Discussion in the Woods

by Lucas Klaukien

She came up on them, two of them, in the woods, at night, hunched over a two-legger child. They dug into his torso with their teeth, tearing lumpy strings of flesh. They stopped when they heard her approach.

“Won’t you join us sister,” one of them said.

“We would be honored if you did,” the other said.

She was sure to keep her distance as she replied, “but I am not your sister, and you are not my packmates.”

“But tonight,” one of them said, “we are like you.”

“Tonight, we know,” the other said, “we know the ways of the wolf.”

“But for the rest of the month,” she said, thoughtfully, “when the mother goddess is not fully pregnant, you walk on two legs and worship the fearsome Sun God.”

“Are we to be denied your favor because we walk on two legs and worship the sun?”

“We were born this way, we cannot help our two-leggedness.”

“Forgive me the denial of my favor, as it cannot be given. To walk on four legs and be close to the earth is essential to true spiritual enlightenment for the true creatures of the forest.”

The two looked at each other and began to growl and talk in low halting gibberish two-legger-speak.

“Surely,” one of them said, “to walk on two legs can only be seen as an advantage. Two-leggers have a better vantage point in the obscure forest.”

“Yes,” the other said, “it is essential to survival.”

“But we have no need for better sight. Wolf sight is good enough. In the forest, we have only one enemy … two-leggers, who hunt not with speed or teeth or claws. They hunt by throwing rocks, and surely lower ground is better for the wolf, even in that regard.”

“Of course, you are right,” on of them said, “men do hunt wolves.”

The two of them rose up on two legs, their heads and hearts away from the sacred earth. She heard an unnatural clicking noise as she saw them cock a shiny long metal stick. She did not turn to run away. She knew from experience that two-leggers could throw a rock faster than she could run. She braced herself for attack, crouching low, drawing strength from the earth, preparing to leap. Even then, she knew her spirit would soon fill the belly of the mother goddess where all brave wolves go when the hunt is ended…