Black Wolf's Tale
COLORADO WOLF STORIES X
Note: This continuing story is a work of informed speculation. It tells the imagined experiences of a family of gray wolves who represent the 10 actual wolves captured in Oregon and released in Colorado in December 2023 as directed by a state voter initiative.
In the October country, even before leaves start turning, everything else begins to change. A small shift in the angle of the sun throws a golden light across all it touches. It brightens the withered grasses and fading summer flowers, it warms the lichen-splashed rocks, and it glows on the black coat of the gray wolf standing on the mountain ridge.
Black Wolf set out in the darkness before dawn to explore this south side of the pack’s territory, alert to any hunting opportunities. Shadowy patches of frost tell him that soon his sister will move the family from their summer rendezvous in this high-country, down into one of the valleys below.
Looking out across a landscape of mountains and meadows, Black Wolf feels at home. He has learned the ways of the prey that live here: where elk gather to graze at dusk, where mule deer sleep during the heat of the day, and where bighorn sheep come down from the cliffs to nibble at natural salt deposits.
In most ways, this territory is not so different from where Black Wolf was born. At times he remembers that world he was raised in, and he still searches for the scent of his original family. The sound of human machines can still cause him to run, just as he did on that day when the most terrifying of machines came down from out of the sky.
Now Black Wolf’s eyes are far away. His mind drifts. He can feel the cold snow of last December under his feet. He is back again with his family of origin. They are on the move, because as ever, they are on the hunt.
The wolves are traveling in single-file. His mother and father are in front of him, his sister and brothers just behind. It is a clear winter day as they follow the trail of an elk herd crossing an open meadow in deep snow. Black Wolf is excited by the fresh scent in the tracks.
Then he hears a strange sound behind them, faint at first and far away. The sound quickly becomes louder, and it is unlike anything he has heard before. Something is coming, something involving the upright creatures to be sure, which means it is something dangerous.
His mother pauses to look back. She sees a flying thing moving toward them, fast, just above the tree tops. She tries to catch its scent, then turns and begins running, breaking through the crusty snow into the soft powder beneath. And the noise gets louder and more frightening the closer it comes.
The whole family is running now, or trying to, which is difficult in the deep drifts. Black Wolf is pushing forward as fast as he can. He can see his mother in the lead, bounding desperately, his father too, trying to get their family to shelter in the trees that are much too far away.
Suddenly the wolves are engulfed in a blinding storm as the machine hovers directly above them. The noise is deafening, the snow blowing. Black Wolf catches a glimpse of his black-coated sister behind him and sees the same panic in her eyes that he feels.
Ssomething unseen strikes him in the back. There is a sharp pain. He falls but gets up and keeps going. The family finally makes it to the trees, but by now he is desperately tired. If he can just sleep for a moment. And then he is lying in the snow, panting, unable to move. He can see that his sister is also down. Her eyes are open but she too is motionless. She is very black against the snow, and the snow is very white.
Black Wolf perceives that the terrible noise has stopped but then the upright creatures appear. He wants to run, to fight, but he cannot move, cannot even blink. They place something over his eyes and then open his mouth. He is lifted up, and knows he will be torn to pieces, but the handling is gentle and he is unharmed.
He feels he is still awake but also in a dream. Somehow, he is a small pup again, looking at his reflection in the still waters of a pond, and there is sunlight sparkling brightly on the water all around his face.
The vision fades as Black Wolf comes to an awareness that something is being placed around his neck. The eye covering is removed and he is lifted into a metal crate where it is dark and cool. Then the terrible noise begins again. He senses that he is rising, being carried away. And all this time the upright creatures are very close. They are chattering like squirrels, looking at him through the holes in the crate, and their scent is overwhelming.
At times the metal container he is trapped in is still and quiet, but then it is bouncing, and he bounces with it until he feels sick. His mind has cleared however. He can sit up and hold his head up, and so that is what he does because that is all he can do.
Finally, after much time, the bustling movement ceases. Everything becomes strangely quiet; even the voices of the upright creatures are hushed. He knows there are others of his kind in the same circumstances nearby, because he can smell their fear.
The door to his metal crate suddenly swings open. What now? He hesitates, then steps out into the sunlight, and he starts running and he does not stop.
Black Wolf was alone at first, and remained so for a long time, but he survived. He soon discovered that prey was plentiful. The elk seemed surprised by his appearance, and it was easy to run down the hungry ones in the deep snow.
In the springtime everything changed. There came the unexpected happy reunion with his sister and her family. He was quickly accepted by her mate, the big gray, and he was joyously welcomed by their pups who have become as close to him as if they were his own.
The squawking of a scolding magpie puts an end to the daydream and brings Black Wolf back to the moment. He shakes out his coat. He knows it is time to come down from the mountain, but there is one last thing to do.
Black Wolf raises his head and howls. Almost before the last questioning note fades comes the answer: a deep, throaty affirmation from Big Gray, joined immediately by the rising voice of his sister, and then the always-eager contribution of the three pups. Yes, brother—we are here!
Black Wolf howls again in reply, then he follows the ghost tones of his family’s song, all the way home.
Brilliant
This was a very interesting story. You really entered into the world and POV of one of the wolves, and showed their ability to remember, their strong sense of fear in relation to us. The whole narrative had a dreamlike quality to it. I like that memory was strongly associated with the sense of smell, as it is so tied in people. Great work.