Barry had spent much longer than he planned to at the town gathering. The rest of his family went home hours ago, but he wanted to spend more time with his friends. As the oldest school-age boys, they felt like they ruled the town. They spent hours together, playing games, and just having fun. After finally saying Good Night to them, he started for home.
The town square had been bright with a large bonfire and merrily burning torches, but outside that circle of light was a deep darkness. Barry’s farm was only a mile and a half away, but tonight that seemed like 20 miles. The half moon shone down her feeble light behind a mass of clouds.
Without consistent light, Barry was forced to move slowly down the path. After a while, he came to a junction where the main road was wide and open, and a smaller road led straight through the woods. Barry hesitated for a moment but then he walked decidedly onto the smaller path. This path may be darker, but it would cut off half a mile of the distance that he needed to go. Having taken this road countless times before, he knew the way. But soon, the trees moved in around him and he had to really slow down and step carefully. The darkness felt oppressing as it surrounded him.
Trying to only focus on the path, unbidden thoughts came in to Barry’s mind. Everyone knew the legend of the Master Wolf around here. Barry had grown up with stories of a monstrous black wolf that lived in these woods. His own parents used the legend to keep their kids in line. When he was younger, his mother would warn Barry that if he didn’t do what he was told, the Master Wolf would come and get him. Those kinds of threats worked on small children, but Barry had wised up and dismissed the legends as fairy tales.
Now, however, Barry thought of the other stories surrounding the Master Wolf. Some of the old timers in town talked about the giant wolf as if he were real. At the gathering tonight, a few people laughingly talked about the mystical legend, but Old Bill had told his story of how he had seen a great big, black wolf in these very woods when he was just a boy. He had run away before the creature knew he was there, but he had a story to tell for the rest of his life. He said the wolf was bigger than any other he had ever seen, and it was prowling around the forest.
Barry gave an involuntary shudder as he thought about other stories that claimed the Master Wolf was a protector of the forest and would defend his charge with violence if necessary. No one had seen the wolf for at least 50 years, but there were always a few stout believers of the Master Wolf.
Barry tried to pick up his pace as he moved deeper into the forest. He felt increasingly like he was going blind as the darkness grew more intense around him. His whole body now felt like a taut bowstring as he hurried on as fast as he could. Suddenly, an owl hooted nearby, and Barry nearly jumped out of his skin. He took off running, and only stopped when he got smacked in the face with some low hanging branches.
Somewhat dazed, Barry shook his head as he tried to get his bearings. He realized that he was no longer on the path. Groaning, he turned around to face the direction that he thought he had come from. After sever minutes of walking, however, he still hadn’t found the trail.
He was now trying hard not to panic. How could he have let this happen? He should have gone home with the rest of his family. Furious and scared, he continued on, praying that he was going in a direction that would lead him out of the forest.
Stumbling over tree roots, he suddenly heard a low growl off to his right. Heart in his throat, he veered off to the left to get away from whatever it was that he couldn’t see, and tripped over a fallen log. He landed hard on his hands and knees as he tried to catch his breath.
Overhead, clouds moved away from the moon, and suddenly Barry could see. With relief, he saw that he had fallen onto the trail and that the trees were starting to clear, just ahead. Letting out a whoop, he jumped up and felt pain in his ankle. It’s only a sprain, he thought, as he gingerly ran his fingers over it.
Taking a deep breath, he carefully stood up again, taking care not to put his full weight on his hurt foot. He started to limp along the path, but again he heard a strange growl. Fearing what he was about to see, Barry slowly turned toward the noise and felt his insides disappear. A hulking great beast watched him from just under the tree cover. Barry could see its shining eyes focused on him, and could just see the outline of its massive furry body. It was the biggest wolf that he had ever seen, probably bigger than a bear. He drew in several ragged gasps until he realized that the beast wasn’t coming after him.
Barry took a hesitant step along the path, away from the beast, and the wolf followed him with his eyes, but otherwise didn’t move. Barry continued to walk slowly, turning around with every step to make sure the hulking wolf wasn’t following him.
Finally, Barry left the tree cover and felt blinded by the moon’s light after his dark time in the forest. Relieved beyond words, he saw his family’s farm bathed in soft moonlight. As he hobbled toward it, he thought about the legends again. Did he really just see the Master Wolf – Protector of the Forest? If he had, he didn’t seem to have anything against Barry. Maybe he was just making sure a scared youth found his way out of the forest. Whatever the case, Barry knew that he would never discount the legends again. Also, he would never ever take the shortcut in the dark. Once was enough for a lifetime.
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