Saturday Stories on Wednesday. #27

Please Note: This story happened a number of years ago. You can read part 1 HERE.

Krissy and I were on a night hike to a lake I had been to before, though always during the day. There was a full moon shining brightly on a warm summer night. We had just crossed a stream and had started walking up a hill on the other side. I had called for owls previously and one answered us. The next time I called I was answered by a wolf, though I figured it was quite a distance away, so nothing to be concerned about.

And I wouldn’t try calling again in case that wolf decided to come and check us out. Krissy didn’t like hearing that wolf and she was holding my hand tightly as we walked through this eerie landscape with the moon’s light shining through the pines and their crooked shadows producing an amazing scene all around us. That is when I got this feeling of being watched. I did not want to mention this to Krissy, however, as I figured she would probably get scared.

She was 17 at this time and I was 10 years older. We went on several hikes together, but normally during the day. We stopped walking and Krissy asked why. “I just want to look around this beautiful landscape,” I said. That was true. And at the same time I was able to look around to see if any animals were watching us. I couldn’t see anything though, so we kept walking. That feeling stayed with me though, then I thought I heard something walking.

I stopped again. “You hear something, don’t you?” asked Krissy. I had to acknowledge that I did and I had a feeling of being watched. Krissy moved behind me and put her arms around me, very tight. I shone my flashlight around us and at one shady spot a pair of eyes glowed back at us. I moved the light around a bit more and another pair of eyes showed up.

Then a third pair of eyes a little further back from the second one. “Could be deer,” I told Krissy. She relaxed when I said that. I really didn’t think they were though. Then one stepped out into the open. It was a wolf! And a huge one at that! It was a Gray Wolf, often called a Timber Wolf around here. Normally they will stay away from people. The key word there is “normally”. They can be very unpredictable animals though.

My owl calls were obviously interesting to them so they decided to check us out. Unfortunately they were very close to the direction we wanted to go. And since Krissy was with me I didn’t want to risk walking past them. If I was alone I probably would have tried. I told Krissy to just stand still and not worry. “Standing still is easy,” she said, “I’m frozen with fear.” I knew that part was true, if she hugged me any tighter I doubt that I would be able to breathe.

That big wolf just stood there looking over at us. Then the other close one came walking out in the open and over to the other wolf. She was smaller and obviously the female. She sat down beside the big male, but neither one took their eyes off us. The third wolf came closer but stayed back in the trees. Probably one of their offspring. Since those wolves were not moving out of the way, I figured it was time for us to turn around and head back.

Krissy liked that idea. But then the wolves turned and ran off through the trees. Heading back to where they came from, I guess. We didn’t have much further to go so we decided to keep on with our hike, very quickly arriving at the lake. There was just a very small, sand beach, and a fallen tree for us to sit on. It really was a beautiful location, especially with the full moon shining on the calm water.

Well, our little adventure isn’t quite over yet, so I will finish this on Saturday. Until then, have a great week everyone and God bless!

Steve and Muffin.

©2024 Steve McLeod.