Post by Raig on Jan 5, 2016 14:24:50 GMT -8
here is an edited version i am working on constantly and i hope y'all like it!
Big Prints
Spring, is always the time of the year when things start fresh. Nests are built, trees blossom. This year the sky was dark musty gray, telling a sad story. Attempting to be green, the grass made a brownish green color. Spring was the time of the year were new beginnings started. Well that’s sure what it was this year. A cold wind arose causing me and my friend to shiver, I looked over at her with a sigh, “I don’t think the bunnies going to make it Raven.” Raven looked back up and repeated the same sad sigh. “Yeah, well we should go tell your mom.” Raven is my best friend forever, but we never used that phrase. We call each other BFUFN. It means Best Friends Until Further Notice, but even then we usually call each other by our wolf characters. BlueFang and RavenShadow. So I’m Blue and she’s Raven. Our real names our Alex and Mykaela. I am dark haired with tan skin and golden Brown eyes. Mykaela has pretty brown hair with blue hazel eyes and a bright smile. We are practically sisters and like to hang out, but she lives pretty far away so it is always bit of a commute. We always do something different like walking on a fallen tree over a river, to helping a hurt animal. At home she loves to Photoshop and draw pictures for me. We always make pictures about a book that I dreamt about. I have always fantasized about writing my own book. Something with adventure and… well you see that’s the thing, what else? I don’t know, so I’ve put the thought on hold. “Burr! It is really cold I think we s-should go ins-side.” “Yeah.” Said Alex still looking sadly at the little rabbits, trying to eat the carrots and raisins we had brought. That is what they liked most, carrots and especially raisins, their favorite treat. The little family of bunnies, who lived in my neighborhood, had got attacked by a cat. We called the horrid cat the Red Cat, for one simple reason. He is a big, mean, tempered, red cat. He always looked like he ran into a brick wall and had a spicy ginger coat. He attacked the little family and killed the parents, who tried to protect their young, and one baby. He was dragging one of the three when I walked around the corner. He hissed at me trying to scare me off. But I had been beyond mad or heartbroken, I was furious! I raced over there, widening the cat’s eyes, and did what a mad person would do. I kicked the horrid cat to the next block. Furiously I watched him, yowling his head off, run away. “We have some hot chocolate mix. If you want, we could make some.” said Alex letting out a big shiver. “Yes!” said Mykaela her eyes lighting up, “that’s just what we need!”
We walked up driveway and saw a flash of white blur through the window. “Max.” said Alex looking at Mykaela. “I haven’t walked him yet today.” Mykaela raised her eyebrows. “That’s not good.” Max, a very large white dog with shaggy brown spotted fur and golden eyes, was not the kind of dog you want to be hyper. We stared at each other then decided to have a plan. Our plan was to dingdong the door then run as fast as we could to the other side of the house, open a window, crawl through it, then act like we never did anything, and hopefully avoiding Max. Well the first thing that went wrong is that Max heard us trying to open the window and ran over. Second, my brother Ben was like “what are you doing guys?” so even if Max didn’t hear us he would have heard Ben and come over to check things out. Then third, the window was locked so… yeah. We gave up and walked to the front door which was also locked so we knocked on it till Ben came and opened it. “You know the garage door was open.” Mykaela looked at me grinning, “Nope!” Ben scoffed and let us come in. Max charged full speed at us which ended up as a raped chase around the furniture, into the kitchen, and back to the hallway. Mykaela and I ran up the stairs were Max couldn’t follow. “For once” Alex panted, “I am glad my mom said he’s not allowed upstairs.” “Yeah” Mykaela said her hands on her knees. “Your mom saved us.” “And how did I do that?” said a slender woman standing on the top of the stairs. “Hey mom” Alex said, not bothering to answer, Mykaela looked up “hi Mrs. Grant.” Mrs. Grant, from Texel: an uncommonly known island, is tall and has a Dutch accent. She has short hair and loves a good cup of coffee. “Hello girls, how are you today?” “Good” we said, tired. Mr. Grant, a tall, kind man who had a habit of saying puns, walked up behind my mom and said hello to us before he walked away again to find his new book about ‘Sir Edmund Hillary’. Having a habit of saying so many puns Alex started to call him James Pun. We looked down to the base of the stairs where an excited and aggravated Max sat panting, looking at us basically saying, “You have to come down one day or another.” ¬¬
Much later we got ready for bed and got into a deep discussion about what we would do if we would be stuck on an island for a week. But we sidetracked and got into talking about our pets, her hamster which we like to call Mister Lint cause he is so fluffy, and Max which I call scrounger because he always is scrounging for food. “I wonder if Max and Mr. Lint would like each other” Mykaela said, thinking hard “I think they would talk to each other and become friends. Wouldn’t that be cute?” “I dunno,” said Alex with a grin “I think the only thing Max would like to talk about is the ample amount of flesh Mr. Lint provides.” “Hey!” Mykaela laughed hitting Alex with a pillow, “not nice! What if he heard you? He would have a hamster heart attack.” During the night we did our habit of sneaking down stairs and making hot chocolate and then sneaking back upstairs to drink and laugh about our accomplishment, “Man, if my dad came down stairs and found us.” Alex shook her head, shaking her dark brown and black hair “he wouldn’t like it.” “But” Mykaela said her eyes wide and happy, “he didn’t!” she ended her sentence in a tune. Alex scoffed. “Well, we should probably go to bed soon.” “Ok.” Mykaela yawned. Soon the two BFUFNS were asleep.
The morning that followed was interesting. We woke up to the delicious smell of bacon and eggs but by the time we walked down stairs it was 9:30 and all of the food was gone. Ben looked up, licking his fingers he mumbled, “you goys hafd ba jate slart.” “What did you say?” asked Mykaela, tilting her head to the side. Choking down his food with a loud gulp he answered, “You guys had a late start” Then he shoveled another large serving of my mom’s delicious omelet with bacon into his mouth. Alex glared, “so,” her nostrils flared with anger “you probably had an early start so you could eat our breakfast!” she lounged for the fly swatter which was laying on the counter, “that’s it!! Time to swat some flies!!” Ben, as a dead fly fell on his face as the swatter smacked him, leapt up and raced away, “Agh!! You're gonna make me choke on my breakfast!” laughing evilly as she raced to aid her friend, Mykaela replied, “You mean mine and Blues breakfast? Yeah, the one you’re eating!” she raced around the corner of the counter and trapped him. Alex whirled around the corner and ran into Max, who was busily licking some crumbs he had finally found. It was like a domino effect. First Alex fell on Ben, then Ben fell on Mykaela, and Mykaela on the floor. Max and nearly been squashed, but he was a large dog with fast reflexes, but he was getting a little rusty on the things he had been taught so long ago. He sighed, he was starting to forget. Max walked to his kennel and did what he did quite often. Try to remember.
EDITING/ADDING MAX'S STOREY!
Being the chief’s son, my pack expects a lot from me. Each day I train till my paws are raw again, I hunt till my claws feel loose, I gather and build. I would be miserable if it wasn’t for my best friend Kaleka. I try to fit in and be friends with everyone, but unless it just me, it seems that everyone doesn’t want to be friends with me. Maybe it’s because I look so different from the other wolves. My mother said “it’s because every wolf who has a great destiny...” But I don’t think she really understands. No wolf sits next to you and gives you a friendly pat on the back when you’re sad, no seriously, our joints don’t work that way. One wolf I always considered a friend is Cona. Always happy to see you and give you a welcome nuzzle. She one of the only wolves my age who actually notices me and is kind. Unfortunately, she is a (ADD), wolves who devote their life to serving others, so I never know if it’s for real or in the script. Kaleka loves making jokes about them, and I used to sometimes laugh with him. It’s not fair though, they work so hard and don’t get anything in return but either rude comments or a light praise. We were walking around a bush when he said one joke that make me gruffly bark in amusement. As I laughed I looked up into a pair of sad, golden yellow eyes, turning Cona dashed away leaving a pile of the herbs she had been gathering. That was the last time I ever laughed at Kaleka’s jokes about them. “Cona!” I yelled after her, starting to run in her direction but Kaleka stopped me. “No, Tocamo no.” I looked down at my friend and sighed, “I feel so bad though.” I felt bad because she helped me get through something no one else knows except for her, me, and my mother. It’s about my father.
In a pack there aren’t the mean bullies or the annoying snobs that act like the world was created for them. Unfortunately there are wolves who are the favorites, now don’t judge them to fast even though that’s what I did, some of them are ok. The elders of the pack sometimes see a couple of wolves who they believe will make a difference. Fortunately for the wolves who were chosen the elders were most of their parents. But that all changed when I was chosen for the odyssey. These wolves, well to put it plainly out, were the kind of wolves who say, “Oh we will move that there and add this…” The ideas are really great, no really and I can’t believe I fell for it. They come up to me and Kaleka and say something stupid so we say no do this and they do, but saying it’s their idea. We don’t really care, but when you have a really good idea and the most annoying wolf takes all the credit… let’s leave it at that we were hunting all day. The favored wolves are Mika, Stellen, Tocan, Mela, Norwin, and Ruther. Ruther and Norwin are the best out of them all but they’re not without their faults. Cona is Ruther’s sister, and he is very protective of her. She used to be part of their little gang but she left. Not liking the new rude attitude, she decided to make her life useful. So now, with Stellen at the lead, most of them mock her by calling her names and pretending to help each other. Ruther, and I stand up for her. I’ve always cared for her, making sure she has enough food and rest. Once she stayed up for three days and nights caring for a sick wolf pup (ADD NAME) with HURRBACK. I walked in and laying down next to the sick pup, I offered to watch it while she got some rest. Gratefully she curled up next to me and fell asleep but not before she got a promise that I would wake her if the pup got any worse. She laid her head against me and fell asleep with a soft smile on her face. I laid my head over her protectively and watched the pup carefully. And for once in a long time I felt at home.
One day later she woke up and went back to work, “Thank you Tocamo.” Tocamo is a large shaggy white wolf with brown spots and he has a dogs face. Tocamo looked up into her face and with a soft calm look he said, “My word is my word.” He walked over, and giving her a soft nuzzle, he left.
I was sitting pondering my mother’s words, ‘…come back when it is safe, and save Esthra…’ when the wind brought the smell of a man coming my way. I stood up shaking my fur lazily. Blundering like a blind elk he walked in the small clearing I was enjoying, he was a round as cow. He had greasy brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. From the look of him I wanted to laugh. He looked at me and smiled, “you are gonna give me a good raise, hmm by the size of ya I might get a promotion.” I looked at him with amusement, clearly this is what I heard from the streets. The dog catcher. All he wants is a promotion, he should want praise. That was what my mother told me, ‘to get praise means you did a good job. To want more then you have is not to do a good job, but to wish to be doing other things.’
He walked over saying, “nice doggy, come here doggy” I looked up into his eyes making him uneasy then he said, “You’re not a normal mutt and you’re so large, make a good guard dog.” I stood up making him jump back, “heh, heh good dog, come here, you can do it.” I thought he was not the brightest human. Then he took a long stick with a loop around the end and hooked it over my neck. I pulled back with little effort. He fell flustered. Then with a grunt he stood up again. Mud smothered the front of his shirt, drooling over his face, “okay doggy two can play that game.” I wagged my tail in amusement, this was better than thinking of my past and napping! Puffing out his chest and huffing, he shaked a bit of the mud. It fell down, over his pants and into his shoes.
The mud seeping into his shoes more made him jump and slip, which caused him to fall on what I didn’t think what was mud anymore. I did the first thing that flew into my head, mud fight! I turned and started digging in his direction, covering him in sloppy mud and bog water. Yes, I know that was unconsidered of me but still, it was way worth it. Well, he blacked out completely. I took his color in my jaws and hauled him onto my back. I didn’t want him to fall off my back when I was running to the nearest farm. I tried to remember what Saluca said about carrying prey back to the pack if it was too big for the jaws to carry. Vines that is what he used, he had said, “if carrying elk back to the pack for instance, use vines that had a white bendable wood in the middle, but always check for it don’t assume, bite into it and check, it should be hard for your teeth.”
Setting down the plump man I ran into the forest, looking for vines that had the white wood. But thinking of that made me think of Saluca again. He is a broad wolf, covered in grey and brown makings, with startling silvery grey eyes. He was like a father to the pack. He always had advice and was calm even when being attacked by a stray pack. The only time I saw him worried was when my pack was being taken by Eos’s pack the Rim Graids. The Rim Graids were what you would call nightmare fuel. Wolves would play pranks, maybe do something worse like steal another’s kill, they would have their mu-ha then it would be finished. But not Rim Graids, they had to have more. They would kill the whole family of the wolf who disobeyed or disliked them or worse they would put them into Ribalth. There they would torture them till the end of their days.
Finally! There hanging on a tree was good looking vines. I bit down hard onto one and the white wood groaned under the pressure. I yanked hard and it fell off the tree and tumbled to the ground. Huh, I thought, why do I smell the plump one again? I left him far in the forest up wind. Turning around fast I spun to find a girl, with the same fast reflexes, she ran full speed up to a tree and practically jumped up in it to a height I couldn’t reach. I looked up at her in bewilderment. I didn’t think humans could be skillful. Looking back down in the same bewilderment she said, “with a crystal necklace he came, as strong as oxen, fast as rain.” I looked down at my chest where Valispin glowed gently. Looking back up I tried to jump and reach the first branch of the tree. Struggling to get a grip I fell backwards and did some sort of backwards somersault I got the air knocked out of me. I coughed, getting up and shaking my dirty fur clean. When I looked back up the tree she was gone. All that was left was a smell of fresh moss and clean water. She had a handmade bamboo bow across her shoulder. When she had looked into my eyes with her golden brown ones I felt a connection. They had a lamp of happiness and kindness that made me want to curl up next to her and have her pet me. I shook myself hard, taking the thought away. I trotted back to the clearing where the man was still on the ground. I rolled him over onto the vine then wrapping it around him once more. He is so heavy! He started mumbling in his sleep, “Ok, ok Martha. I’m getting up! Stop pushing me! Ugh!” so this is what he does in the morning I thought, Interesting.
I trotted to a creek bank and lapped up some water. O the nice fresh feeling of water in a dry mouth was surely one of the best. I tensed, hearing a noise. I barked a strong powerful bark. But when I did so I closed my eyes and everything was in like a slow motion. I was back in Esthra! I could feel the cool fresh breeze back on my face, and the bird song lifting my spirits, I could feel the green grass with my paws and the see the blue sky inspire me. How I missed Esthra. What was happening? When could I go back? Sadly he lowered his head and lost the view of Esthra. But he got another memory. He saw field on fire and dead wolves that he loved. “Cona! Please no!” a dead pretty brown speckled wolf lay in front of him. Tear ran down his face, how could I have left her here? A cold horrid voice yelled out, “kill all wolves under 3 years, and if any of the other struggle kill them too.” It laughed a gleeful, proud laugh. How I wanted to sink my fangs into his throat. Then a nervous breath started behind me. I whipped around to see Kaleka.
“Kaleka! How did you escape?”
“Not just me. Almost all of the young wolves under three years old are here too!” he eagerly looked at me then turned and said, “All wolves stay together!” my ears perked, “when did they start listening to you?”
Kaleka grinned, “ever since I saved Mikas life. Yeah…” he puffed out his chest,” I am like a hero now.” He looked happily at Tocamo. “Well looks like you're ahead of the group. But right now isn’t the time to blab about it the Rim Graids are going to find us soon.” And at that word another call rang out, “shouldn’t I see blood? Blood filling the ground and staining your mouths? Where are the younger wolves?!” the ashy gray wolf snarled and tossed his head at the young lieutenant. “You helpless soft paw! You ought to learn a lesson!” the young Rim Graid cowered as the bigger male snarled and sank his jagged teeth into his light softer flank. He stood still as he was punished and just kept silent. All except for a single tear in the corner of his eye.
“Max?” racing around the kitchen table and into the dining room, Alex whipped around to see Max asleep in his bed. Twitching his paws slightly and wearing a soft, I guess, dog smile. Taking a deep breath I walked back into the kitchen where an awkward Ben help Mykaela up on her feet. “Max didn’t get hurt.” Alex said relieved. “Yeah?" Mykaela huffed, "Well I sure did get squashed, by Mister Gorilla man over here.” Ben scratched the back of his head and looked down, “heh, sorry McKay.” Mykaela’s glared softened, but still kept her arms crossed. “It’s ok.” Alex rolled her eyes, “Wow Ben…” Alex looked hard at her brother before a smile took over on her face. The three started to laugh at themselves and retell the stories of funny moments.
“Really?” Mykaela laughed. Alex fell to her defense “ok, come on that’s not fair! I fell in the pool because you tripped over Macie!” Ben rolled his eyes, “But I didn’t fall in the pool did I?” he let out a laugh. Alex, giving Ben a friendly push, laughed along with Mykaela.
After an hour of this we lost our voices. Alex and Mykaela decided to go outside. “Cya guys.” Ben said as we raced outside. “Bye Bink.” Alex answered. Mykaela, already over the fence, stopped in her tracks. “Blue!” Alex raced over and stopped next to her friend. Down on the ground was nothing. But that’s just the point where were the rabbits? All that was left was the imprint of, “Trees?” Mykaela asked looking at her friend, “What, how…?” Alex cut her sentence short, “how is a good question.”
We stood for a bit pondering what to say or do. Turning around Alex yelled over her shoulder, “Come on Raven, let’s see what our loyal friend Google has to say about it.” Racing after her friend Mykaela shouted back, “but shouldn’t we look for the bunnies?” Already over the fence and up to the house Alex replied, “No, there are gone. We need to find them some other way.”
In the house we ran to the office and into my dad. “Good morning Baba!” Papa is what Alex was supposed to say, but over the years it changed into Baba. With a bright smile Alex hurried past him to the computer, “we need to look something up.” With a puzzled frown he asked, “Like?” Mykaela quickly gave an excuse, “Like about how fast rabies spread through the bloodstream and into your brain. But then we wanted to know if it would kill you before it went to your brain, but then…” ‘Mykaela’ Alex thought grinning, ‘you are so clever!’ My dad, who was patiently waiting for Mykaela to surface for air, stood ready to say, ok and leave, but Mykaela, on the other hand not planning to surface, rambled on so fast that not even Alex could understand her. “So then we thought what if instead of the fungi growing there what if it growed behind your ears and caused…” “Cough, cough, hem sorry but,” Alex coughed, grabbing Mykaela’s arm and dragging her with her to the computer, “We have some educational work to do.” Turning around to leave Mr. Grant said, “Good, good well I’ll be doing some genealogy.” Alex quickly said before he left, “what about Raven? We need to meet her parents and drop her off.” ”Right ok just let me know when to leave and we can go and drop her off.” He left. We quickly turned back to the computer and searched for pictures for the strange markings
That were on the ground. We found the most random page of randomness. Right when we thought the junk would never end we found a picture with the exact same imprint that was left on the ground in Alex’s backyard. We clicked on the link and found an article:
Alien Proof
By Arthur Mcvoy
We have found this strange markings eleven times over the world. We suspected that some form of alien fungi dried up and left a hole in its demise. But with more research we have found that it most likely alien proof. As a respected member of the R.A.T.W.T.A (Respecting Aliens The Way They Are) I have found that the only logical explanation is that aliens are trying to send us a message. Sadly I have not deciphered this message but, I have found other information that has caught my eye. In South America this strange marking has been found three times. In North America four times, in Europe two times. In Russia one time, and in Australia. These recorded signs have made me wonder why in so many random places? There is no answer for this so far, but I am still researching. The marking represents two trees with a rock wedged in between them. My thought is if we get the rock from the two trees, then we can try and use it to signal the alien life that is so close but distant.
Alex said all of a sudden, “Max!” Mykaela looked out the window trying to see what Alex was staring at. Sure enough Max was dashing across the lawn. Turning around the corner of the house, he went out of sight.
Leaping up Mykaela and Alex raced outside to where Max had been last spotted and saw him leap over the fence and into the area where the rabbits had previously lived in their cage. “Max come on boy! Don’t go back there!” Alex said running after him. Mykaela, just behind her friend, called “Heel! Stop! Come back! Bad dog!” the two climbed over the fence and saw Max staring at the marking with a look of, recognition. They stopped, watching Max’s face with wonder. A sad low whine came from Max as he looked longingly at the marking. He stood there for a moment looking as if Alex had scratched his favorite spot then kicked him. He bent over and sniffed it. Laying down he put his head on his paws and stared at the marking with such a sad longing that the rocks seemed to cry out. Alex and Mykaela stood there, watching him for how long, I don’t know. Alex soon found that her stomach was growling at her, she looked over at Her BFUFN, “what to get some lunch?” Alex said this slowly not wanting to disturb Max. “Yeah” Mykaela answered “Sure.”
Eating some chicken soup that Mrs. Grant had made. Alex sighed as she sipped it, “My favorite.” Mykaela nodded, agreeing. We sighed, as if we could use chicken soup as a replacement for the surprise we had of Max. “So…” Mykaela said putting on her thinking cap, “we should go to the fort or tree or…” Alex looked up, “Or the back yard!” We both realized it had been an hour since they left Max. We jogged outside, over the fence, and to the spot where Max was lying. He was gone, “Gone!” Alex said looking rapidly around her, searching for her companion.
Big Prints
Spring, is always the time of the year when things start fresh. Nests are built, trees blossom. This year the sky was dark musty gray, telling a sad story. Attempting to be green, the grass made a brownish green color. Spring was the time of the year were new beginnings started. Well that’s sure what it was this year. A cold wind arose causing me and my friend to shiver, I looked over at her with a sigh, “I don’t think the bunnies going to make it Raven.” Raven looked back up and repeated the same sad sigh. “Yeah, well we should go tell your mom.” Raven is my best friend forever, but we never used that phrase. We call each other BFUFN. It means Best Friends Until Further Notice, but even then we usually call each other by our wolf characters. BlueFang and RavenShadow. So I’m Blue and she’s Raven. Our real names our Alex and Mykaela. I am dark haired with tan skin and golden Brown eyes. Mykaela has pretty brown hair with blue hazel eyes and a bright smile. We are practically sisters and like to hang out, but she lives pretty far away so it is always bit of a commute. We always do something different like walking on a fallen tree over a river, to helping a hurt animal. At home she loves to Photoshop and draw pictures for me. We always make pictures about a book that I dreamt about. I have always fantasized about writing my own book. Something with adventure and… well you see that’s the thing, what else? I don’t know, so I’ve put the thought on hold. “Burr! It is really cold I think we s-should go ins-side.” “Yeah.” Said Alex still looking sadly at the little rabbits, trying to eat the carrots and raisins we had brought. That is what they liked most, carrots and especially raisins, their favorite treat. The little family of bunnies, who lived in my neighborhood, had got attacked by a cat. We called the horrid cat the Red Cat, for one simple reason. He is a big, mean, tempered, red cat. He always looked like he ran into a brick wall and had a spicy ginger coat. He attacked the little family and killed the parents, who tried to protect their young, and one baby. He was dragging one of the three when I walked around the corner. He hissed at me trying to scare me off. But I had been beyond mad or heartbroken, I was furious! I raced over there, widening the cat’s eyes, and did what a mad person would do. I kicked the horrid cat to the next block. Furiously I watched him, yowling his head off, run away. “We have some hot chocolate mix. If you want, we could make some.” said Alex letting out a big shiver. “Yes!” said Mykaela her eyes lighting up, “that’s just what we need!”
We walked up driveway and saw a flash of white blur through the window. “Max.” said Alex looking at Mykaela. “I haven’t walked him yet today.” Mykaela raised her eyebrows. “That’s not good.” Max, a very large white dog with shaggy brown spotted fur and golden eyes, was not the kind of dog you want to be hyper. We stared at each other then decided to have a plan. Our plan was to dingdong the door then run as fast as we could to the other side of the house, open a window, crawl through it, then act like we never did anything, and hopefully avoiding Max. Well the first thing that went wrong is that Max heard us trying to open the window and ran over. Second, my brother Ben was like “what are you doing guys?” so even if Max didn’t hear us he would have heard Ben and come over to check things out. Then third, the window was locked so… yeah. We gave up and walked to the front door which was also locked so we knocked on it till Ben came and opened it. “You know the garage door was open.” Mykaela looked at me grinning, “Nope!” Ben scoffed and let us come in. Max charged full speed at us which ended up as a raped chase around the furniture, into the kitchen, and back to the hallway. Mykaela and I ran up the stairs were Max couldn’t follow. “For once” Alex panted, “I am glad my mom said he’s not allowed upstairs.” “Yeah” Mykaela said her hands on her knees. “Your mom saved us.” “And how did I do that?” said a slender woman standing on the top of the stairs. “Hey mom” Alex said, not bothering to answer, Mykaela looked up “hi Mrs. Grant.” Mrs. Grant, from Texel: an uncommonly known island, is tall and has a Dutch accent. She has short hair and loves a good cup of coffee. “Hello girls, how are you today?” “Good” we said, tired. Mr. Grant, a tall, kind man who had a habit of saying puns, walked up behind my mom and said hello to us before he walked away again to find his new book about ‘Sir Edmund Hillary’. Having a habit of saying so many puns Alex started to call him James Pun. We looked down to the base of the stairs where an excited and aggravated Max sat panting, looking at us basically saying, “You have to come down one day or another.” ¬¬
Much later we got ready for bed and got into a deep discussion about what we would do if we would be stuck on an island for a week. But we sidetracked and got into talking about our pets, her hamster which we like to call Mister Lint cause he is so fluffy, and Max which I call scrounger because he always is scrounging for food. “I wonder if Max and Mr. Lint would like each other” Mykaela said, thinking hard “I think they would talk to each other and become friends. Wouldn’t that be cute?” “I dunno,” said Alex with a grin “I think the only thing Max would like to talk about is the ample amount of flesh Mr. Lint provides.” “Hey!” Mykaela laughed hitting Alex with a pillow, “not nice! What if he heard you? He would have a hamster heart attack.” During the night we did our habit of sneaking down stairs and making hot chocolate and then sneaking back upstairs to drink and laugh about our accomplishment, “Man, if my dad came down stairs and found us.” Alex shook her head, shaking her dark brown and black hair “he wouldn’t like it.” “But” Mykaela said her eyes wide and happy, “he didn’t!” she ended her sentence in a tune. Alex scoffed. “Well, we should probably go to bed soon.” “Ok.” Mykaela yawned. Soon the two BFUFNS were asleep.
The morning that followed was interesting. We woke up to the delicious smell of bacon and eggs but by the time we walked down stairs it was 9:30 and all of the food was gone. Ben looked up, licking his fingers he mumbled, “you goys hafd ba jate slart.” “What did you say?” asked Mykaela, tilting her head to the side. Choking down his food with a loud gulp he answered, “You guys had a late start” Then he shoveled another large serving of my mom’s delicious omelet with bacon into his mouth. Alex glared, “so,” her nostrils flared with anger “you probably had an early start so you could eat our breakfast!” she lounged for the fly swatter which was laying on the counter, “that’s it!! Time to swat some flies!!” Ben, as a dead fly fell on his face as the swatter smacked him, leapt up and raced away, “Agh!! You're gonna make me choke on my breakfast!” laughing evilly as she raced to aid her friend, Mykaela replied, “You mean mine and Blues breakfast? Yeah, the one you’re eating!” she raced around the corner of the counter and trapped him. Alex whirled around the corner and ran into Max, who was busily licking some crumbs he had finally found. It was like a domino effect. First Alex fell on Ben, then Ben fell on Mykaela, and Mykaela on the floor. Max and nearly been squashed, but he was a large dog with fast reflexes, but he was getting a little rusty on the things he had been taught so long ago. He sighed, he was starting to forget. Max walked to his kennel and did what he did quite often. Try to remember.
EDITING/ADDING MAX'S STOREY!
Being the chief’s son, my pack expects a lot from me. Each day I train till my paws are raw again, I hunt till my claws feel loose, I gather and build. I would be miserable if it wasn’t for my best friend Kaleka. I try to fit in and be friends with everyone, but unless it just me, it seems that everyone doesn’t want to be friends with me. Maybe it’s because I look so different from the other wolves. My mother said “it’s because every wolf who has a great destiny...” But I don’t think she really understands. No wolf sits next to you and gives you a friendly pat on the back when you’re sad, no seriously, our joints don’t work that way. One wolf I always considered a friend is Cona. Always happy to see you and give you a welcome nuzzle. She one of the only wolves my age who actually notices me and is kind. Unfortunately, she is a (ADD), wolves who devote their life to serving others, so I never know if it’s for real or in the script. Kaleka loves making jokes about them, and I used to sometimes laugh with him. It’s not fair though, they work so hard and don’t get anything in return but either rude comments or a light praise. We were walking around a bush when he said one joke that make me gruffly bark in amusement. As I laughed I looked up into a pair of sad, golden yellow eyes, turning Cona dashed away leaving a pile of the herbs she had been gathering. That was the last time I ever laughed at Kaleka’s jokes about them. “Cona!” I yelled after her, starting to run in her direction but Kaleka stopped me. “No, Tocamo no.” I looked down at my friend and sighed, “I feel so bad though.” I felt bad because she helped me get through something no one else knows except for her, me, and my mother. It’s about my father.
In a pack there aren’t the mean bullies or the annoying snobs that act like the world was created for them. Unfortunately there are wolves who are the favorites, now don’t judge them to fast even though that’s what I did, some of them are ok. The elders of the pack sometimes see a couple of wolves who they believe will make a difference. Fortunately for the wolves who were chosen the elders were most of their parents. But that all changed when I was chosen for the odyssey. These wolves, well to put it plainly out, were the kind of wolves who say, “Oh we will move that there and add this…” The ideas are really great, no really and I can’t believe I fell for it. They come up to me and Kaleka and say something stupid so we say no do this and they do, but saying it’s their idea. We don’t really care, but when you have a really good idea and the most annoying wolf takes all the credit… let’s leave it at that we were hunting all day. The favored wolves are Mika, Stellen, Tocan, Mela, Norwin, and Ruther. Ruther and Norwin are the best out of them all but they’re not without their faults. Cona is Ruther’s sister, and he is very protective of her. She used to be part of their little gang but she left. Not liking the new rude attitude, she decided to make her life useful. So now, with Stellen at the lead, most of them mock her by calling her names and pretending to help each other. Ruther, and I stand up for her. I’ve always cared for her, making sure she has enough food and rest. Once she stayed up for three days and nights caring for a sick wolf pup (ADD NAME) with HURRBACK. I walked in and laying down next to the sick pup, I offered to watch it while she got some rest. Gratefully she curled up next to me and fell asleep but not before she got a promise that I would wake her if the pup got any worse. She laid her head against me and fell asleep with a soft smile on her face. I laid my head over her protectively and watched the pup carefully. And for once in a long time I felt at home.
One day later she woke up and went back to work, “Thank you Tocamo.” Tocamo is a large shaggy white wolf with brown spots and he has a dogs face. Tocamo looked up into her face and with a soft calm look he said, “My word is my word.” He walked over, and giving her a soft nuzzle, he left.
I was sitting pondering my mother’s words, ‘…come back when it is safe, and save Esthra…’ when the wind brought the smell of a man coming my way. I stood up shaking my fur lazily. Blundering like a blind elk he walked in the small clearing I was enjoying, he was a round as cow. He had greasy brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. From the look of him I wanted to laugh. He looked at me and smiled, “you are gonna give me a good raise, hmm by the size of ya I might get a promotion.” I looked at him with amusement, clearly this is what I heard from the streets. The dog catcher. All he wants is a promotion, he should want praise. That was what my mother told me, ‘to get praise means you did a good job. To want more then you have is not to do a good job, but to wish to be doing other things.’
He walked over saying, “nice doggy, come here doggy” I looked up into his eyes making him uneasy then he said, “You’re not a normal mutt and you’re so large, make a good guard dog.” I stood up making him jump back, “heh, heh good dog, come here, you can do it.” I thought he was not the brightest human. Then he took a long stick with a loop around the end and hooked it over my neck. I pulled back with little effort. He fell flustered. Then with a grunt he stood up again. Mud smothered the front of his shirt, drooling over his face, “okay doggy two can play that game.” I wagged my tail in amusement, this was better than thinking of my past and napping! Puffing out his chest and huffing, he shaked a bit of the mud. It fell down, over his pants and into his shoes.
The mud seeping into his shoes more made him jump and slip, which caused him to fall on what I didn’t think what was mud anymore. I did the first thing that flew into my head, mud fight! I turned and started digging in his direction, covering him in sloppy mud and bog water. Yes, I know that was unconsidered of me but still, it was way worth it. Well, he blacked out completely. I took his color in my jaws and hauled him onto my back. I didn’t want him to fall off my back when I was running to the nearest farm. I tried to remember what Saluca said about carrying prey back to the pack if it was too big for the jaws to carry. Vines that is what he used, he had said, “if carrying elk back to the pack for instance, use vines that had a white bendable wood in the middle, but always check for it don’t assume, bite into it and check, it should be hard for your teeth.”
Setting down the plump man I ran into the forest, looking for vines that had the white wood. But thinking of that made me think of Saluca again. He is a broad wolf, covered in grey and brown makings, with startling silvery grey eyes. He was like a father to the pack. He always had advice and was calm even when being attacked by a stray pack. The only time I saw him worried was when my pack was being taken by Eos’s pack the Rim Graids. The Rim Graids were what you would call nightmare fuel. Wolves would play pranks, maybe do something worse like steal another’s kill, they would have their mu-ha then it would be finished. But not Rim Graids, they had to have more. They would kill the whole family of the wolf who disobeyed or disliked them or worse they would put them into Ribalth. There they would torture them till the end of their days.
Finally! There hanging on a tree was good looking vines. I bit down hard onto one and the white wood groaned under the pressure. I yanked hard and it fell off the tree and tumbled to the ground. Huh, I thought, why do I smell the plump one again? I left him far in the forest up wind. Turning around fast I spun to find a girl, with the same fast reflexes, she ran full speed up to a tree and practically jumped up in it to a height I couldn’t reach. I looked up at her in bewilderment. I didn’t think humans could be skillful. Looking back down in the same bewilderment she said, “with a crystal necklace he came, as strong as oxen, fast as rain.” I looked down at my chest where Valispin glowed gently. Looking back up I tried to jump and reach the first branch of the tree. Struggling to get a grip I fell backwards and did some sort of backwards somersault I got the air knocked out of me. I coughed, getting up and shaking my dirty fur clean. When I looked back up the tree she was gone. All that was left was a smell of fresh moss and clean water. She had a handmade bamboo bow across her shoulder. When she had looked into my eyes with her golden brown ones I felt a connection. They had a lamp of happiness and kindness that made me want to curl up next to her and have her pet me. I shook myself hard, taking the thought away. I trotted back to the clearing where the man was still on the ground. I rolled him over onto the vine then wrapping it around him once more. He is so heavy! He started mumbling in his sleep, “Ok, ok Martha. I’m getting up! Stop pushing me! Ugh!” so this is what he does in the morning I thought, Interesting.
I trotted to a creek bank and lapped up some water. O the nice fresh feeling of water in a dry mouth was surely one of the best. I tensed, hearing a noise. I barked a strong powerful bark. But when I did so I closed my eyes and everything was in like a slow motion. I was back in Esthra! I could feel the cool fresh breeze back on my face, and the bird song lifting my spirits, I could feel the green grass with my paws and the see the blue sky inspire me. How I missed Esthra. What was happening? When could I go back? Sadly he lowered his head and lost the view of Esthra. But he got another memory. He saw field on fire and dead wolves that he loved. “Cona! Please no!” a dead pretty brown speckled wolf lay in front of him. Tear ran down his face, how could I have left her here? A cold horrid voice yelled out, “kill all wolves under 3 years, and if any of the other struggle kill them too.” It laughed a gleeful, proud laugh. How I wanted to sink my fangs into his throat. Then a nervous breath started behind me. I whipped around to see Kaleka.
“Kaleka! How did you escape?”
“Not just me. Almost all of the young wolves under three years old are here too!” he eagerly looked at me then turned and said, “All wolves stay together!” my ears perked, “when did they start listening to you?”
Kaleka grinned, “ever since I saved Mikas life. Yeah…” he puffed out his chest,” I am like a hero now.” He looked happily at Tocamo. “Well looks like you're ahead of the group. But right now isn’t the time to blab about it the Rim Graids are going to find us soon.” And at that word another call rang out, “shouldn’t I see blood? Blood filling the ground and staining your mouths? Where are the younger wolves?!” the ashy gray wolf snarled and tossed his head at the young lieutenant. “You helpless soft paw! You ought to learn a lesson!” the young Rim Graid cowered as the bigger male snarled and sank his jagged teeth into his light softer flank. He stood still as he was punished and just kept silent. All except for a single tear in the corner of his eye.
“Max?” racing around the kitchen table and into the dining room, Alex whipped around to see Max asleep in his bed. Twitching his paws slightly and wearing a soft, I guess, dog smile. Taking a deep breath I walked back into the kitchen where an awkward Ben help Mykaela up on her feet. “Max didn’t get hurt.” Alex said relieved. “Yeah?" Mykaela huffed, "Well I sure did get squashed, by Mister Gorilla man over here.” Ben scratched the back of his head and looked down, “heh, sorry McKay.” Mykaela’s glared softened, but still kept her arms crossed. “It’s ok.” Alex rolled her eyes, “Wow Ben…” Alex looked hard at her brother before a smile took over on her face. The three started to laugh at themselves and retell the stories of funny moments.
“Really?” Mykaela laughed. Alex fell to her defense “ok, come on that’s not fair! I fell in the pool because you tripped over Macie!” Ben rolled his eyes, “But I didn’t fall in the pool did I?” he let out a laugh. Alex, giving Ben a friendly push, laughed along with Mykaela.
After an hour of this we lost our voices. Alex and Mykaela decided to go outside. “Cya guys.” Ben said as we raced outside. “Bye Bink.” Alex answered. Mykaela, already over the fence, stopped in her tracks. “Blue!” Alex raced over and stopped next to her friend. Down on the ground was nothing. But that’s just the point where were the rabbits? All that was left was the imprint of, “Trees?” Mykaela asked looking at her friend, “What, how…?” Alex cut her sentence short, “how is a good question.”
We stood for a bit pondering what to say or do. Turning around Alex yelled over her shoulder, “Come on Raven, let’s see what our loyal friend Google has to say about it.” Racing after her friend Mykaela shouted back, “but shouldn’t we look for the bunnies?” Already over the fence and up to the house Alex replied, “No, there are gone. We need to find them some other way.”
In the house we ran to the office and into my dad. “Good morning Baba!” Papa is what Alex was supposed to say, but over the years it changed into Baba. With a bright smile Alex hurried past him to the computer, “we need to look something up.” With a puzzled frown he asked, “Like?” Mykaela quickly gave an excuse, “Like about how fast rabies spread through the bloodstream and into your brain. But then we wanted to know if it would kill you before it went to your brain, but then…” ‘Mykaela’ Alex thought grinning, ‘you are so clever!’ My dad, who was patiently waiting for Mykaela to surface for air, stood ready to say, ok and leave, but Mykaela, on the other hand not planning to surface, rambled on so fast that not even Alex could understand her. “So then we thought what if instead of the fungi growing there what if it growed behind your ears and caused…” “Cough, cough, hem sorry but,” Alex coughed, grabbing Mykaela’s arm and dragging her with her to the computer, “We have some educational work to do.” Turning around to leave Mr. Grant said, “Good, good well I’ll be doing some genealogy.” Alex quickly said before he left, “what about Raven? We need to meet her parents and drop her off.” ”Right ok just let me know when to leave and we can go and drop her off.” He left. We quickly turned back to the computer and searched for pictures for the strange markings
That were on the ground. We found the most random page of randomness. Right when we thought the junk would never end we found a picture with the exact same imprint that was left on the ground in Alex’s backyard. We clicked on the link and found an article:
Alien Proof
By Arthur Mcvoy
We have found this strange markings eleven times over the world. We suspected that some form of alien fungi dried up and left a hole in its demise. But with more research we have found that it most likely alien proof. As a respected member of the R.A.T.W.T.A (Respecting Aliens The Way They Are) I have found that the only logical explanation is that aliens are trying to send us a message. Sadly I have not deciphered this message but, I have found other information that has caught my eye. In South America this strange marking has been found three times. In North America four times, in Europe two times. In Russia one time, and in Australia. These recorded signs have made me wonder why in so many random places? There is no answer for this so far, but I am still researching. The marking represents two trees with a rock wedged in between them. My thought is if we get the rock from the two trees, then we can try and use it to signal the alien life that is so close but distant.
Alex said all of a sudden, “Max!” Mykaela looked out the window trying to see what Alex was staring at. Sure enough Max was dashing across the lawn. Turning around the corner of the house, he went out of sight.
Leaping up Mykaela and Alex raced outside to where Max had been last spotted and saw him leap over the fence and into the area where the rabbits had previously lived in their cage. “Max come on boy! Don’t go back there!” Alex said running after him. Mykaela, just behind her friend, called “Heel! Stop! Come back! Bad dog!” the two climbed over the fence and saw Max staring at the marking with a look of, recognition. They stopped, watching Max’s face with wonder. A sad low whine came from Max as he looked longingly at the marking. He stood there for a moment looking as if Alex had scratched his favorite spot then kicked him. He bent over and sniffed it. Laying down he put his head on his paws and stared at the marking with such a sad longing that the rocks seemed to cry out. Alex and Mykaela stood there, watching him for how long, I don’t know. Alex soon found that her stomach was growling at her, she looked over at Her BFUFN, “what to get some lunch?” Alex said this slowly not wanting to disturb Max. “Yeah” Mykaela answered “Sure.”
Eating some chicken soup that Mrs. Grant had made. Alex sighed as she sipped it, “My favorite.” Mykaela nodded, agreeing. We sighed, as if we could use chicken soup as a replacement for the surprise we had of Max. “So…” Mykaela said putting on her thinking cap, “we should go to the fort or tree or…” Alex looked up, “Or the back yard!” We both realized it had been an hour since they left Max. We jogged outside, over the fence, and to the spot where Max was lying. He was gone, “Gone!” Alex said looking rapidly around her, searching for her companion.
