The golden wolf
In the dark forest of the kingdom, beyond the safe boundaries of the castle there was as much life and commotion as inside the king’s court. The king and his trusted men were about to go on an expedition in the forest so all the animals were agitated. There was a big fuss and all feared for their lives except for the great golden coated wolf. He was seen as much as the king of the forest by his pack and the rest of the other animals. He always protected the forest and its inhabitants and only hunted to sustain himself. He was a quiet character who lived in solitude. None of the animals knew where he came from, he just shown up one day and imposed himself with his great presence and his deep and powerful look.
The king of the castle was a feared king. He was powerful but just. All his people respected and admired him. He had a young daughter; she was no more than 12 years old, but she was very smart and also very reckless. She always was on the verge of trouble and this time she really, really wanted to go with her father on this exploring adventure. Her father refused, but she somehow, managed to hide between the stable boys, dressed as one of them.
So the expedition began. There were many men and a number of horses and dogs. The deafening sounds of the barking dogs were pretty scary and the little princess started to fill frightened.
As the agitated dogs started barking, the ears of the golden wolf went up and he started howling so the rest of the animals seek protection deeper in the forest. He was curious and stood on a high cliff to see what was happening. As he was watching the men on the horses spread out into the green, thick forest, he saw a little human getting away from the crowd of men and towards the dangerous place where the bear had his den. This bear probably wouldn’t appreciate the little human’s presence. The great golden wolf had a kind heart. He was always weak at heart when it came to cubs, and this was just a human cub.
So he started barking and running towards the little human to scare it and make it run away.
The princess was on an exploring adventure, away from the camp. She was watching the birds fly above the old pines, when she heard a great bark and stopped in place to see what was about.
From the forest appeared, running towards her, the most beautiful and fierce looking animal she’d ever seen. She froze in panic, but was also mesmerized.
The golden wolf came closer to the little human and slowed his pace. The little one however did not run. He stopped and got closer, just about two feet from the child. It was just a little girl, he saw, looking at him with big eyes. He sneered at her, but she made no move. He came closer and closer until their noses touched.
The wolf had wet nose and his whiskers tickled her face. They looked at each other and the girl understood that this was a great animal to be feared of and respected. He sniffed her neck and then she started giggling, her fear slowly fading away. She started to gain courage and dared to touch his beautiful golden coat. It felt soft and the golden fur shined in the light.
As the princess stood in front of this amazing creature a great roar was heard. A huge bear! She then thought she was lost and oh! How upset her father was going to be.
She closed her eyes. And then something unexpected happened. The great wolf turned towards the bear, his long tail almost touching her nose. It looked like the wolf wanted to protect her from the upset animal. She watched the two animals looking at each other and it felt as if they were speaking. After a moment of silence the bear gave up and turned around and walked away muttering.
The wolf turned then and looked again in the little human eyes and there was gratitude.
The princess was amazed by the act of the wolf and wanted to thank him, but didn’t know how so she just stood there looking at him.
Noise from the camp reached their ears and the wolf turned to leave.
- Thank you! She yelled.
The wolf turned his head to see her one more time, as if he understood, and then went on his way, fading into the forest.
The princess ran back to the camp and the next day was on the road, back to the castle as the king’s expedition was over.
She thought of her adventure a number of times and she always had the image of this great wolf clear in her heart. She had learned a valuable lesson that day. She understood that all creatures must be respected for what they are and that there is kindness in even the fiercest animal. She learned to be kind to others even if they were different and since then she started caring for everbody.
Sometimes she saw far in the woods something shining in the sun and happily remembered the great golden wolf.