Chapter 3- Wolf

     Lyra hung out in her room until she was sure that her parents were gone. She had left the door locked all night. Mom had tried to get her to come down and they would have a more civilized conversation. But Lyra had pretended to be asleep.

     Her door creaked open and she poked her head out. All clear. She climbed down the stairs and went straight for the kitchen. Rummaging through the fridge for anything worthy to be her breakfast, Lyra found some milk. Grabbing the cereal from the top of the fridge, she quickly made herself some breakfast.

     Lyra looked out the window and saw the sunlight forest outside. Today was going to be a beautiful day. When she was finished, she packed her hiking bag and headed out into the woods. She strolled down the different paths taking it all in. Her heart thundered in her chest as she when deeper and deeper into it. She stopped when she saw another one of those traps buried in the leaves.

     She threw her pack down and grabbed a nearby stick. She jammed it into the trigger and the trap snapped shut. All around her, the forest grew quiet as if it had only just detected the possible threat. Lyra hung the trap from a low hanging limb and continued on.

     A few yards away, Lyra spotted another trap. She snapped that one closed too and hung it up. She decided to follow the trap line deeper into the woods. After snapping her eighth or ninth one shut, she heard a yowl from somewhere up ahead. Throwing her pack aside, she bolted in the direction the noise came from.

     Smacking the low hanging branches away, she crashed through the undergrowth, making no attempt to stay quiet. The yowls grew louder as she got closer and closer. When she burst through the trees and into a small clearing, she stopped dead in her tracks. Something black, furry, and massive was struggling in one of the iron-jaw traps, its paw was bleeding badly. She couldn’t help but stare in shock as she pondered what the animal was. A bear cub? No, it’s too big. What about a…..a dog? Maybe it’s a really big dog? No. Dogs aren’t pure big are they? The animal twisted in her direction before it flopped down again.

     “Oh my God,” she breathed, finally realizing what it was. “It’s a wolf.”

     The wolf stopped moving and stared at her with piercing orange eyes. She gasped and stepped back. It whimpered and rolled over on the ground, panting. Lyra recognized something in the wolf’s face, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. A surge of rage filled her body as she watched the pitiful thing cry out and struggle again.

     “How dare somebody trap such a proud creature,” she snapped, her fists clenching. “But where did it come from? Wolves don’t live in this area.”

     The wolf was flopped over on the ground again; its body as torn and bloody as the Earth beneath it was. It moaned and sat up; its caught leg was limp behind it. Her heart twisted in sympathy as it looked to her once again. It seemed to be begging her not to kill it. It didn’t know that she was the good guy.

     Lyra took a bold step towards it, unable to watch it suffer any longer. Those poachers had gone too far. “It’s okay, I won’t hurt you,” she said in as unthreatening tone as she could muster.

     The creature whined and moved away, its eyes never leaving hers.

     Lyra took another step. “I just want to help you.” Another step. “I don’t want you to die.”

     Something changed in the wolf right then. As if understood her, it relaxed and laid still. Lyra paused to consider this for a moment, but she shook it off. Don’t let your guard down. It still may attack. Deep down, she doubted that it would. Like her unexplained need to be in the woods, she also felt the wolf knows her in some way, though she had never seen it before.

     Staying well away, Lyra knelt down and tried to pull the peg that attached the trap to the ground up. She still watched the wolf and it still watched her. She tugged with all her might but it wouldn’t budge. Not wanting it to be in more pain then it already was in, Lyra inched towards the wolf’s out stretched leg.

     It growled as she drew closer, making Lyra stop. “I’m just going to open it,” she told it.

     The wolf ceased its growling but kept its teeth barred. When Lyra placed her hand on the trap, it shuddered and looked away. She settled down beside it and lifted its leg onto her lap. The wolf whined, but remained still.

     “This might sting a little,” she said.

     Gripping the trap with both of her hands, she used all her strength to pry it open. The teeth released its grip only a little bit, but it was not enough for the wolf’s leg to slip through. Letting it close a little bit to give her muscles a break, Lyra tried again. This time the trap opened a little wider. The wolf sensed that its foot was free and slid it out of the traps grip. Lyra let the trap snap shut again and she tossed it aside, breathing heavily.

     When she lifted her head, she was nose to nose with the wolf. Stifling a scream, she froze to her spot. The wolf stared at her with great intensity, its body unmoving. Lyra saw a flicker of recognition cross the wolf’s face before it turned and limped off into the woods. Lyra sat there, unsure of what to make of it. At least it didn’t bite my face off.

     Deciding that she had had enough of the forest for one day, Lyra found the quickest route back to her house.

Reviews

[Joan*Eckhart]

I really like how Lyra and the wolf made an instant connection. Those traps are brutal and I hate them. They must cause so much pain to those poor animals!
Lyra's character is coming along nicely. She's nice and feisty, strong and smart. She's the kind of girl we need to read about in books. I've had enough of weaklings like Bella flipping Swan and the Fifty Shades girl.
Anyway, this was a good chapter, if a little short. This story is quite intriguing.

[Miranda]

Do you think that I should add anything?

[Joan*Eckhart]

Maybe you could add other aspects of Lyra's life, for instance, does she have friends? Does she have other hobbies? You could give her a more rounded personalty otherwise she just appears to be angry all the time. Maybe you could add other interactions with kids her age (without her beating them up!)?

[Miranda]

Well, her interecting doesn't really happen until the next chapter, but I guess I could give her more of a personality. Thanks! :)