The Wolves Of Manitoba
In weather like this, I’m thankful for heated handlebars. The sub-zero temperatures froze the road, making it a deadly journey for anyone brave enough to venture out in it. Oh, Me? No, I’m far from brave. More stupid than anything else. Thought it’d be funny to challenge the wife during an argument - Apparently, calling a four-month pregnant woman a ‘Fat-Arsed Horse’ will get you kicked out of the house, who knew? So, here I am. Speeding out of Winnipeg on my touring motorcycle with no real place to go. This was my chance to go on the adventure I’ve always wanted. The tank was half full, which undoubtedly wouldn’t get me far, so I headed in the direction of the gas station to fill her up. Grabbing some beef jerky and a sandwich was also something that needed to be done since the wife had refused to give me any dinner. Didn’t really care for a burnt pizza anyway. Fuck her.
Soon I was back on the road, the tank full and my bag stuffed with food. I sped along the icy road that led deep into the thick forests, heading maybe 100 miles east to the holiday home, so that’s where I decided to go. Any place was better than back there with her.
The noise of the monotonous engine became eaten by the vast forest, startling rabbits and deer as I sped along. I was probably going a little too fast, but I was fueled by an untamable hunger for my beef jerky. At one point I had to swerve out the way of a white rabbit that had already written a suicide note to its family, sorry little guy, not today. The path into the mountains seemed endless, and if it weren’t for those glorious heated handlebars I’d have turned back by now. The cold had even begun to bite through my thermal neck scarf and balaclava under my helmet. Bloody hell it was certainly cold, my eyes began to water. The road ahead was straight for many miles, and even though I thought I’d never get bored of riding my tourer, it wasn’t the most exciting. After a while, the droning of the engine and unchanging road set me into a daydream state. My mind wandered dangerously away from the road. After thinking what life would be like if I never settled with that control freak, I noticed a shape on the horizon which quickly pulled my attention back onto the road. The closer I got, the more I could distinguish the sharp edges of a lorry, I slowed down when I realised it wasn’t moving forward. The lorry had parked rather inconveniently in the centre of the road. What a jerk. I pull the tourer to the side of the road and jump off, and headed to the driver's cab.
“Hey. This isn’t a place to be stopping for a snooze, buddy.” I call out, knocking at the window. This idiot was going to cause an accident if he didn’t move, especially since the roads were icy. I decided to pull the door open. Quickly wishing I hadn’t. I shielded my eyes from the sight, never before had a seen a dead body, let alone one that’s covered in blood. The skin from his face was wedged in his fingernails along with thick chunks of hair and scalp. What could I even do in this situation with no phone? Even if I did, in this region there’s no signal. My stomach churned. The foul smell of blood and decay soon stung my nose. The closest police station was back in Winnipeg. In my panicked state I didn’t know if I should turn and do the right thing, or carry on my way, hoping someone with more brains could help. As I ran back to my bike and jumped on, nothing but fear ran through my mind. I turned the bike and stabbed the starter button. I listened to the engine trying desperately to turn over, but the cold kept killing the spark.
“Come on, girl…” The whirring became slower and slower till the battery died completely.
“Shit...Fuck…” This wasn't good, and what made things ten times worse, was hearing a guttural growl behind me. I froze with fear. Great, just great. First a dead guy in a lorry, now some hungry creature growling? My heart raced so hard, I’m pretty sure whatever was approaching me could smell my fear. I turned and ran. It was my only chance with the bike not working and a dead guy in a lorry. What else could I do in that situation apart from getting eaten? A roar bellowed out behind me. It was the warcry of a Grizzly Bear. It would have been safer staying at home, eating burnt pizza and putting up with the hormonal bitch. I ran as fast as I could back down the road I had taken from Winnipeg in hope of losing the bear behind me. No such luck, the bear easily caught up with me. The next thing I know, I feel a powerful impact on my back, sending me crashing to the frozen tarmac. My protective bike gear saved me from getting hurt from the fall, but the powerful blow from the bear had knocked the air from my lungs. I rolled myself over, staring face to face with the bear. It had determination in its eyes. Then an idea sparked, and I slowly reached to pull off my backpack. Hoping it had just smelt my food. God, I wish that was how it ended. Instead, I had to look into the bear's hungry eyes as it ripped out chunks of my bike gear, taking pieces of my flesh with it. I screamed!. It wasn’t even a manly scream for goodness sake. This is how it ended, being eaten by a bear 10 miles from my home. As things began to get hazy, I hear a harmonious sound. A wolf howl. I imagined it as being music as I left the world. Instead, the bear lifted its massive body to stand on two legs, roaring in competition before it scampered away. Brilliant. Left for dead half eaten, half freezing to death in the middle of the road. The pain was too agonising I hoped a car would run me over, or someone to shoot me in the head to spare me from the pain. The blood that oozed out of me, began to freeze on the road. Things had just started the fade to black when I felt a warmth wrap around me. It was a blissful feeling, even the pain left for a while. I tried to look through blurred vision but submitted to the warm darkness that wrapped around me. I thought this was it. That this was finally the end - That was until I heard people talking. I opened my eyes, and blinked away they blurred vision before taking in the sight of people sat with wolves around a fire. The flickering oranges and reds bounced off what looked like cave walls, highlighting some white finger paintings of wolves and people running side by side. I try and sit up, but groan as a sharp pain tears through my body. I look down at myself, noticing my bike gear had gone completely and had been replaced by what looked like rabbit fur drapes. Speaking of my bike, where was she?
Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!
The people and canines all turned to lay their eyes upon me curiously. One of the wolves stood and padded toward me, it’s fluffy tail swaying behind it. It sat beside me, and pushed its nose into my hand, encouraging me to give it a stroke. I pull my attention away from the others and stare down into the wise gaze of the wolf. I had always imagined wolves to be fierce, but as I lay here, running my fingers through the neck fur of the feral wolf - I felt nothing but love from them. The people that sat around the fire moved closer, and one even lifted a strip of rabbit pelt to look at my wounds.
“Did you guys save me?” I ask, unsure if they even spoke English. The one that studied my wounds shook his head, a thick plait of black hair slipped over his shoulder, making me pay attention to the fur pelt that had been sewn with a twine. I was unsure of who they were, or what they were doing. But I felt extremely blessed.
“No. They did.” The male stood again and pointed to the wolves. The one I had stroked seemed to know he was being spoken about and wagged his tail with pride.
“The wolves? How?” I asked, managing to set myself up for a more comfortable position. A couple of the others had begun to prepare some meat and were being watched by the hopeful wolves. The male with the long plait and fur drape shrugged.
“Just came running back in a panic, barking, nudging us out of the cave making us follow them. We got there, you were all froze and ripped to shreds. Luckily the cold had frozen your wounds and stopped further bleeding…” The male coughed into a fist before looking back to me. I thought to myself for a moment, looking at these primal men and women, wondering just why they were here.
“Who are you guys? Why are you here?” I finally managed to ask.
“We are the spiritual tribe of the forest. I’m Gwaba, That’s Deil, Nouvi, Liope and Sevoi. The wolves, they answer to anything.” Deil introduced them all. Nouvi and Sevoi were the only females in the group. They wore much thicker fur, and their untamed hair had started to dread. Liope and Dale were the ones around the fire, cooking the prepared meat over the fire in a pot. The wolves had lost interest in the meat at this stage, why waste good meat by cooking it anyway? The three males looked like they had less fur and more armour that had been hand sewn with the hides of cattle.
***
The week inside the cave accompanied by the wolves and tribe members passed quickly. And soon I was able to get on my feet again. Nouvi had taken a liking to me and had offered to show me around the area to build my muscles back up. Never before had I noticed just how beautiful this part of Canada was. The lake held water as blue as the sky and so clear you count the stones on the bottom. The tribe often bathed in these tranquil waters, and I had been desperate to get clean since day two. Nouvi was the first the strip off her fur, letting the bitter air nip her skin before she slipped into the unusually warm water. I followed after her. I let myself down slowly, half expecting the water to sting my healing wounds, but there was nothing. It was just serene. We cleaned off and relaxed together. She was unusual. She never really spoke, apart from simple words, like ‘eat’ or ‘sleep’ but that’s why I kind of liked her. She listened to me as I told her stories of when I was growing up, it felt nice just to talk and not be spoken over. The mountains on the horizon were white with snow, which contrasted the sky and oranges of the autumn leaves. It was truly beautiful here. I had really taken a liking to these guys, especially the wise and compassionate wolves that hardly left our sides. I didn’t want to leave, but then I thought.
What if.
What if I took them to my holiday home a few miles away?
-End