This story is by Paul Gordon and was part of our 2020 Summer Writing Contest. You can find all the writing contest stories here.
“What’ll I do?… gone three days… where is she?
“Damnit, Feeza, where the hell are you? SHIT! Three days and you’re not back. If I’d known you were going to disappear I’d have gone with you… should have anyway! Crap! Where are you, Feeza?… I need you… Damn it’s cold… what?… oh, add wood, butthead.
”Crap… cradle’s empty… gotta get more wood… back out in that god-awful cold… shit! God, getting this coat on is a hassle and I stay cold anyway… thermometer says 25 below so gloves… and something with flaps to keep my ears attached… there it is… ski mask first to keep nose attached… now flappy hat next… then glov— WHERE THE HELL IS MY LEFT GLOVE… I always put them here together… shit, wouldn’t you know… ahh, there it is. How’d it get there? I never put things there… now I’m doing dumb shit… worrying about you is driving me crazy!
”Next summer stop talking about it and build that damned attachment… won’t have to go outside AND FREEZE MY ASS OFF… other parts too, like ears and noses… actually, nose, only have one… not going to heat it… it’ll be cold… protected from wind and blown snow though… heat it?… too much wood.
”Right! GOD DAMN IT, FEEEZZZZAAA… aachhh… ech-ptooee… I heard that crack… spit does freeze before it hits the ground… maybe just as it hit?… whatever… you’re scaring me, Feeza… wish you’d get back… crap, ‘I’ll go get us something fresh,‘ you said, but you didn’t say anything about 3 days… what happened?… hurt somewhere?… dead?… nahh faster than bears and nothing else big enough.
”At least I got that overhang done… front doors not packed shut with snow this year… CHRIST, it’s cold out here… get wood and get back in, idiot… where’s Feeza?… god, all I can see is unbroken snow clear across the valley… FEEZA! eechh… son-of-a-bitch… that hurt… does no good… save throat… feels raw now… don’t just stand here getting snow blind, get back in fool.
“FEEEEZZZZAAAA… WHERE ARE YOU?… shit, that hurt, shouting is not a good idea at 25 below… I think my teeth got frost bite… get back inside idiot… this load should get me through the night… god, next time wear more. I need her… need her?… holy shit! I do need her… not just a want… I love you, Feeza… I do love her, we’re becoming an old married couple… wonder what she thinks?… wonder what I think?… take time now to think about that?… no!
“There… enough for tonight… tomorrow too if it snows again… what now?… where are you Feeza?… more wood in stove… there, stoke it… now that pot of snow… coffee grounds on top… looks like a sundae… it’ll melt in minutes and boil, I need coffee… amazes me how good boiled coffee is… stuck up asses always said boiling it was bad… thank the fates for wood burning stoves… cook, make delicious boiled coffee, keep my ass from freezing…
”Damn it! Where is she? If I lose her I don’t think I’ll want to keep going. Why is my life so taken up with a wolf?… rescued her after hunters killed her mother and took her siblings… kept coming back when I tried to let her go… god, Feeza, please be okay and come home.
”We communicate somehow… remember the first time you understood her? Yeah… out hunting… she was two and a half then… very fast and strong… that beautiful valley… said I wished she could understand the beauty… the rough, gravely ‘I do’ answer flabbergasted me… flabbergasted?… weird word… wonder where it came from?… thought I’d really gone round-the-bend… being alone can drive you nuts… already nuts though.
”She says it’s mostly reading minds… probably right… might be just me filling in her parts?… nahh, that’d mean I’m crazy and suposedly if you can consider that you’re not… probably more bullshit… sometimes I feel crazier than a shit-house rat though.
“Aahhh, coffee… let steep… why steep?… gotta look that one up… cup?… where the hell is my c… Ohh, right where you left it… fool… where to look it up?… maybe a trip to town… been without people for a while… library there… now one of this mornings biscuits and—”
“EERRRR… arrer— David! Open the door!”
“FEEZA! Oh god, thank the fates… shit… it won’t open… shit… damn it… DAMN IT!… HOLD ON THE LATCH IS STUCK… there, got it… get in here, it’s freezing out there. Leave it there, I’ll get it later.”
“ERR— took you long enough.”
“Took me ten seconds, you’ve been gone 3 days.”
”You drag a deer through snow for two days, then we’ll talk about 3 days.”
“I’ll hang it tomorrow and thaw it so I can skin it. Nice looking pelt, it’ll make another fur lined coat. Where’d you get it?”
“It’ll make better food for a month or two. I got it by the big rock where you jump off into the water.”
“Venison steaks, my favorite. Wow, that’s a half-mile, I am impressed.”
“EeRrRR— I hate the smell when you ruin meat that way.”
“I hate the smell of you eating raw deer guts. The sounds too, you make a lot of noise and you growl. Defending your kill?”
“EERRR— nag!”
“I’m glad you’re home.”
“Me too, what’s for dinner?”
“Mac and cheese.”
“Fresh deer!”
“It’s still frozen solid.”
“Use your saw.”
“We have several pieces left from the last kill—”
”Errerr— which I also provided.”
”Is this a contest? I know you did, the three previous ones I got. It’ll have to thaw too. How about some dry food until I get it cooked?”
“AARRRHH— you think I’m a dog.”
“No, I do not. Before you came along I’ve eaten it when times got rough. You’re a wolf and you’re my friend… my companion and partner.”
“aarrr— okay, but just a small dish. I am hungry.”
“I missed you. It frightened me thinking something may have happened.”
“eerrrr— I missed you too. We go together next time, but you’re so slow.”
”Thanks, I think.”
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