The truck slowed to a stop on the side of the road. Sighing in frustration, Skye shifted the truck into park, rolling her eyes as she looked at the steam rising from under the hood. Once again, she hopped down from its height after opening the door, walked to the bed of the truck and hauled out the jug of water. At least this time, she knew the problem. As she set the jug of water on the ground by the hood of the truck, an owl hooted very near the road, startling her into a small yelp of fear. As she turned towards the sound, her foot kicked the jug over, and the water started spilling out quicker than anything. After seeing the cause of the hoot fly out of the tree, the sound of spilling water onto the asphalt had her quickly kneeling over to grab the jug before she lost all of the water. Not fast enough.
"Crap," she said aloud, after realizing there wasn't enough for the job at hand. There was no way she was going to make it to the next gas station without more water for the truck. Still kneeling, she looked at her surroundings to get a better idea of where she was.
The road was empty of traffic. Considering the time of night, it didn't surprise her. A very long way in either direction, no homes, no lights. Nothing but woods, woods, and more woods. As she stood up to put what little water was left in the radiator of her truck, she noticed a glitter off to one side of the road down in what she originally thought had been a ditch. It was actually a small incline leading down to a stream. Skye had the thought of getting more water from it, so she could continue on her way. After emptying the water she had into the truck, she replaced the lid, and gripped the jug with great strength, so she wouldn't lose it on the way down the incline. It was very steep, and the moon, while offering some light, was not very illuminating due to the clouds in the sky. It was damp from the rain in the afternoon, and the rocks were slick on the way down. She slipped a few times, but made it safely down to the water.
Upon reaching the stream, she realized it wasn't very deep, so she couldn't put the jug into the water to fill it. She looked up and down the stream, to see if there might be an area of depth, and realized she might have to follow the stream a little bit to find a deeper spot to fill the jug. Figuring it might be deeper at some point at the streams origin, she started walking upstream.
She really hoped she didn't have to go far, but an hour later, she was still walking. The stream had led away from the road and she had walked much further into the forest than she had either planned or wanted. She was about to turn around and head back when a sound behind her had her stopping dead in her tracks! She spun around and looked at where the sound had come from. All she could see was shadows dancing upon shadows, the leaves soughing in the wind, the clouds starting to cover the moon more than it had before. Suddenly the wind died, leaving the woods very quiet, and she could hear water lapping at rocks beyond her, over a slight rise. Turning back around to walk to the rise, she found herself at a lake. It wasn't huge, but she could tell that no one lived near it. There were no docks in sight, and it wasn't big enough to hide one. The water was still, and placid. She approached the small lake, to fill the jug.
She knelt down among the grass and rock, and bent over to place the jug in the water for filling, but before placing the jug in the water, she noticed she could see her reflection in the pool of water before her. Long wavy light brown hair flowed down over shoulders covered by a sweater with a hoodie. Interspersed were lots of gray hair, and her green eyes looked pale in the reflected water and moonlight. Her large chest heaved slightly from being out of breath, and her legs trembled from the long walk.
Seeing herself reflected there, with the grey in her hair, had her reflecting on the last few years. A long divorce, her daughter turning eighteen and basically abandoning her for her cheating father, because he had money, and let her do her own thing. Skye suddenly felt very alone in the world. Forty one years of life had been hard so far for someone who still felt so young in her heart. She suddenly wished she had someone to spend this lonely night with. Regretfully, she pushed the jug into the water to fill, knowing with the long walk back with a heavy jug of water, she'd get no rest tonight, much less be spending it with someone as well. While the jug filled up with water, Skye took a chance to look around the area some more. It was a very beautiful place. The lake was a perfect setting. The trees were close to shore, and the water was clear and clean. After pulling out the full jug, she decided to just sit there for a bit and enjoy the night. She sat back, closing her eyes, wanting to take in the sounds of the forest, as it came alive in the night. Crickets shirring, owls hooting. And the sound of wolves howling in the near distance had her opening her eyes wide and looking around in fear. She'd left her rifle in the truck. In fact, she hadn't thought to bring it on her trek to get water. Maybe she should have.
Deciding she needed to get her ass in gear, she stood up and lifted up the jug. It was really heavy. There was no way she'd be able to get it all the way back to her truck if it was full. Damnit, she thought, I should have thought of that. Sighing in resignation, she took off the lid and tipped the jug to empty half of the water back out into the lake. The jug was still three quarters full when the sound of a ruckus not too far from her startled her into dropping the jug into the lake. She whipped around to the sounds of growls and barks, twigs snapping in unison as heavy bodies fought each other in the woods behind her. The next thing she knew, she landed in the water. Turning around so fast, she had tripped on the lid to her jug. The sounds were muted underwater, and when she heaved up out of the water, silence reigned once more. Only, as she gazed at the shoreline in front of her, she realized she was no longer alone.
A wolf stood a few feet from shore. It was a male, and he was exhaling steadily as if he'd just been in a fight. There were streaks of blood on his fur, and his eyes were watching her unwaveringly. Skye froze in the water. Oh my God, she thought. If she hadn't been so scared, she would have appreciated the size of the wolf. He was huge! They stared at each other for what seemed like hours, but only seconds had passed. Skye was getting colder the longer she stayed in the water, and she knew she had to figure a way out and around the wolf so she could get back to her truck. Considering the wolf had just been in a fight also meant another wolf, or maybe even more, could be in the woods not too far away either. Slowly, so as not to startle the wolf, she stood up in the water. Her clothes stuck to her body, showing off her large breasts under her sweater, the bulge of her belly and her jeans stuck to her large thighs like glue. The water streamed from here hair, and into her eyes. She wiped her hair away from her face while never looking away, and did what she could to dry her glasses. Slowly, placing one foot in front of the other, she slowly approached the shore, shivering in the cool air all the while. As she reached the rocks lining the shore in front of her the wolf sat down. Seeing him do that made her stop in her tracks. What was he doing, she thought. Why was he still here? Would she have to scare him away just so she could get out of the water?
"Shoo wolf," Skye whispered at the wolf. The wolf tilted his head, lending him a quizzical air. Skye rolled her eyes up at the moon. Seriously? "Hey, you," she said to the wolf again. "Get on outta here!" This time she had spoken in a normal tone of voice. The wolf rotated his head in a shake of denial. Skye thought the wolf seemed too smart for his own good. She decided to try one more time. Lifting her head, she spoke loudly, not quite yelling, "Got on! Wolf! Get outta here!"
The wolf stood up and paced towards Skye at the shoreline, keeping eye contact the whole way. Reaching the shore, he lay down on all fours, and put his head on his front paws. Slowly, he lifted his head towards her and yipped at her, then lay his head "down again, the whole time, keeping eye contact. She had no idea what to make of it. Did wolves act like that? Ever? Suddenly she wasn't so sure he was a wolf, but even if he was a dog, what in the world was he doing out in the middle of nowhere, all alone? And getting into fights with wild wolves and seeming to win? He didn't seem threatening anymore, but his size still belayed that. But she was getting colder by the minute. What else to do but hope he wouldn't attack her once she got out of the water?
"I don't know what to make out about you boy," she said to the animal, "but I'm freezing my ass off, and I have to get out of the water at some point. Please don't start jumping me the minute I come outta this water, alright?"
Seeing no physical response from him at her words, other than staying right where he was, she started coming out of the water. Leaving the water, dripping wet, the air started giving her a chill right away, and she was at least an hour from her truck. She started shivering as soon as she was out of the water. The wolf, upon seeing her out of the water, immediately stood up, and backed away from her. Skye froze, wondering what the animal was up to now. It wasn't normal behavior, and she really didn't know what to make of it. She decided to wait and see what he was gonna do next.
He turned away from her and started walking into the woods along the shoreline. She sighed in relief, but only in part, when she realized he had turned back around and was staring at her expectantly. He backed away some more, backwards and still facing her and whined, shaking his head at her. The first thought to enter her head at his actions made her think he wanted her to follow him. But no, that couldn't be. Was it?
"What?" she said. "You want me to follow you now?"
He yipped at her again, and once again turned away to lead her along the shoreline into the woods. She hesitated. Her truck was in the opposite direction. She was wet and cold. She was starting to freeze her ass off, and she knew she'd be ok going that way. Following the wolf? Ha, that could lead to death and dismemberment. Right? Who follows a wolf? Or a dog? Or whatever the hell he was? she thought. The animal seemed pretty sure about it though. But why take the chance? She turned around, grabbed her jug, put the lid back on it and started walking away from the animal, in the direction of her truck and safety.
The next she knew, the animal had run around a few trees and blocked her path to her truck! He growled at her. What the hell, she thought. She dropped the jug on the path and picked up a branch that was laying at her feet.
"Alright now, boy," she said. "I don't know what you are. I don't know where I am, not really. You really think I'm gonna follow you to who knows where?" She waved the branch at him, and said, "Think again." The wolf stood his ground, but stopped growling. Skye thought maybe he was coming around. That's right, she thought. She wasn't gonna go following some strange animal to some place she didn't know. And now he knew it too. "That's right," she said to him as she bent down with the branch to pick up the jug with her other hand. She looked away from him for just one second to pick up the jug, and he pounced on her. She fell face forward, and that was the last thing she felt as her head hit a rock on the path.
Consciousness came back slowly to Skye. She slowly became aware of her surroundings. The first things trickling into her mind was that she wasn't wet, or cold anymore. She also didn't feel clothed either. She was naked! But at least she was warm. She rolled over in the bed and cuddled her face into the pillow. She was so tired. The pillow. A pillow?
She sat up in the bed. Opening her eyes did nothing to help her. It was pitch black. She put her hands up in front of her face, but she couldn't see them. It was completely and utterly dark wherever she was. She slowly stretched out her legs and arms, hoping to feel something other than the bed. Her feet felt air under them and so she bent her legs down. Not for long. She pulled her legs back up from the ground as fast as possible. The floor was freezing! It had felt like stone! She reached out with both hands, for a table beside the bed, maybe a lamp, anything. Nothing but space. As far as she could tell, only the bed resided where she currently was. Was she willing to get on the cold floor and explore nothingness? As far as she could tell, she was safe. She was sitting on a bed, it was warm. Although she was naked, she didn't feel as if she'd been raped, or even touched in an illegal manner. She reached up to touch her head. It hurt. It hurt a lot. She could feel on her forehead a butterfly bandage on a cut. She vaguely remembered falling in the woods. And wondered where she was now. She felt so tired. Had she been drugged? It was her last thought as she fell into a deep sleep.
She dreamed of the night. The truck breaking down. A long walk in the woods. A lake and a wolf. The wolf pouncing on her. She yelled. She awoke. There was light this time.
