4

Scott and I walked into the house. I could tell members of my family had been by. The front door had been forced open and things were missing. I think they were mad that Leslie didn’t leave them any money, so they just helped themselves to some of her (I mean my - it still feels weird to say that) expensive art works and valuable furniture. At least they left the ugly, oversized green chair. That was Leslie’s favorite; it was the most comfortable chair in the house.

Scott walked around the house like a kid in a candy store. He couldn’t believe how big it was for just one person. He liked the paintings that were left and the library, but mostly he loved the kitchen - it was huge! I could open a small restaurant in it. We checked out the bedrooms on the second floor, where Scott picked out a room he liked and declared that it was his whenever he visited. I chose the master bedroom for myself; it was big enough for my king-sized bed and had a balcony overlooking the woods out back.

I pointed to where the lake was, but it was too dark to see it. We listened to the wind blow through the trees and heard frogs singing in the distance. I felt at peace in the house. Then we heard them. The wolves. First one howl and then another. Others followed along in unison.

“Don’t you just love their songs?” I asked Scott.

“They sound close by. Doesn’t that make you nervous?” He didn’t like that there were so many of them howling.

“They’re not close, I’ve never seen them. You’re hearing echoes from the valley. I’m sure they’re in the mountains somewhere. I just love listening to them.” I leaned on the balcony railing, listening for more.

“Well enjoy your wolf sounds, I’m going to bed,” he said and kissed my hair. He figured it was a safe place to touch me because there was no skin contact. He was right, there was no vision. He left the room and I went back to listening to the wolves.

The next morning my alarm went off at 6:00 am; it was run time. I decided to run the trail down to the lake and back. It would be more fun than just running on the country road. I got dressed and quietly headed out. I didn’t want to wake up Scott.

There was a nip in the air, perfect running weather. I couldn’t run very fast on the trail, which looked like it had been a while since anyone had used it. The ground cover was a little overgrown. I wasn’t too worried about it. I knew if I ran the trail daily then the footpath would clear itself out. I surprised a few deer as I was running, and some squirrels scattered out of the way as I reached the lake in record time. I sat down on a large rock and just stared at the lake I now owned.

Leslie told me that it was named Lunar Lake and that there is a waterfall on the opposite side. There is a small mountain as well, with cliffs that hang over the lake. I wondered if I could get a jet ski and have some fun on the lake or just get a small boat to take out to the middle and do some fishing.

I sat there for at least a half-hour just staring at the beauty. Then something appeared on the shore on the other side of the lake. It was the biggest wolf I've ever seen walking to the lake for a drink of water. It was dark brown and moved casually as if it didn’t have a care in the world. I started to slowly back away, hoping he hadn’t seen me. The wolf was awesome to look at, but he was still a wild animal and I didn’t need to draw his attention.

Too late - he heard me slide off the rock - shit! We stared at each other across the lake as if we were waiting for the other to make the first move. I took another couple of steps backwards, and the wolf went back to drinking. This was a great time to head home, and I took off running. Hopefully the wolf wasn’t following, because I forgot to bring a gun with me. Leslie’s words popped into my head, “You should never go into the woods without a gun.”

I swore I was being followed, but I've an overactive imagination, and at that moment it was in hyperdrive. I glanced behind me and didn’t see anything, but to my right, in the distance, I saw the wolf running parallel to me. He made no move to run at me; it was as if he was testing how fast I was running. Finally the house came into sight. The wolf saw it too, and broke off to run back into the woods. Playtime with the human was over, now that I was home. That was fine with me. I decided to not mention this encounter to Scott or he would never leave me here alone, and I knew he had to get back on the road tomorrow. I went into the house to wash up and fix breakfast for the both of us.