Midnight

Chapter 1: To cope with isolation is mans worst feat.

Chapter 1: Midnight

 

 

 

It was midnight or so he thought it was hard to tell when the days would pass with no way to verify them.  The breeze was cool and soothing in the damp blanketing air of the Midwestern sky.

He awoke at twilight to the sound of the crickets beginning their mating song. The owls and other night creatures of the meadow were rubbing the sleep from their orb like eyes. 

It was a glorious night; the moon was full, bathing the rolling meadows of overgrown grass in a pale bluish floodlight.

He managed to catch a small amount of rodents and ate them hungrily after cooking them over a fire with a crude skewer made of a sharpened twig. He also ate a small amount of rabbit jerky to sooth his angry stomach.  It was nothing compared to what he used to eat, but twas better than nothing.

            After finishing the paltry meal and dousing the fire he began to walk westward, moving up and down the sloping meadows like an incredibly slow roller coaster.              

Pausing for a moment he looked up at the stars scattering endlessly into infinity, he was lost in absentmindedness before he realized that the breeze had stopped and the night creatures had gone quiet.  It was completely silent he paused with apprehension looking around nervously, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was about to happen, bad or good he did not know.  Then a great shiver began at the base of his skull and down his spine spreading to his body making his hairs stand on end. Lightning? no there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, if not lightning then what? The feeling passed, the creatures began their ruckus once again, and the breeze picked up.

             Looking around suspiciously he continued in his westerly direction, stopping suddenly whenever he heard a rodent scamper through the bush, or an insect buzz too close to his ear.

            Walking several yards further he halted, this time he really did hear something.  At first he thought it was a small creek bubbling away some distance ahead, but after listening for a little longer he heard what definitely sounded like labored breathing. It was a raspy grunted wheeze somewhat like an injured animal, probably canine in origin. 

            Moving cautiously towards the breathing, drawn perhaps by curiosity he pushed aside a bunch of long grass and weeds.  He stumbled into a small clearing noticing the glimmer of dark red blood in the moonlight. Eyes following the trail of blood he saw a rather large heaving mass of a dog silhouetted against a withered mulberry tree.

            At first it growled at him then he heard something clog its throat, it hacked a little blood out of is long muzzle and collapsed to the ground.

            The creature was still conscious but the breathing was sporadic, he moved forward in a slow non-threatening way. The animal seemed to cringe a little, but did not growl or bark so he continued forward.  On closer examination he noticed it had a large gash on its throat, with several scratches on the legs and body.

            Upon looking at its head closer he concluded it was a gray wolf though it was too large to be, it looked much larger than the wolves he used to see in the other life.  It looked at him with large pleading golden eyes.  Without a second thought he ripped several large patches off his legs and wrapped the wound on its throat to prevent bleeding though he knew it wouldn’t help much.  After draping its large body over his skinny one and grunting a little he began to run as fast as he could towards the brook he heard ahead of him.

            The creek was low flowing moving through the meadow quite similar to a snake, writhing its way along the deep parts of the meadow with little outcroppings or steep ledges normally found in higher areas.

Gently he laid its body on the short grass and moved quickly to gather wood and start a fire.  After which he gathered water in a tiny pan he had hooked to his pack, and began to boil some more patches in the water with a small amount of ____ he had in a makeshift multi-pocketed pouch for herbs.  The rest of the ____ he crushed and chewed into pulpy pieces and began the slow process of clogging all of the wounds starting with the one that was bleeding profusely at the neck.  When the water was boiling he plucked out the rags gingerly and tied the makeshift bandage around the creature’s neck.  It moaned a little and rolled over on its other side, when it did this he realized that it was a she.  After several more minutes her breathing slowed and she fell into what he assumed was a deep sleep.

            Sitting a distance away from the dying fire he watched the embers belch and crackle red sparks into the sky.  He was thinking mostly of nothing save the fate of the creature sleeping beside him. He reassured himself that the ___ would work fine and he should try to hunt more, for he assumed the wolf would need nourishment when she came out of her slumber.

            As he picked up his bow and several arrows he heard a loud howl some yards to the northwest followed by another further away and several others in every other direction.  “S**t I’m pinned” he thought grasping clumsily for his hunting rifle on the ground next to his pack, and pulling it out of its case.  He looked at his bullets only six left there had to be at least half a dozen different voices he heard, possibly more.

            Poising himself in a crouch position over the she-wolf he loaded he weapon cocked it and waited.  The wolf woke up and was completely still, she could smell them; she attempted to get up but fell when her body barely made it off the ground.  He patted her fur and whispered “shh easy now its ok.” He didn’t know why he was talking to an animal but she seemed to relax a little.

            It wasn’t long before he saw the reflection of yellow eyes emerge out of the tall grass, followed by several others, he thought he counted seven, but couldn’t be sure.  They created a circle around him and the injured she-wolf, all growling, all much larger than the injured creature at his feet.

            Quickly he raised his weapon and set his sights on the biggest one, also closest to him.  The massive wolf stopped suddenly and his companions began to growl much louder almost barking.

            Making a loud barking sound the alpha effectively silenced his pack, some seemed reluctant to do so and gave one last defiant growl before quieting.  The massive wolf almost the size of a small bear moved forward, yellow eyes fixed on the rifle he held steady at the bear-wolfs head.

            Never before had he seen this kind of behavior from an animal, perhaps a few many times, but he always thought he was imagining it.  There seemed to be some kind of recognition in the bear-wolfs glinting eyes, as if it somehow knew what waited at the end of the barrel, should its bearer become provoked.  The bear-wolf slowly began to pace back and forth as if making some sort of decision, then stopped and just sat down on the ground staring at him and the she-wolf.

            What does it want? He looked down at the she-wolfs eyes, he saw there hardness, a kind of strength that he had seen before, a strength he admired.  Instantly he understood the bear-wolf intended to mate with the she-wolf, and she from the look of her was completely opposed. 

He then released the safety on his rifle, ceased breathing, closed his left eye, and steadied his aim.  He knew if he killed the bear-wolf the creature’s pack-mates would pounce, even if he could hit them all he would run out of bullets, in the time it would take him to draw his bow or arm his knife the last one or others in hiding would be chomping savagely at his throat.  It was a rash move no doubt, but somehow he couldn’t see talking it out with them.       

Its ears flattening the bear-wolf seemed to understand in some way or another, ever so slowly it crept forward and laid its massive paw in the dirt.  He couldn’t tell what it was doing writing something possibly?  The bear-wolf moved away, barking at his pack-mates, and the wolf pack left the scene.  Upon closer inspection of the disheveled dirt he saw unmistakably a sign that he saw many a time in his youth, a sign synonymous with one word. Peace.

Standing there in complete dumbfounded shock he pondered the significance of what had just happened.  He felt as if he had just been slapped in the face, made a fool, or was in an intense state of psychosis.

Impossible, His logical mind thought, though another part of him did not find it so strange this queer part of him almost expected it.  The very thought that animals could be intelligent, let alone be able to draw peace signs in the dirt was well, absurd.

Whining the she-wolf began to shiver, snapping out of his train of thought he immediately gathered more water and looked in his pack for more rabbit jerky.  There was little left and he was reluctant to exhaust the rest of his reserves.  Abandoning the fleeting selfish thought he fed her the rest of the jerky and slowly poured water down her gullet.

Even after she was fed the she-wolf was still shivering slightly, he did not know if she had lost too much blood or not.  After pondering her fate he realized he was incredibly exhausted and the rush of adrenalin from the encounter with the seemingly intelligent wolf pack had subdued.

Pulling off his armpit stained tank top, pack, and pulling out his wool blanket he curled his body around the she-wolfs large one, hoping that maybe his body warmth might warm her up.  Slowly after a short time he felt his mind fade and go black, completely forgetting the events of the night and moving slowly into the dreaming.  

 

The grass was soft and dewy against his bare feet; the air was warm and soft feeling swirling around his naked body.  Looking up he saw many clouds in the night sky swirling and moving in ways he would not expect them to, like an eddy in a river.  Massive and glowing with near sun-like reflection the moon shone down on a warped version of the meadow. 

Twas then when he realized that this was not real, at least not in the sense that typical rules of physics and reality were in effect.  He was dreaming as he so often did these days, it almost seemed as if he was living two lives.

            A wonderful thought crossed his mind, the fancy to begin bounding across the landscape like one would in a low gravity environment.  The moment the thought occurred he felt weightlessness in his body and began to hop across the dream world effortlessly.  After doing this for a time he became bored and ceased to move.  Looking around him he saw a large building a ways away from him that he had not noticed before.  Before he knew it he was standing in front of the large gothic carved doors, stepping through them a blast of noise and commotion surrounded him.  It was a massive hall filled with hundreds of people, family, friends, and acquaintances from his past life.  All were talking laughing enjoying each others company, the moment he wondered if any had noticed him they all looked at his bare naked body.

 “Hello” He said addressing the entire crowd all seemed, he wasn’t sure uncomfortable, angry even? He caught glimpses of his mother and father two of his siblings and several other familiar faces.  However the one that caught his attention moved forward a hard look in her eyes.  She was slightly taller than he her brown hair almost shoulder length, and eyes blue with a slight ring of gold around the iris.

She stopped mere inches from his face and spoke “Why are you here?”

“I do not know” he replied.

“What makes you think you are welcome here?”

“This is my dream, that’s what.”

“YOUR dream?” she said with a hint of hilarity in her voice “Did everyone hear that?” she yelled addressing the entire crowd “He thinks this is HIS dream.” Everyone began to laugh with a slight madness in their voices.

Looking around confused wondering why his mind would construct such a scene she then said “because fool you miss us.”

“I’ll admit I miss people but I do NOT miss this trivial existence.”

“Then why do you think your mind would see us in this light?” she said spreading out her arms questioningly.

“I….I don’t know”

“Of COURSE you don’t know” she spoke a level of scorn and spite that only a woman could reach.  “You’ve NEVER known ANYTHING you never even had the courage to express how you felt about me TRULY.”

“I never had the chance, the fall I…..”

“You’re going to blame your personal misgivings on the collapse of the modern world?” she stopped a sneer stretching across her heartbreakingly beautiful angular face distorting it into a type of twisted terrible beauty that horrified him. “You’re pathetic.” She said frankly.

Crowding around him the entire group began to pelt him with insults and angry remarks “You abandoned us!”, “Coward!”, “Fool!”  He cowered and put his head in his hands unable to take the abuse and hurt.  Finally when he felt he might begin to sob or cry he screamed “ENOUGH!!!!”  Reaching a level of passion and anger that he never felt before in his life, and out of nowhere as his scream resonated through the hall a great heat welled in is body spreading outward and in a massive plume of flame, heat, and light the entire hall and those inside were incinerated. 

  Standing in the meadow the moon had mysteriously disappeared, the clouds gone, and the stars were nowhere to be seen.  It was pitch dark he felt cold the grass was itchy and uncomfortable, but he did not care falling to his knees he began to sob. He thought that his solitude was a survival tool, but the dream people were right he was a coward, a fool, and an abandoner.  Like all cowards he turned tail and ran like a frightened dog.  He was completely and utterly alone.

“You are not alone boy.” He stopped crying and looked around him; he noticed he was still nude, which meant that…. “You are still dreaming yes.” Said the voice it was soft and had a kind of echoing comfort to it.

He turned around and looked down, all he saw was a rather large gray wolf though its fur seemed to glisten.  He didn’t see anyone else around who could have spoken which meant that “Yes the wolf is talking and please do not think of me as it I am a lady after all.”  He stared at her; he had many strange dreams but none as odd as this.

She made a short kind of barking sound that could be a laugh “You may not be alone and I do not think you are a coward, but I think that maybe you are quite the fool, the woman did have a point about your true feelings did she not?” She did not move her mouth when she spoke, and the voice was not in his head it seemed as if she spoke to him through her eyes or as if she had a mouth that was not visible.

“I suppose so” He replied reluctantly.

“I see that you are not such a fool to ignore your instinct though you already knew that I suppose.”

“How do you mean?”

“That little gamble with my, I guess you could call them my ex-pack had they been ravenous beasts you would be dead.”

“If you were but beasts I don’t think you would have minded mating with the alpha.” She seemed to narrow her eyes but he couldn’t quite tell it’s very hard to judge the expressions of dream entities.  “So” he continued “I take it you are some dream manifestation of the she-wolf in the meadow, why I would have a dream about a talking wolf is beyond me.”

“Do not flatter yourself it doesn’t speak to your character very well” she replied bluntly.

“Come again?”

“The very thought that your feeble mind could create someone as complex as me is quite laughable.”

“So you don’t mind telling me what exactly you are then?”

“I AM that wolf in the meadow, you are dreaming with me that was quite the little outburst of anger there.”

“I’m not angry.”

“I meant in the hall fool, I saw you blow it into oblivion.”

“You saw that?”

“Yes from a safe distance I might add.”

“So do you have like a name?”

“Do you mean like a name or a name?”

“What is your name?” he asked getting a little annoyed.

“Do you not know it?”

“Of course I don’t I’ve never met you before in my life.” She sighed and stopped talking, eye talking whatever the hell she was doing to communicate with him, and looked off into the horizon.  The stars had returned along with the clouds, but the moon was still gone.  With nothing else to do he followed her eyesight to the horizon line and suddenly with a kind of shimmering ghostly warp the moon phased back into the dreamscape sky.  Without thinking he said the first word that came to mind: “Your name is Luna.”

She seemed to smile at him “very good boy, now what is yours?” he thought for a second he had a name a long time ago, what was it? “Not that name fool, names aren’t something you can just give to someone.”

“Isn’t that what I just did with you?”

“You didn’t give me my name you guessed it, or I should say knew it.”

Thoroughly confused he sat in the grass and put his chin on his knees, “Well I sure don’t know what in the wide blue sky you’re talking about Luna.”

“I’m talking about your true name, the name you were born with and will carry to your death the name that you are and will always have and be until infinity ends.”

“WHAT?!”

“Do not be ignorant with me boy you know I speak the truth as well as I, and I know the beast in you knows this as well do not deny who you are it really is not such a strange concept.”

“Ok so what exactly is this fabled name then?”

“Normally one has to find their name on their own, but seeing as you are hopelessly stupid I shall simply tell you. You are Wildfire burning through the grass ever so savage lest you die.”  As she said this he felt something inside him, not one of his organs or anything like that, more of a deeper depths kind of thing. What had once been naught but dark in his soul was suddenly lit, twas a dim light yes but there was something there and something was better than nothing.  His body felt warm, and he could’ve sworn but wasn’t sure that maybe his body was giving off an orange shimmer.

            “What happens now then?” Wildfire inquired.

            “Well I suppose that we have some time to become familiar with each other yes?” Luna replied peculiarly.

            “What exactly do you want with me anyways?”

            “You saved my life twice” she sighed “Though it pains me to be indebted to a human.”

            “Sorry?”

            She snorted a little could it have been a scoff? He thought so.  “Walk with me Wildfire you have much to learn.  I see that you at least are not oblivious to body language.”

            She began to walk towards a small cluster of trees near the edge of the meadow, he followed uncertainly, not sure what to expect.  After walking for what seemed like several minutes he considered something that had bothered him, and asked “Luna can you read my mind?”

            Slowing her pace a little she answered “No, I…I simply know what you think.”

            “What exactly is the difference there?”

            “There is none at least in your head” leaving her explanation at that she quickened her pace so that he nearly had to run to keep up with her.

            “Where exactly are we going?” he said between exasperated breaths.

            “I do not know yet.”

            “Wait, WAIT” he said irritably.  She stopped “what boy?”

            “I do not plan on wandering off in my dreams just to follow some fabricated animal, I have better things to do you know.”

            For the first time he saw her snarl at him it was a feral thing scary to the point that he stepped back a little.  Her voice suddenly lost its peaceful echo tone to a loud angry kind that made his eyes go wide with fear, “I have forgiven your thoughts simply for your ignorance, but I will warn you once if you EVER call me an animal again I shall leave behind my customs and kill you understood?”

            “Um…”

            “Furthermore, if you want to waste your dreams bounding about like a child, trying futilely to come to terms with your subconscious and emotional problems then be my guest.”

“What else do dreams do besides bring joy and revelation?”

            “Dreams do bring these things; they also can bring much, much more.”

            “Like what?”

            “Nothing, everything, and whatever you wish.”

            “How am I to understand you if you speak in riddles?”

            “If you want straight answers continue to follow me, and do try to be quiet.”  She began her swift trot again, with him following hurriedly behind her.

            Traveling for what seemed like hours Wildfire became continually more bored with every passing moment.  Once he tried to fly or leap a great distance only to be stopped by Luna saying: “That will be quite impossible here, when two entities dream together they share the world they reside in.”  He simply stared at her in stupidity, Luna’s eyes did what he assumed was an eye roll.  “Think of it like this: you and I are on a canoe one cannot paddle faster than the other or we’ll simply go in circles.”

            “Why don’t we both paddle fast then?” She sighed warily “because your concept of fast and mine differ completely.”

            They walked for what seemed like days, he saw the sun set and the moon rise several times.  Albeit it was very hard to judge time, because he suspected there was none the moon would disappear and the sun would suddenly reappear in some random section in the sky.  Sometimes huge in size taking up the entire sky, or looking like a distant brilliant star the moon seemed to react directly to the sun’s movements but in completely different ways.

            Finally Luna stopped moving, they were standing in a small clearing in the middle a warming fire cracked away.  She sat herself down several feet from the fire, turned to look at him and said “sit.”  He moved and seated himself across from her, the warm orange glow of the fire clashed with the silver shimmer of her coat magnificently creating a kind of golden metallic color.

            She simply sat there staring at him, she didn’t say anything, and he wondered why she wasn’t talking. Could she be waiting for him to speak? She nodded.

            “What do you want me to say?”

            “Ask me anything, anything at all.”

            “Ok what do you want with me EXACTLY?”

            “A good start, what I want from you Wildfire is to travel with you to be your companion.  I can tell that you are lonely do not deny it” she said this just as he thought about protesting against his loneliness. “You might ask why I want to travel with you, well I will admit I have my misgivings with humanity, but firstly you did save my life second I really hate to say this but I like you, you seem honest, good natured, though you may be a bit of a ditz.”

            “Gee thanks.”

            “Furthermore” she said this as if he had not spoken “I anticipate that I too might become lonely and would like to have some company myself.”

            He studied her face with suspicion, the shiver he experienced earlier and his instinct told him that these were all valid reasons yet he could not help but think that she had ulterior motives for traveling with him.  What they were he could only guess, when she did not respond to his thought it only made him more suspicious, for she had done this almost every time he had not spoken.  She seemed to look at him in an awkward way and he asked “what else?”

             She shifted uncomfortably and said “I have my reasons I cannot tell you anymore my customs forbid it.”

            “What customs?”

            “I cannot speak of them. Yet.”

            “So you will tell me just not now?”

            She eyed him strangely “perhaps.”

            “Just how long do you intend to travel with me anyway?”

            “Indefinitely.”

            “And just what makes you think that I would concede to this?”

            “Nothing in particular, but aren’t you getting bored with your life? Are you not tired of spending every day simply trying to survive and eat enough?”

            He said nothing she was dead on.

            “Besides, I will make hunting much easier I do have an excellent nose and exceptional hearing, which I am sad to say you lack.  Suffice it to say we shall not starve or go hungry.”

            He ground his teeth together in frustration “fine.”

Reviews

[nono]

It's a great start. I think you've gotten it down. Starting a new paragraph when someone is talking. But double check on your spelling I've caught a couple of mistakes. I'm no good with grammar. So, I wouldn't be much help. But other than a few misspelled words. I don't see much wrong with it. Nice job :)

[FireF_L_Y]

PLEASE any criticism is welcome.

[.quan.011.]

It's a good start of a book.

[FireF_L_Y]

let me know if its too sporadic