. This was strange to me, because as I walked towards the light inside of the forest and walked deeper and deeper in I felt calm and happy. The small voices were whispering but never bothered me. I didn’t even feel cold in there, I realized. It was like the strong grip of winter couldn’t penetrate the dense forest. The forest was so closed up there was almost no snow on the soil where I walked and the cold icy wind wasn’t there anymore.
After a few minutes I felt uncomfortable. I realized I wasn’t alone, something was following me. I turned my head a couple of times and noticed some strange shadows accompanying me. I wondered if they were the source of the whispering voices. Soon the shadows didn’t seem to be the only ones following me as other forms, lights and figures appeared between the bushes and tree trunks, more voices and different colors in the air. I found it truly enchanting and had to stop and watch. Bright colors and balls of lights were circling me, the voices appeared to be singing. I tried to reach out and touch them but couldn’t grab them. They were flying in the wind, letting themselves be carried in the air, twirling lightly and carefree. I smiled and soon I laughed. I felt so safe. I sighed and wondered how I felt so safe in a place that normal people feared and believed to be the dwelling place of evil itself. Was that because I was different? Was it because I myself was evil? Was that why I felt so incredibly comfortable in the place of malice?
With all the strange creatures following me I found a nice clearing next to small river where fresh water sprung from a rock. I leaned over and drank with great thirst. Then I sat by a rock and rested. Where was I going? I stared at the river and spotted fish in the water. Bright light appeared mysteriously between the tree trunks and it felt almost like spring. I sighed with relief and stared at the sack I received from the old woman Camelia in the village. My heart was pounding in my chest while I wondered what was in it. I picked it up and opened it. I took out an old notebook. It was all wrapped in a beautiful silk scarf. I unwrapped it and stared at the cover. It had a gold emblem on the front, showing a big paw print similar to that of a wolf, I thought.
I touched it gently and then something truly amazing happened. It began to glow. I gasped and threw the book on the ground. As soon as my fingers let go of the emblem the glowing slowly faded and disappeared.
I stared at the book for a while, catching my breath. What was all this? I reached down and picked it up again. With my finger I stroked the emblem and soon the golden paw was glowing again, this time even stronger than before, a bright light that almost blinded me. I gasped then grabbed the front cover and opened the book.
Inside it the pages were shining just as bright as the emblem had. Many words were written on the pages, but I didn’t recognize any of them. Sentence after sentence I tried to read, but I didn’t understand a word. It was written in a different language or something. My mother had taught me to read and even taught me some Latin. Even if my siblings and I had been banned from our school the past year my mother had seen it as her job to make sure her children were well educated so she had tirelessly taught us language and history.
“Education is what is going to save this world,” my mother used to say. “Uneducated people are easier to oppress.”
I missed her while turning page after page of text written in a strange language, with letters I didn’t even recognize.
Disappointed I closed the book with a sigh. Then I wrapped the book in the scarf again and put it all back in the sack. I looked up but could hardly see the sky between the treetops. Where were the birds? I wondered. There seemed to be no ordinary life in this forest. Or was it just hiding from me? Most animals were hibernating now, maybe that was it. I wondered how I managed to always find food as the wolf even in wintertime. Would I be able to find anything tonight? Would it be enough? Would my turning into the beast scare all my new companions away? All these strange creatures, made from lights and shadows, did they already know who or what I was? Was that why they didn’t harm me?
I sighed deeply and rose to my feet. The shadows moved and the colors flickered like they were afraid to come too close. Small whispering voices were constantly surrounding me. Even surrounded by all these strange creatures, I never felt so alone.
Chapter 15
I slept most of the day. I found a small cave under some rocks and put my head down on my sack of clothes and fell into a deep sleep. I dreamt of Catalina. For the first time in many days she was in my dreams again. She was in a field of flowers, dancing, spinning while the light creatures and color creatures from the haunted forest surrounded
her and sang. Her eyes were closed as she danced in a sunray in the middle of all the flowers. She looked so beautiful, I thought and walked closer. It was dark where I was standing and she was in the light. I began walking, trying to escape the darkness, but it seemed to follow me. Every step I took it followed and covered me. I looked down at my body and realized I was the wolf. Catalina hadn’t seen me, she was still dancing in the light and as hard as I tried I couldn’t get closer to her. I couldn’t escape my darkness and enter her world of lights.
I woke up with a small scream. My cheeks were wet. I had been crying. I wanted so badly to get to her, to see her once again. I didn’t quite understand why. I had only spent a few hours with her, yet I felt a strong urge to be with her again, to protect her. I felt a pinch in my stomach as I thought about where she could be now. Where had Officer Alexandru taken her? Had he interrogated her like he did me? Had he beaten her? Had he sent her on a train to one of those camps like he did to me? I shook my head. No I had to forget about her, had to get her out of my head, I thought and looked out of my cave. The small voices were still there, so were the colors and the lights and shadows on the trees. What were those? I kept wondering. They seemed nothing like the creatures from my mother’s stories. I went out of the cave. As I did, the lights and colors talked faster and began twirling among each other. Then they disappeared in between the trees. I could hear them talk and giggle.
“What are you?” I asked. “What kind of strange creatures are you?”
The forest suddenly went quiet for the first time. No sounds of talking voices, singing voices or giggling anymore. I was afraid I had scared them so I drew back towards the cave. The last thing I wanted was to have anyone else be afraid of me. I walked backwards when one of the bright lights came closer to me. It came all the way to my face, then circled my head a couple of times.
“What kind of creature are you?” it asked with the finest small voice.
I smiled. It sounded like a child, I thought. Like a little girl. “Me?” I asked. Then I laughed.
“Why are you laughing?” the light asked.
I looked down my body. “Because it’s kind of obvious, isn’t it?”
“No. What are you?”
“Well, I’m human. My name is Sami.”
Whispering voices behind the trees became louder, some were giggling again. The small light ball in front of me began circling my head again. “Well you look weird,” it said.
I laughed again. “I’m the one who looks weird?”
“Yes, you are. Very weird,” she said sounding slightly offended.
“Well, then I guess I’m Sami the weird.”
The small voices behind the trees giggled harder. The ball of light circling my head didn’t laugh.
“And who might I be talking to?” I asked.
“What do you mean? You’re talking to me.”
I chuckled. “I mean what is your name? You do have a name, don’t you?”
The light snorted. “I do. But I’m not telling you.”
“Then how will I know what to call you?”
The light stopped circling and froze in the air. Then it turned completely red. A second later it darted through the air and hid behind the trees.
I was sad to see it go. I was enjoying finally having someone to talk to in my solitude. “Please don’t leave. I didn’t mean to offend you,” I said.
I sighed and looked in the direction where it had gone in behind the trees. The voices had quieted down and I felt so alone again.
“I’m sorry?” I said resignedly. Maybe they didn’t understand, I thought.
I was about to turn around and walk back to my cave and solitude when suddenly the clearing became extremely windy. My hair and my clothes were all lifted up in the air as a small twirl wind appeared and started spinning around me causing me to be pulled up in the air. I grabbed on to a branch in a tree and held on to it till the wind quieted down just as quickly as it had appeared. I fell from the tree and hit the ground. When I looked up a hand was reaching out to me. I grabbed it and got up on my feet. Then I lifted my head and gasped. A woman was standing right in front of me. Her beauty astonished me, left me breathless. Her dress looked like it was made from leaves and branches from the trees, her hair was big, red and curly. Her skin was fair and pale, her eyes were as green as the grass and looked like emeralds. They reminded me of someone, I thought. It was like I had seen them before, but at this moment I couldn’t recall where. She was big, yet both stunning and breathtaking.
“I’m sorry about that,” she said with a wondrous singing voice. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“I ... I’m ... fine, I think,” I stuttered. Her spectacular beauty had completely startled me.
She smiled enchanted. “Good. I’m glad. We can be a little overwhelming when we appear.”
“We?”
She smiled and took a step to the side. Behind her appeared hundreds of people similar to her but not as strikingly beautiful as she was. Men, women, children, all bore the same lightness to them. It seemed they weren’t touching the ground. They were floating just a few inches above it. When they walked it looked like they were walking on air.
“How ... How ... Who ... who are you?”
The woman smiled warmly. She gesticulated widely with her arm. “Well we are Bakhtu - the Wind-People.”
“Wind-People?”
She nodded. “Wind-People. We share this magnificent forest along with the Light-Lingers, Color-Creatures and the Shadow-men, that I believe you have already met. They are all very shy creatures so be gentle. The last group is the most timid among us. You have to be extremely careful not to scare them.”
I stared at her in disbelief.
“Who are you?” she asked her voice singing lightly.
“Me? I’m Sami. I’m human. Well, I’m part human, part wolf,” I answered. It was the strangest sentence I ever had to say.
She curtsied in front of me. “Welcome to our forest Sami the Human Wolf. I’m Slavia, Queen to the Wind-People.
I bowed in front of her thinking that was the proper way to address a queen. “A pleasure to meet you,” I said. Then I looked at the people behind her. “All of you,” I added.
“We’re certainly delighted to have you here as well,” the Queen replied. “Now you must come with us to our city and let us treat you as our guest.”
Quite taken aback by all this I felt a little shy and slightly reluctant to go with those people to a place I hadn’t even heard of. Yet I felt strangely curious and there was something about them, something comforting and reassuring, that I couldn’t escape. I felt I could trust them more than most humans. I dared to take a chance on these people and bowed again. “I would be delighted to.”
“Good,” she said and clapped her hands. Four Wind-People floated towards us and grabbed me by my legs and arms and lifted me in the air.
“Since you’re not used to travel with the wind, we need to help you a little,” the Queen said. Then she clapped again and soon a strong wind appeared as if from nowhere. I was lifted high up into the air and soon shot through a wind tunnel like was it a cannon and I was the ball.
Chapter 16
The Wind-People lived in a city made entirely of light. To my astonishment I realized as soon as we came close that there were no walls, no floors, no ceilings or even a roof - even if it looked like there was. It was all light. It was quite spectacular I thought to myself as I entered, following the Queen and her many servants. Even when she walked, or more like floated, she was so graceful, so elegant. She smiled at her people and always treated them with respect and love.
I stepped carefully into the city, taking one step at the time, placing one foot in front of each other walking through the city walls. The entire city seemed to float in the air, since it was elevated a few feet above the ground and I was afraid I’d fall through. The Queen looked at me and took my hand. She pulled me inside.
“Don’t be afraid, Sami the Human Wolf. It i
s built to hold even a heavy human body ... or a wolf.”
I smiled and walked carefully into the streets of the city. People with the same lightness as the Queen were everywhere, floating while talking, looking like they used no effort at all to move around.
“The wind is carrying them,” the Queen said. “We believe the wind knows what we want and where we want to go to, so we let it carry us. Sometimes the wind takes us somewhere else than expected, but we believe the wind knows best. It knows what is best for us, what we really want and need.”
That sounded strange to me. “So you can’t control it?” I asked.
The Queen smiled widely. “We don’t need to,” she said. Then she turned and led me into another street. People crossing our way nodded or bowed politely. I felt the wind pushing me as well now, making it easier for me to walk. “You know, Sami, you don’t have to be in control all the time. Sometimes letting go is the best thing to do. Just flow with the wind, let it take you where you’re destined to be. Like your being here. It’s no coincidence.”
“You don’t think so?” I looked at her quite startled.
She shook her head then turned another corner. The wind gave me a push on my back to follow her. When we turned a huge castle of light appeared in front of us. It was spectacular, I thought and stopped walking. I felt a gentle push on my back by the wind then started to walk again.
A huge gate made from yellow lights opened and we entered the castle. Some people came up to the Queen and began updating her on events taking place in the palace while she had been gone. The Queen gave a few orders, then sent them on their way.
“Let’s go in here,” she said and pointed at a door that immediately opened and a bright light shone from inside the room.
A feast of raw meat was prepared on a floating table of red light.