Rescue - a love story

The soft pads of her feet hit strong and silently against the ground and then stopped, arrested and motionless as her nostrils flexed to take in a smell. Familiar. She smelled danger. There was also something different, mild and underlying. She stayed motionless and took in all that surrounded her. The stiffness of the frozen earth, the moisture of the evening air and unnatural quietness of the trees but mostly the odor of something out of place. The need for food was slowly overpowering her desire to stay clear of the smell. The smell meant danger but also meant the possibility of food. She was tired from her recent labor and this turned her mind towards the warm nest in her den and the necessity for food then overcame her weariness. She moved on.

It was safer to approach from the side of the clearing where the odor was emanating. Like a secret stalker she moved around tree trunks and over fallen limbs expertly. Her hot breath smoked against the cold air as she progressed. Slowing, her ears adjusted to sense any movement in the clearing. She could hear something quiet and small. It registered nothing familiar in her mind. This was unusual indeed so she moved forward with caution dipping her head below the foliage to obtain a clear view.

The source of the recognizable smell was visible. A human body lay silent against the moss and dirt of the ground. A tangle of dark hair masked the face and a ghostly damp hand lay outstretched as if grappling for a hold of some gnarled root of a nearby tree. She waited for some sign of danger but her need for food began to take hold of her mind again. Bravely she approached the still body at a slow pace. Sniffing, she could sense that her fear was unjustified. It was not alive. The smell was pungent to her acute senses as she nosed around the head and neck to make certain. Her trained ear tuned quickly and she froze as a muffled sound broke across the thick winter air. Her eyes followed to the origin focused and unblinking and she saw a small mound of blanket some distance away. A soft breeze kicked leaves into the air and as they circled and twisted back to their resting place on the ground the delicate scent of something strange filled the air. Reaching the mound she nudged it gingerly with her foot and felt a familiar warm softness that was reminiscent of the den and what waited there for her. Nuzzling the blankets free from its prize she backed away slightly as two eyes stared into her own.

It was not thought or desire that made her collect this thing into her mouth and move away from the clearing. It was some basal instinct separate from reason. As for the child it knew only that it seemed as if familiar eyes looked down upon it. One blue and one golden brown although the face appeared somehow alien. She felt the hot breath of the mother dog as its strong jaw expertly lifted her above the cold forest floor. When they looked upon each other, this child of man and this beast, a piece clicked into place inside the animal. This felt the most natural of things and she had already forgotten the cold body that lay far behind in the clearing . She only knew that she was following her path towards home and what she carried was hers and it had always been so.