“But Ronald! I’m so tired, and my legs hurt! Can we stop now?” Cecilia begged and whined.

“We can’t stop...what if the fire...gets us?” The older squirrel responded to his sister through intermittent grunts. His legs were aching too, but the fire and dense smoke were not far behind them. It had already demolished the only world they’ve ever known, and he wasn’t about to let himself nor Cecilia become its next victims.

Eventually, hot gray ash began to fall upon them, like a cursed snowfall. Not only did it singe their fur, but it sought to find abode in their already tired lungs.

“It’s so hot!” Cecilia cried as ash came to rest on her back.

“Let’s go in there! Follow me!” Ronald spotted a burrow that he hoped would provide some solace. He led the way, going in first, with Cecilia quickly following. He told his sister to turn around so he could brush away the ash sprinkled on her back. Thankfully, the ash was already cooling down.

“Is that better?” He asked, his back also hot.

She nodded. “Thank you.”

“Could you help get the ash off my back too? It should be a little cooler now.”

She helped him out likewise, though her swipes were rapid, as she was still afraid of getting burned.

“Thanks, Cecilia. I guess we could stay in here a little bit; it’s not so bad in here.” He sat down and rested against the wall. “That’s better...” He let out a sigh.

Cecilia sat down too and leaned against his side. The two were happy to get this chance to relax; it was the first time they’ve been able to do so since the forest was set ablaze. However, this respite was not to last long.

“I’m hungry.” The sister moaned. “My tummy hurts...”

“Me too; maybe we can find something to eat after we get out of here.”

The two had missed supper, as that was about the time the explosion happened. There was no time allotted to have so much as one bite of food.

After about ten minutes, Ronald got up and walked to the entrance of the burrow.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m just scouting...seeing if it’s safe.” He answered. He sniffed the air; the odor of smoke still strong, but the ash ceased falling in this area. Was the fire languishing, or did the wind just change directions? He didn’t know, but at least now it seemed like a good time to go looking for food.

“There’s no ash anymore; I think it’s safe to look for food now.” He informed her, but just as Cecilia stood up, a terrible sound from outside stopped them dead.

The hungry howl of a wolf.

Ronald hadn’t considered that the other animals and people that fled the forest would also be hungry by now. Back at home, he wouldn’t have worried, as all of the animals were sentient and never attacked one another as predator and prey, but times were different now. Perhaps this new, barren environment would drive even the most civil of creatures to do the unthinkable, and murder another creature just to survive.

And if that wolf were feral, then there was no question in Ronald’s mind it’d attack him and Cecilia. It was best to just ride this out until that wolf was gone.

The older squirrel peeked outside. He spied the wolf sniffing about, but it was far enough away not to notice him, or so he hoped.

"I’m starving!” Cecilia whined.

“I know that, can you just be a little patient?” He answered, getting annoyed and cranky himself. “Once that wolf is gone, we’ll go looking.”

As if on cue, the wolf disappeared into the distant smoky haze. Ronald signaled his sister to follow him, and they were outside once again.

“Let’s stay quiet so no one hears us.” He whispered just loudly enough for her to hear.

“Okay.”

In another bout of luck, the two young squirrels were able to find bushes scattered here and there that had little red berries on them. There were so many that Ronald became tempted to hoard them, but he reconsidered.

”We should leave some behind in case some of the other animals find this spot and want something to eat too.”

Of course, he caught Cecilia plucking the berries and hoarding them in her mouth like a typical squirrel.

“No hoarding! Save some for someone else!” He scolded her. She frowned and tried to quickly gulp down the berries she had already claimed, nearly choking on them.

“Hey, you said we’re supposed to be quiet.” She scolded him in return. “Fibber!”

“I wouldn’t have to talk if you weren’t being little Miss Greedy!”

“You’re the one who’s greedy! I saw you steal nuts from the pantry before and you ate them all!”

“You lie!”

“I’m not lying, liar! You did it at night when the grown-ups were asleep and you thought no one was looking! I think YOU’RE little Miss Greedy!”

As this caustic war of words raged on, the rodents’ contentious voices were being picked up by another pair of ears.

A pair belonging to a canine.

“Look, we should just stop fighting and keep walking.” Ronald finally tried to pacify the situation. “Sorry I started yelling.”

“Who’s out there?” Called out an unfamiliar voice from the haze.

“RUN!” Ronald cried in terror and hastily darted in the opposite direction of the voice. He didn’t know who or what the voice came from, but it sounded like it came from a creature larger than him.

Cecilia was right on his tail, also unaware of who was calling after them, but terrified that it could be a hungry, carnivorous predator.

In a bout of bad luck, the two squirrels scampered directly into a big puddle of wet, sticky mud.

“Ronald! I’m stuck!”

As if Ronald would be of any help, being ensnared by the soupy mud himsef. He looked over his shoulder, and saw a larger, dark silhouette approaching them.

”Not a wolf!”

Ronald frantically tried to lift his sister out from the mud, but she was too heavy for him. He panted and grunted, doing all he could with his little muscles, but it was to no avail.

The wolf’s form became clearer to the two squirrels, and though Cecilia was scared, Ronald was mortified.

“Stay away!” Ronald yelled at the wolf, his heart pounding. “Go eat something else!”

“What?” The wolf simply replied, confused. He was an adult, but not old. He towered over them at three feet tall; their contrast in size more apparent as he stood at the edge of the puddle, near the two children.

“You’re a wolf, so you eat other animals! Please just go away!”

The wolf ignored his words. “Are you both stuck? I can help you get out of there.”

“Ha, nice try! You’re going to eat us both! I’d rather be stuck here forever.” Ronald shot back. His sister had other ideas though.

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“We are stuck!” She cried. “Can you please help us, Mister Woof?”

“Cecilia, no!” Ronald grabbed her in a forceful hug, as though he wanted to stop her from being abducted by aliens. “He’s going to eat you!”

“I can help you; thank you for being polite.” The wolf lowered his head and gently picked the little sister up by the nape of her neck. Ronald, though holding onto Cecilia, was dragged up out of the mud with her. He now expected the wolf to start tearing into them with his razor-sharp teeth. He set them down instead onto the dry ground.

“Thank you-” Cecilia started, but Ronald was to have none of that.

“Let’s go.” Her brother took her by the arm and tried to get her to go with him, away from this wolf.

“Hey!” She protested, pulling back. “You’re supposed to say thank you when someone helps you! You’re so rude!”

“Oh, sorry. Thanks.” He barely glanced at him before trying turning back and trying to get away with Cecilia.

“Where are you two trying to go?” The wolf asked them, seemingly unbothered by Ronald’s behavior.

“Why would I tell you? You’re a stranger.”

“Well, I was going to offer to help you, as I’m also trying to get away from here, but if you really want to manage that on your own, you can do that. Anyways, sorry I bothered you.”

“Wait! We do want your help!” Cecilia cried out, trying to break away from Ronald’s grip.

“Are you crazy?! He’s a stranger!” Ronald tried to restrain her, but as his hands were still wet from the mud, she slipped away and ran towards the wolf.

“We need help!” Cecilia pleaded to him. “We don’t know where to go; the forest is all burned and we don’t have a home!”

“I figured that’s where you two came from; I’m...so terribly sorry about what happened to you, and everyone else that had to flee.”

“Whatever, we can just find our own way and find a new home.” Ronald tried to sound more sure than he really was.

“Do you know where to look?”

“Yeah, you know...around the place, and...whatever.” Ronald looked down from embarrassment. He knew he needed help, but he wasn’t about to admit that.

“Um...you sure you don’t want my help? I know where I’m going, and I think you would like it there a lot. I’m also looking for a new home, and I’d be fine with you tagging along.”

“But...I still don’t really know you. What if you’re just trying to trick us so you can eat us later?”

The wolf shook his head out of disbelief. “Why would you think that about me? Have I done something to make you think I’m really a killer?”

“I didn’t say you were, I’m just saying, that...I don’t know you good enough to trust you.”

“That’s fair,” the wolf responded, “but let’s weigh your options. You don’t know where anything is, now that you’re so far from home. Let’s also consider that not every animal around here is sentient. Feral animals also live out here, and should something like a feral bear or mountain lion spot you, they will attack and kill you with no hesitation. If you stick with me though, you’d have someone who not only knows the area better than you, but can also protect you from those animals. If you can’t bring yourself to trust me, though, then you can face all those things by yourself.”

He didn’t know how to say no to his offer without sounding insane. This wolf he was so hard-set on avoiding may be his and Cecilia’s only ticket to a safe journey.

“I...” Ronald sighed. “I’ll go with you. I’m sorry I acted like a butt face.”

“Nah, it’s fine. I understand you want to make sure you and your sister are safe.” The wolf replied as though he never took offense to begin with. “My name is Marcus, by the way.”

Ronald didn’t give out his own name very much. If he gave you his name, then you knew he trusted you at least a little bit.

“I’m Ronald, and my sister is Cecilia.”

“Well, Ronald, Cecilia, I’m happy that you’ve chosen to trust me enough to join me to our new home.”

That was still up in the air in Ronald’s mind; he still wasn’t totally sure about Marcus, and whether he’d even wind up living anywhere near him in the future. This upcoming journey would be like an audition to win Ronald’s trust; Cecilia’s trust didn’t mean much to him, as she never doubted anyone in her short life.

The wolf found them a small den for everyone to sleep inside. He laid down towards the back-end of it, and Cecilia casually curled up right beside him as though she’d known him for all her life. Ronald felt uneasy seeing his sister so comfortable and cozy against the wolf’s chest; how could she trust a total stranger like that so fast? His unease increased when Marcus maneuvered his foreleg so that she would lay snug in the crook of it. It was a cold night, of course, and he wanted to make sure the child was feeling warm.

The brother stood by himself, a couple feet away from the other two. The truth was that he also wanted to feel warm and comfortable right now, but he wasn’t sure if Marcus would want him nearby, after the way Ronald treated him.

“You fine over there?” Marcus mumbled to him, nearly asleep. He could see the squirrel shivering.

“I....no.” The boy confessed.

The wolf stretched his foreleg out a little, inviting Ronald to find a spot beside his sister, who had no trouble going to sleep. “I’ll keep you warm.”

This was already going much further than Ronald wanted; he would now have to trust Marcus enough to have no problem sleeping near him. Ironically, he would need to take an uncomfortable leap of faith just to be comfortable tonight.

“Okay...I will trust you...”

Ronald compromised his rock-hard wall of distrust and skepticism (mostly for comfort’s sake), and lied down beside Cecilia. The wolf’s fur felt warm and soft against his tired body, and for the first time that night, he was able to relax.

“Thank you...” The boy mumbled to Marcus.

“Good night...”

- - -

A few hours later, Ronald’s eyes opened up again, being awoken by an unpleasant dream. He still felt Cecilia sleeping beside him, and Marcus was also still there in the same position as before.

Well, almost.

Marcus was also awake, but didn’t notice Ronald was as well. His head was up, and he was just gazing outside, perhaps thinking about something deep. Ronald said nothing, but kept his eyes on the wolf.

What could he have been thinking?

After five more minutes of this, Marcus lowered his head back to the ground and let out a singular, sad whimper.

”Why did he make that sound?” Ronald wanted to ask, though now might not be the best time for a conversation.

”Maybe in the morning...Gotta sleep...”