Night of the Wolf

Moonlight flooded the meadow as I slept in my grandpa's tent that I managed to steal. My friend Mia was asleep soundly at my side. I jumped as a nearby wolf howled. "Mia, Mia" I whispered and poked her desperately. She usually knows what to do. Of course she was 9, three years older than me. "Hmm?" she asked yawning as she awoke slowly. "Wolves" I shivered in fear. The mere mention of the creatures snapped me awake and Mia shot up straight. "Stay quiet, maybe they'll leave us alone" she whispered in my ear. And I did.

"What's that?" Jason asked me. 

"Oh nothing important" I replied as sincerely as I could and smiled hoping I didn't look ridiculous. Gladly he didn't ask again.

"We better head back through the meadow. Its getting late" I told him glancing up at the twilight sky. Little stars were starting to poke out through the haze of clouds.

He nodded and started to walk back, neither of us wanting to race, *if only I was 10 like Mia, maybe then I wouldn't be so tired* I thought as I led the way through the darkening meadow. 

Silently not wanting to wake up Grandpa who was already fast asleep on the couch we dragged out the old tent that was in surprisingly good condition. Wordlessly we assembled the tent and headed into the middle of the meadow where the only few trees were.

I looked up to Jason as if to say *What about here?* when we reached a shady place under a pine tree. Gladly he nodded and we dropped our heavy cargo. 

A wolf howled in the woods surrounding the meadow. The wolf carving in my pocket felt heavy. I picked it up and in my hand it felt more alive than it should be. The make shift eyes seem to be watching me and the soft wood seemed to be fur as I touched it with my nimble fingers. 

"Whats up with that carving?" Jason asked slightly startled. He seemed to sense it too. Something was wrong with the carving. "Lets go to sleep" he shook his head and crawled into the tent. Soon I followed.

It took forever to fall asleep, but I did eventually.