When the blizzard had passed, the wolves slept in piles of snow with the bright moonlight shining upon them. A mother lynx wandered across the pack, sniffing the cold, bristling air. Strangely enough, the wolves hadn’t moved, they just stared. As the lynx passed through, leaping across the snow, she stumbled upon a white wolf pup with black markings on its snout. The baby lifted its furry chin, panting and digging out of the trench it had fallen in.
“Well hello there, little one!” Her soft voice purred at the pup as she gave a toothy grin.
“Are you here for the celebration?” The pup asked, wagging his tail in excitement as the lynx carried him by the scruff back to his family.
“What celebration and why?” She mumbled through his pelt, trudging through the heavy snow.
“Well, it’s Christmas, of course. It’s the coldest but the warmest time of the year, where we eat fresh elk and howl songs all …show more content…
night!” The pup cheered along with the welcoming family of wolves, wagging their tails as a sign of enlightenment.
“Oh, I’m fine. I have to get back to my kits if I want to celebrate with you all. I promise I’ll be back before midnight.” The lynx walked off, turning her head towards the pack as they waved their tails goodbye, and the pup leaping around like the lynx, laughing and playing in the snow hills.
The lynx wandered herself back into the dark forest, looking up at the night sky, peering her way through the maze of the twigs. “Follow the stars that guide the brightest line to the South.” She murmured to herself, glancing down a few times to keep herself from hitting a tree or tripping into a bush.
Small forest animals quickly hid from the mother, she would’ve taken them for a snack for her kits, but had to hurry, as she glanced up at the large moon, realizing it was an hour until the next day.
She leaped across the ditches and roots of the forest path, panting as her whiskers and ears began to frost over from the cold breeze. She wasn’t far from her den by now and smiled, howling for her kits.
A loud boom was heard echoing through the forest, large stomping noises shook the ground, and soon the four footsteps turned into many. One of the elk had gotten shot, the mother lynx thought, and they’re all panicking.
In a warm, comforting farmyard, with twinkling Christmas lights and reindeer decorations, a young father, and little daughter walked down the street together, carrying a sled with a fresh elk carcass covered by a tarp inside of it. The young girl glanced over at her father, smiling. “When will be dinner?” She smiled, looking at the sled and back at her father.
“As soon as I get it in the shed, then you’ll be able to cook the meat with your mother.” He stared straight ahead, pulling the heavy sled along with them. “Go ahead and run to the barn for me. Open the doors so I can get ‘im in.” He stomped towards the outskirts of the small town.
Later, in the small family’s home, where the fireplace gave warmth for the people and the smell of cooked meat gave a comforting tone to the inside of the cute house, utensils clattered quickly as the family ate their dinner. The grandparents and nieces of the father sat in the living room, opening their presents without the wait, they realized they soon became hungry.
“Hey Michael, do you have any leftovers for us? The snow on the road will make it hard for us to get back home in time for the last hour of Christmas.” The grandfather said, twisting his back to face his son who was washing the dishes in the kitchen.
“Unfortunately, no. Though I won’t let my family starve, so I’ll go out back to the woods to get you some dinner to eat.” The young man smiled, looking back at his father as he set a plate of cookies in front of him. “Have some treats while you wait.”
As the sky began to clear the heavy clouds in the air, the black night seemed brighter, the rising sun was just on the horizon, ready to wake up like the rest of the animals in the woods. The young man trudged through the snow with his furry husky dog, named Bolt. The two followed along the path as Bolt’s owner held his rifle with him.
Another gunshot occurred, and the flock of birds in the air flew off in the hundreds.
Meanwhile, as the mother lynx leaped off the trail away from the stampede of rushing elk, she quickly skittered up from where they came from, flattening her ears as a worry that her kits were in danger.
“My babies!” She called loudly as she ran towards the den that was in her sight, her home with her children, presumably, calling out for their mother. She stopped and managed to mute out the hoof stomps of the herd, and realized the crunching snow was not from any forest animal. The mother lynx looked over to see a man and seemingly wolf-like dog. She hissed and ran toward her den just before she dodged a speeding bullet that zipped toward her thigh. The husky growled, barking and snapping at the quiet lynx that hid away.
The hunter reloaded his rifle with determination in his eyes.
“This will be a good hunt, I’ll have a lynx hat when I’m done with thi—“ He stopped and let down his gun as he heard a long and loud howl from the distance just behind them. He turned around and stared at Bolt who ran after the noise. The husky dog leaped toward the white wolf and the two snarled at each other. Soon, more wolves came its way, and the husky turned around and ran back to its owner with its tail between its legs. The hunter gasped and ran off back onto the trail with his dogs as the wolf pack followed them far enough to keep them away from their friend
lynx.
The mother lynx peeked her head back in the den and saw them, smiling.
Two other little lynxes crawled out of the ditch, meowing obnoxiously for attention. The pup tilted his head and sniffed the three babies, wagging its tail.
“Oh, thank you so much! I was so worried that I was going to get shot and so were my kits.” The lynx went up to the large wolf as the two nuzzled each other with gratitude.
“It’s the least we could do, disturbing the forest is something we hate dearly, so we keep the hunters away.” The white wolf sat down in from of the lynx as he showed his large canines with a big, happy smile. The other wolves watched, keeping themselves aware.
Later, back at the small town, the little girl held up her lantern in the air as he saw her father some running with his dog towards her. He stopped and took a breath, then pushing her back to their home, slightly panting.
“Father, what happened?” She turned her head up towards the man, confused and worried at once.
“I got the elk, but I saw a lynx and risked it. Bolt went wild and thought it would be a smart idea to fight a wolf.” He snapped, staring at the husky.
“Well, I think they deserved to stay alive. You hear that?” The girl said.
Distant howls were heard throughout the night, singing beautiful carols and lullabies. Everyone celebrated, whether they never got enough dinner, anyway. The End.