• As dawn came, a blond boy of about fourteen years walked out to the wood pile. Close behind were two large dogs. He'd just about gathered enough wood and was walking towards the house when one of the dogs brought up something in her mouth. The German Shepard nudged the boy, then lifted her muzzle up. The kid saw a fluffy white bundle in her jaws, put the wood down, then carefully took the the animal from his dog. He held it up and it was squirming, cold, and making quiet whining noises. He saw the huge ears and forepaws, the large black nose of a wolf pup.

    "Tanna," He said to the Shepard, "Get it." he pointed to the wood he'd had to put down, and the aging dog picked up some of the wood. The boy whisteled at the other dog, a husky sniffing around a rabbit hole, and pointed at the wood Tanna couldn't pick up, saying, "Get it Shadow." The young male dog trotted up and picked up a few chopped-up logs, and picked them up. The boy and his dogs walked to the door with their new find.



    An alarm clock went off at 5:30 in the morning and Jake lept out of bed. After getting dreseed, he ran down the stairs, flying down the stairs. "Good morning!" A man laughed from the living room. "Morning, dad!" Jake laughed back, before running outside to the barn.

    Opening one of the large doors, Jake oeeked inside and smiled at the inside. Two dogs, one a German Shepard, the other a husky, ran to him. The Shepard walked a bit slower, her muzzle grayed. Jake kneeled down and began to pet them, then walked around feeding the few horses inside. He was done and walking to the door when he suddenly stopped.

    "Where's Luna?" jake asked aloud, and almost immeadiately after he'd said that, the gleaming white shewolf was standing in the doorway, having heard her name.

    He scratched her behind the ears, but frowned. "How did you get out...?" Luna lowered her head and pinned her ears back as she walked over to a hole in the wall, about a foot wide. It looked pretty new..


    Sam, jakes dad, was hammering a few new boards to the the hole that Luna'd made. He was pretty mad.. "Jake, you'd better keep that damn wolf of yours in line, before she kills one of the neighbor's animals." His father sighed and finished fixing the wall, "it's been almost two years since you found that thing, and I know how attatched you two've grown, but she is a wild animal...She doesn't belong here." Sam turned away, probably going around the barn to see for more holes. Jake walked inside, strangely quiet, knowing what those words had meant, and feeling like he'd been punched.


    Shadow trotted up to Luna, husky tail arched high, and a taunting dog smile on his face. "Boy, you really screwed that up, huh?" Tanna walked up too, but shouldered past her younger friend and glared at his ignorance. "Just leave her alone, Shadow," She growled quietly, sitting next to Luna, "Can't you see how much she's hurting?" It was true, Luna's face just looked down, and she wouldn't answer. Her eyes were full of pain and longing, but she didn;t say a word. Tanna nodded with understanding, and got up, being followed by Shadow and leaving the unresponsive wolf to her thoughts.



    That night Luna had dreams, Wolf Dreams. Wind washed her face with cold, refreshing air as she ran. She was running with her kind. Through streams and valleys, they chased the unknown, and seemed to just be running for bliss. Panting, after running a great immeasurable distance, all the wolves sat, as did Luna. Tipping their noses to the moon, they did something that expressed everyhting Luna could never fit into words. They howled, they sang, it was liberating and sweet, but sad. It was a song of a lost member, a pack missing something, missing someone---She woke up.

    Feeling oddly lost, cold, and alone, Luna walked to the two dogs and settled down, falling back into sleep. Dreamless, meaningless sleep.
    The rest of the week went along like this; Dream, wake, do the day's activities, then restart. The sixth night was too much for her. Luna couldn't contain her feelings of lonliness and the odd feeling of abandonment. Guiltlessly, Luna busted the gash in the barn's wall open again, the new planks especially weak, and trotted up the hill to where the moon was silvery-blue and full. There, tipping her head to gaze at the night's mother, shedid it for real; Luna howled.
    The beautiful sound seemed to last forever, and it echoed for awhile. In a matter of minutes, the neighbors' dogs could also be heard, for miles.

    Amidst the dogs' voices, voices like her own were picked out of the chorus. To Luna, it was the Dream-Song, the sound she heard when she was with her own in her Sleep-World. The eerie voices of the others collected and seemed to tug at Luna's heart, soul, and her innermost being, trying to pull her over the hill and through the forests to the beautiful creatures that made the howls.

    Overcome, Luna screamed internally.Why!? Why, oh God, why? Why can I not join them?! Why can't I be with them...? Why..Why...Why.. Her legs buckled and she fell to the ground. Luna cried.