Book Review Into The Wild Novels & Stories

The house felt different when we got back. Ryan’s parents were away for the weekend, so it was just the three of us in their big family home on the edge of town. I smiled and laughed at all the right moments while Ryan showed me pictures from his finals week and asked a hundred questions about the cabin. Ethan sat across the dinner table, quiet like always, but every time our eyes met, heat rushed through me. I kept my voice steady. Told Ryan the storm was wild but we managed. Never mentioned the fire, the rug, or the way his brother had come inside me at dawn.

Then, he waved to a waiter and ordered some food for us. Jared quietened down after the orders were taken and stared at me with his eyes glazed over, looking a little lost. I knew he had taken too big a sip of whiskey earlier and was struggling to stay clear-headed. Just as I wondered if I should take the opportunity to bring up my resignation and have him approve it while he was in a daze, I realized that he was burning a hole in my head with that blatant, fiery gaze of his. I felt my goosebumps rising.

Tonight, she wanted to feel it wrap around her. Her boots pressed softly into the earth as she followed the dirt path, but soon she abandoned the walkway and wandered off into the grass, toward the darker line of trees. Every sense in her body felt too sharp, and too alive. She heard all the rustle of creatures hiding, the way the damp soil smelled, and even felt the way the air became more cold as the last light of the sun went down from the horizon. It was supposed to calm her but it didn't.

Odd things that reminded me of a voodoo parlor. I didn’t touch any of those. No, what drew me in was a book at the far end. It was almost as if the book itself was calling my name, leading me towards it. I was a moth to a flame. By the time I stood right in front of it, I realized that the book was encased in glass. Curiously, I touched the glass, hoping I would find a way to open it but the second my skin made a contact, the glass shattered. Ryker who had been standing beside me quickly pulled me back. “What the bloody hell is that?”

The air felt heavier now, as if it carried more than moisture—something invisible and watching. His backpack lay half-buried in the sand, soaked but intact. He fished out the leather-bound notebook he’d carried everywhere since he was thirteen—the one with the stories, the nightmares, the dreams he could never fully explain. Inside were drawings of forests that bled, oceans that whispered, and a woman with hollow eyes and hands covered in roots. He had drawn her before he ever heard of WildWood. Before he heard the name Emily. Before he knew that she was family.

Caleb and Kara, while knowing what I was never asked about it, their desperation to bury that truth of my true nature only surpassed by my own. "Even before I set fire to my Mama's garden when I was eight, I knew I was different. It was like a whisper over my skin, a knowledge deep in my soul of my true nature. And then as I grew, we noticed that I healed faster and my eyes turned yellow as well as the signature amber that marked me as wolf. My first turn wasn't even on a full moon."

But it was as if everything had been erased from my mind, leaving only the last twenty-four hours, which had been nothing but a nightmare. The two were all full an hour later, and the two men's conversation had died away. I was still deep in thought, but as I snuggled into a thick blanket, I gradually felt my body relax. My experience here in the wilderness can be frightening, but it also provides opportunities to personally experience wilderness. In a rapidly urbanizing world, understanding the benefits of interacting with nature is critical for maintaining and improving well-being. In the back of my mind, the little girl's words kept ringing.

"Let's run." The bristles from the underbrush rubbed against her fur. The smells fascinated her wolf. Everything was different. Her legs gained a sense of balance and she didn't feel clumsy like the first time she changed outdoors. She let her wolf take over and guide her. They ate a large dinner and then Brandt continued reading from his wild book. His voice reverberated gently around her. She watched his fingers turn the pages and the muscles change in his face. The inflection of each sentence flowed with the story. She closed her eyes and imagined her wolf.

I threw the blanket over him, too, encouraging him to stay close. After I read the book, Everett didn’t want to waste any time. He showed me the rest of his library and the cabin, and then he was determined for us to do as much as we possibly could. We went for a hike, had a picnic, and watched and admired the animals and nature around us—it was only then that I realised how much more connected I had become with nature and the earth; the more I came in touch with my wolf.

"What? Riley, what are you—" "LEAVE!" I bellowed. I reached the perimeter fence. I reached out my hand to grab the wire. I was going to go back in. I was going to save them. Then, the world turned white. BOOM! A roar like a thousand lions tore through the air. The ground jumped beneath my feet. A wave of heat slammed into my chest, throwing me backward. I hit the dirt hard. The air was sucked out of my lungs. I looked up, gasping for breath. The warehouse was gone. In its place was a towering pillar of orange fire and black smoke. Debris rained down like hailstones of fire.