Historical Setting, unknown
Warm wolves need no extra firs or fire. Any fir I may have, is sparse so I depend on these others for warmth. But just outside the den are the two frozen deer carcasses left for the vultures and now the crows, picking at the last of the meats. I crawl out onto the sunlit snows, staying low, not to become tall or threatening to the young male with whom I’ve shared a feast. He follows me.
The hoof and leg bone of this deer can be a tool for one with hands, such as I have, to scrape the bones and sinew from the hides. My little brother wolf is pleased to find I’m not taking all the best bones. In fact, I am just giving them to him without a tussle. He drags the treasures into the den for sharing. It becomes all about the sharing. No one seems to imagine that I would want to keep the deerskins for my human need for clothing.
Little brother wolf splits a bone to retrieve the marrow, and then he wonders why I would choose the broken piece leftover, and not so much the tasty inside. It must be that humans are ignorant of good flavors. But I take the split of bone with a long, jagged edge and use it as a blade to clean the hides. It is a major project and apparently boring to watch. So, these wolves spend their fattened winter days curled in the den, giving the cave a musky fragrance of home — warm and safe.
Before we are again hungry enough for the hunt, I’ve made myself something akin to clothing and a pair of rough sinew-stitched shoes to cover my soft and useless human feet. I can keep up now, when we hunt again. I have that scrapping blade to carry as a knife, but really, I am not much use in taking down a deer on the run. I do help with the chore of dragging it back to the den and the actual divvying up of the meats.
Discovering the nature of wolves isn’t hard in a world where the mysteries of human seem completely without reason. Wolves have all they need. I have lots of stuff – a blade, shoes, trousers, a hood – the longer the winter, the more stuff I accumulate. And none of my collection is even meat.
At least I’m not greedy with the meats. Wolves are very generous and patient with me. Thank you, God.
(Continues tomorrow)
Lazarus Ink 