~ by Leora Lam (10 years old)
Val was a beautiful, graceful and kind wolf-girl. She had hazel brown, wavy, waist-length hair and glowy amber eyes. Her long tresses waved from side to side as she walked, and she lived in a forest deep in the woods with her foster wolf parents.
When Val was an infant, her parents abandoned her and left her in the forest clearing. It was a turbulent time of tribal wars, unrest and bloodshed. To preserve her life, Val’s parents made the painful decision to leave her behind, trusting that better caretakers would come for her. When they left her, they had kissed her on the forehead before leaving her on a grass patch near a forest. Not long after, Val was found by a pack of wild wolves. From then on, the pack of wolves took her in and nurtured her as their own. Now, these were a pack of very special wolves. They were gifted the ability to speak by an angel, the day they took Val in.
When Val turned eighteen, the wolves gave her a special, exquisite necklace with an idocrase pendant on it. The idocrase gem was a gleaming, glowing purple with a hint of white. The wolves told her that it was to be used to communicate with them when there was danger. The wolves brought her to a lake. The lake had glowing fish and Val was so amazed. The wolves told her to make a wish above the lake.
“But why?” asked Val, rather confused, as during her last few birthdays she had not done anything mysterious like that.
“It’s your eighteenth birthday, Val, and we wolves believe that holding a rite like that on your eighteenth birthday brings good fortune!” replied the leader of the wolf pack, Candice.
Candice was a beautiful she-wolf with caviar, black, luscious fur and deep, persian blue eyes.
“Ok, I guess...I’ll do it,” replied Val. Unbeknown to the wolves, Val wished upon something really unexpected. It was a wish that could potentially expose the wolves’ secret hideout to the human hunters.
“Okay, I have made my wish, Candice. Now, what do I do?” asked Val.
Candice replied, “Well, now just wait patiently, my child.”
And so, for the next few days, Val just waited patiently for her wish to come true. After a few days, some hunters came by the forest. Val’s eyes sparkled in delight while
Candice and the wolves rushed her to hide in a place of safety.
After the hunters had gone, Val said to the wolves, “Those hunters looked familiar.”
“There’s this strange familiarity,” Val whispered, though unable to lay a finger on what or why that was.
“Perhaps, it is because they have come here before, that's why they look familiar. Might be their scent that you recognise, Val,” replied Candice.
“Remember, you are a wolf kit, you are one of us,” Candice reassured.
For awhile, Val didn't think much of them, and very much carried on with her daily affairs like hunting, cooking and collecting firewood. On other days, she would go to the lake for a swim or just walk leisurely around the forest.
But one day when she was walking, she saw a shaft of strange glowy light.
“A mirage!” she gasped!
Curious, she stepped into the luminous column of light.
As she inched in, she could see a baby being carried by some people. They looked like the hunters Val saw and the baby looked like her as it had the unique strawberry birthmark that she had that was the shape of a heart. She then saw a few wolves just like the ones who are taking care of her now. Val felt a little sad as she had not expected her parents to be hunters, she also felt excited as she finally knew who her parents were.
“Could it be them?” she whispered silently to herself.
“Did my wish come true?” she pondered.
She understands it all now. The hunters she saw a few days back were her biological parents.
She wanted to know more about them so she left the light and ran back to the wolves.
“I…I….I….I know who my parents are!” Val shrieked, her body trembling with excitement.
“Val,...what do you mean?” asked Sky, the leader of the pack.
“I…I…I…saw this light shaft and I saw my parents with me…they were the hunters we saw!” replied Val. Candice was surprised and nervous. She sure hoped Val would not choose them over her.
For the next few days, Candice panicked. She was very anxious about Val’s decision as it could affect them too. She tossed and turned in her den and could not sleep.
One fine evening she caught Val leaving her den, “ Val, where are you going?” asked Candice, concerned.
“I’m…I’m going to find my biological parents!” exclaimed Val happily, but Candice was not as happy as Val. She was actually not happy at all. “Why..why…didn’t you tell me?” asked Candice.
“U..uh….umm I didn't want you to know, that’s why,” replied Val.
Val then scurried off without saying a word.
“No! Val! Nooooo!” screamed Candice chasing after Val.
Candice felt very sad as she might not be able to see Val ever again.
Meanwhile, Val was walking in the forest, she was anxious to find those two hunters as she desperately wanted to meet her parents. She wandered further and further into the forest until she came across a swamp. “How am I going to cross this?” Val wandered to herself. Just at this moment, Val noticed a log just long enough to span across the river. Val had no problem lifting it as she was really strong as she often went hunting with the wolf pack. She then walked across.
Val continued walking as beads of perspiration trickled down her forehead. She was famished and tired and really wanted to turn back as it was getting dark. Just as she was about to turn back, she realized she was completely lost! She got scared as the sky got darker and darker. She crouched down near by a bush and camouflaged herself in it.
She started tearing up and started crying. “ I…I…I ne…ne…never should…ha..have left.” Val wept feeling scared and regretful at the same time.
At this time, Candice and a few other wolves walked into the forest trying to find Val. “Val! Val! Val!” they all called out one by one before they reached the swamp. “I can smell Val’s scent, she was here! Oh wow, and there’s a log for us to cross! Let’s go!” Candice said to the other wolves as she trotted forward and across the log.
The sound of Val’s weeping lead the wolves to her. “Oh, Val are you okay??” asked Candice worried. “Y..y..y..you came for me, even though I left without you?” asked Val trembling. “Yes, Val, we…we are family,” Sky continued. “Let’s go home, now.”
As they were walking back, Candice said tearfully, “Oh and…I…I’m sorry your wish didn’t come true.” “It already did!” Candice paused before looking fearfully at Val. “You…you…mean you met your parents?” Val asked. “Yes, I already did…you wolves are my family…you came for me even after I’ve abandoned you,” Val sobbed. “I’m sorry for not realizing this before. I really love all of you!” Val exclaimed crying as they all hugged.
A few years later, the same hunters came back. The wolves and Val went behind a rock. Candice looked at Val and asked “Want to go meet your parents? “
“Nah, I have you guys and that’s all that matters,” Val answered with a twinkle in her eye.
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