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Chapter 5

The weather began to warm up again a couple of months later, so we went camping again soon after the ground had solidified from a muddy soup. This time it was to be more of a survival outing, with her interest in the subject growing each time we went into the woods. This happened to be a long weekend, and I had fitted her out with a small bag that contained several gifts; a knife much like my own personal one, a water proof tinderbox and flint I had made from an old mint tin, a small tarp, and a book entitled “How to Stay Alive In the Woods” that had been very helpful to me when I was learning. In an old book bag I had my own knife, an old coffee can and a jacket. Bark saw the M1A slung over my shoulder and grabbed a magazine out from a drawer in the kitchen, giving me a wink.

“You saved your rifle from the accident?” I asked, surprised.

“Actually, I brought it in the night you mentioned it. If your bringing yours I might as well bring mine. Even if we don’t need it I learn best from copying you.”

“Actually I’m only bringing it because we’re going into an unfamiliar area, and I don’t know who or what all lives there. We can’t hunt (legally) because there isn’t a season for anything until september.”
She gave a nod and replaced the magazine in the drawer. I tossed her the bag.

“What’s this?” she asked, opening the sack.

“My first purchased gift from me to you” I smiled.

She pulled out the knife and removed the blade from it’s sheath. The jet black knife was almost completely reflection-less with the exception of the edge that glinted as she tested it.

“Nice knife” she said, replacing the sheath and digging into the sack again. “Ooh, a tinder box, and a tarp. What’s this, a book?”

She pulled the small handbook out and paged through it.

“Cool,” she said, looking up at me. “Thanks.”

“No problem, let’s go break them in.”

She gave me a playful push. “Fine, we’ll go Mr. Impatient.”

I chuckled and followed her out to the small pickup parked in her driveway.

****

I guided her to a small logging road inside the forest preserve where we parked. From there we hiked for another four hours before I stopped suddenly. She abruptly halted beside me.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

I smirked. “You’ve gotten into an accident and find yourself out here. All you have with you is what your wearing and what’s in your bag. Step one: find a suitable campsite.”

It took her only a few minutes before she selected one part way up the southern side of a hill, next to a rocky outcropping. To the air it was easily visible, which ground against the tactical training that had become engrained in me, but for all of her purposes a perfect choice.

“Good choice,” I said. I took her arm and pointed to the sky. “It’s a little open to the sky. If we had people after us I would probably sacrifice a little comfort for cover. However I didn’t say anything about this being tactical, so your choice is near perfect. Now what’s next?”

In the flickering shadows of the fire I could see where the beginnings of a lean-too rested against the rock outcropping. It was a pleasant night though, and we hadn’t started on the shelter until almost evening, so what we had so far was a good start. We would finish the shelter tomorrow morning.
Bark had pulled a bit of a fast one on me. I had planned on going without food the first night and showing her how to spear hunt and set up traps the following day. One appreciates food a lot more when your hungry and have to put an enormous amount of time and effort into every meal. She had slipped a bag of jerky while we were on our way out the door without me noticing however, and she now sat silently munching on it and staring into the flickering flames of the small fire she had lit. So far everything was fairly easy, it would have been much worse if the weather had been foul or cold, if it had been dark from the beginning, instead of having a few hours of light to settle in. I’d have a chance to teach her the tricks for surviving in those types of climbs later. Right now I was completely happy to relax on my mattress of leaves and watch the fire slowly die down. Eventually Bark buried the embers and bid me good night. I replied and traced out familiar constellations in the night sky as a lonely coyote began his sorrowful solo.

I was running, stretching forward to grab the ground with my claws and pull it back between my legs. The forest whipped by me in a blur, my eyes only able to focus on what was straight forward of me. A tree suddenly appeared in front of me and I veered hard to the right, then back left again, squeezing between it and another, plowing through a raspberry bush in the process. There was a little resistance; but the thorns could do nothing but comb through my thick fur. Free of the bush I continued on, the setting sun lighting the sky in front of me on fire as it began to dip below the horizon.

Oh how I loved these dreams! The nights I could run free in the forest, racing on all fours through winter’s snow, summer’s grass, spring’s mud and autumns leaves. I thanked everything above every time I was bless with it.

I scented the wind, smelling the traces of chipmunks, squirrels, owls and coyotes. A large hill rose before me, and darting boulders I started up it, hardly slowing as the incline gradually increased. Then I smelt something I had never detected before in my dreams. There was fragrance, some how familiar as if I should know the owner of it, yet still utterly alien to me. I stopped and sniffed some more, eager to find where this new odor was coming from.
It was the smell of a wolf, that much I knew, and there was something about it that said I should know the wolf behind it. Then the wind shifted, and try as I might I could not pick up the scent again. After a few minutes I continued on towards the summit of the hill, my nose keeping a constant sentry for the odor.
The sun was down by the time I had reached the top, and turning around I met the moon. It’s silvery white light filled me with energy. I felt so alive! I wanted to tell the world how good it felt, how thankful I was. So I lifted my muzzle to the sky and sang, my eery song echoing across the valley below. Soon another voice joined mine, resounding across the forest from another hill, then another and another, lifting our chorus to the heavens above.
Suddenly there was another voice a mear three feet to my left, it’s sudden melody causing me to jump.
I turned. Next to me a pair of yellow eyes stared back, the white of her face giving way to a dark gray above them before melting into a dark amber... Bark?

A wolfish grin broke across her muzzle, and I could hear her voice in my head, as if she were speaking to me.

“Have a little secret of our own do we?”

She recognized me. I just stood there, unsure if I was more surprised at her finding me indulging myself on the moonlight in this form, or at discovering her looking much the same as I did. Another chorus began, and she gave me a wink before lifting her head and joining in. I looked back up at the moon, it’s swollen form calling with the howls of the countless men, dogs, coyotes, and wolves of time. Then something snagged my attention, just over the top of the luminescent sphere. A bright light had appeared and grew steadily stronger.
My first impression was that it was a meteorite, but as I got Bark’s attention that changed. It appeared as if it was heading towards us, hurling along at an incredible speed. Heat and energy radiated from it, making my nose and lips tingle. I found I couldn’t move, frozen in place as it grew closer, becoming so large it could encompass the two of us where we stood. I pressed my eyes shut, preparing for the impact I was sure that would come.
It never came. I opened my eyes again. The forest was gone, we were now surrounded by utter darkness. Below us there was the only light source, casting shadows across the face of Bark, who was about a yard away and looking down with an expression of astonishment on her muzzle.
The light was coming from a brilliant beam, which erupted from the light colored fur on her chest and ran straight into mine. I couldn’t help but stare at it for a few seconds in shock. When I looked back up at her I felt a jerk from within my guts, pulling us abruptly together. She gave a yelp of surprise inches before our noses touched.

I started, the stars of the night sky winking back at me. An owl hooted, and I could hear Rebecca's regular breathing next to me.

“That was some dream, huh?”

Her voice made me jump again, then my heart sank as I realized what she had said. She knew then. The part of me I kept buried and only let out once every great while was no longer a secret. She spoke again.

“It looks like I’m not the only one here with a bit of a canine side.” she said softly. I could tell she was grinning at the tease.

I thought about that for a moment, and rode the emotional roller coaster back to the top. I found someone I could share my dreams with at last.

“Bark, do you run often?” I asked.

I felt her smile. “It’s how I knew who you were before we met. I’ve followed your scent in my dreams off and on for the past three or four years. The moment I caught a whiff of you in that club my heart soared.”
That would explain why she had been so trusting before.

And I always thought I stank.

I lay back on my bed of leaves and listened to the frogs in the lake near by. I felt ... closer to her now, like there was a connection opened between us. Some how I knew she was almost as confused as I was as to what had happened in the dream, but that she was also overjoyed about something. I felt her drift off to sleep and listened to a raccoon chirr in a nearby tree before closing my eyes and slipping back into the world of slumber.