Little Red Wolf
Inspired by “Jessie and Jake” by Thomas Hart Benton
Walking along the path, Jess admired the trees. The tall trees surrounding and suffocating the light, such was the feel of the forest. Going deep into the forest was a terror on her parents, but Jess loved it. It felt like a breath of fresh air on her soul. Gone was the city, gone were the fast cars and yelling children, busy buses and frustrated businesspeople. Here was peace, full of gnarled old trees moving with the wind, breathing with its inhabitants. The woods behind the house were torture on her parents, but to her they were home. Jess could climb the tallest trees to watch the sun rise and fall, to look at the stars as they began their dance in the sky, or watch clouds drift by. She had been wandering in these woods since she was three, her parents at first sent search parties, but once they realized they could not keep her from the forest, they stopped sending them. They learned that she could never get lost in the woods, there was something magical about how she never got lost, ever.
Maybe that’s why there were so many stories about the trees being full of witches and goblins, unicorns and dragons, pixies and nymphs; such were the stories about the forests in Grimgrove. Jess’s parents always told her to be careful, do nothing to anger any spirits, fae, or witches. As a smart young girl Jess listened, for she knew nothing is as it seems in the woods.
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When Jess was seven, she went wandering into the woods hoping to escape the noises that made her head hurt. Her mother wouldn’t notice until later that she was missing, and it would take even longer for her to notice anything else about her daughter; her father would never notice she was ever missing. But that is later; right now, little Jess is just wandering into the woods hoping to get some quiet. Maybe she would make her way towards her grandparents’ old house, the house deep within the forest, maybe she would make her way to the hut she saw a few days ago, maybe to the fairy circle she had found last month. She didn’t know, nor did she care, she did not care so much she just wandered, without paying much attention.
She wandered by fields of flowers and streams, babbling brooks and meadows. She wandered for a long while, not noticing the time was passing by, or the dryads leaning out of their trees to watch her pass, nor the fairies dancing in the flowers. It had gotten dark by the time she noticed, and when she did, she recognized where she was, it was her grandparents’ home. Only with its fading and chipping paint did she realize the time and how her parents had probably noticed she was gone by now. Turning around she wilted, questioning if she had to go back home. Home was scary and loud, here was quiet and peaceful serenity. Here was magic, there was chaos. She wilted again and straightened up, taking a deep breath she looked at the house one last time and started home. Off in the distance she heard a howl, looking up past the trees she saw the full moon. She picked up her pace wondering how many of those wolves were not wolves at all.
Pounding sounded behind her and she moved out of the way of the hooves.
“Be careful little girl, there are monstrous things in the woods tonight” a voice stated from above.
“Thank you, sir. I am not too far from home, so I should be fine!” She responded looking at the rider. However, if she had looked closer at the man, she would have realized that the person who spoke to her was not a rider on a horse, but a centaur. The man(?) bid her goodnight and safe journey home, and she wished him well.
Watching him gallop away she was not paying attention to the sounds around here. Behind her came a growl and then she found herself on the forest floor. Searing fire rushed around her right arm, start kicking; a strange unknown sound had joined the growls and squishes coming behind her. The fire died down, but something thick replaced it on her arm, dripping down making a path on her back and arm to the ground; the sound persisted until she lost consciousness.
Disturbed from her sleep a witch nearby heard the commotion rushed over. Muttering a quick spell, she shot the werewolf, chasing him away from the young child he had attacked. The witch took pity and took the small child in her arms and carried her to the hut. Washing off the blood the witch could see that the damage had been done and there was no reversing the affects. All she could do was make the child comfortable for the night, make sure the wounds were closed by morning.
Preparing a poultice of herbs to make sure the child slept through the night the witch murmured “Tu sānō.” The wounds would start to close, but she had to make sure that the child would sleep through the odd feeling of having skin close. The poultice then went underneath the child’s head and thus began the process of watching her to make sure the wounds fully closed. All the while the witch erased the evidence of the attack, better for humans to not know and to keep the supernatural just stories than to create mass panic.
The morning was harsh on both, as when Jess woke up, she did not recognize where she was, so she screamed, making the witch jolt awake, whipping out her wand to cast the first defensive spell that came to mind. Seeing the little girl was only screaming at her surroundings, she put the wand away and began to calm the child. Upon calming her down, the witch explained what was going to happen to her.
“Child, you need not be scared of yourself, but you do need to be cautious. No biting people, ever and make sure you know your wolf. She is not someone different than you, but you need to remember that she has different instincts and needs. You can control her once you understand her and soon, the difference between the two of you will be indistinguishable. You will not be two beings in one body, but one person with two bodies. Her personality will develop as yours continues to develop, just as you may not remember what she does at first. Treat yourself and your wolf with compassion and she will not attack nor fear humans, no one will be in danger around you. But you need to learn about each other first. Here drink this it will help your throat and give you strength. My name is Brigid, you will be welcome at my hut whenever you need it.”
Jess introduced herself and stated that her parents might be worried right now, but if she went home injured, they would never let her outside the house again. Brigid had a fix, a salve that made the scars so faded that you did not notice them at all, unless you looked super close. She made sure that Jess was fed enough to make it home safe and made sure that she was fully healed. Brigid then sent her on her way, making sure to watch her until she couldn’t see the little girl anymore.
Getting home was a snap, finding Brigid’s hut not to far from the path that would take her straight home. Upon getting home her parents promptly grounded her for staying out all night making them worried.
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Jess thinks a lot about that day, she knows that it should be super traumatizing to her, but it wasn’t. She wouldn’t have this vast world to explore in the forest; no pixie or fairy friends, nor no centaur friends to run with during the long nights, no Brigid to comfort her on a bad night, or bad day in the city. Jess may hate the wolf that created hers, but she couldn’t imagine not having her wolf anymore, they were one now, just like Brigid had said that fateful morning.
Brigid had become more than just a friend to turn to for advice and help with her wolf but had turned into a better mother to her than Jess’ own. Not only did she explain lycanthropy, but she also ended up explaining everything that happens to the female body, both human and wolf. Brigid’s dog familiar became a tutor in how to blend in with humans, if you happen to be in wolf form; her cat familiar taught her how to hunt and be as stealthy as possible. Things which Jess was able to apply to her two forms. More than what she learned from her real parents, which was how to scream at each other. Brigid taught her how to love and how to understand her body, she learned simple spells and potions from her, alongside her schooling in the city. Jess had almost no friends in the city because most found her weird, this was another driving factor for her to live in the woods. After high school Jess had two initial options, go off to college and then find something to do with her life after that, or disappear into the forest. Nothing made sense in the city to her anymore, all the greed and no real love, she almost chose to skip college, the crowded and noisy college, and go live with Brigid in the forest. However, Brigid pointed out that sometimes Brigid had to go to the city and while having magic made up for somethings, money would always be useful to have as a just incase they ever really need anything. This made Jess’s decision easy and she went to college.
