The Red Wolf Heroine

Part I

It was a very hot day in San Antonio, Texas, as it normally was in September. My adopted daughter and I were getting ready to visit the San Antonio wildlife preserve. It was a tradition she and I had made after my wife, Larentia, had died of a stroke a few years ago. The reason we made it a tradition was because Larentia had been completely and utterly obsessed with all animals, especially red wolves, and for some strange reason being with the animals now made us feel like we were with her ourselves. After putting on my blue jeans and peach-colored T-shirt, I was tightly embraced by an excited, curly-haired figure.

            “Good morning, Mom!” she shouted.

             “Good morning to you too, Carol,” I said, struggling to get free of my child’s hold. “How about you let go so we can leave?”

             “Aww…. All right, Mom,” she pouted, before finally releasing me from her arms. Then she tried her best to run like a wolf all the way to the bathroom to get ready. I just shook my head, lightly chuckling.

            An hour later we finally made it to the wildlife preserve and, if I do say so myself, I think we were both happy to be back.

             “Ooh, I can’t wait to see the red wolves again, Mom! Did you know they are my favorite animals?” Carol said, bouncing up and down like a jack-in-the-box.

             “Yes, honey,” I answered, “you’ve told me a million times.” I whispered the last part to myself, but I doubt it made a difference since she wasn’t listening anyway.

            She dragged me beneath the giant welcome sign that read: “The San Antonio Wildlife Preserve” in gigantic yellow block letters with a cartoon cheetah on the side. I was soon greeted by a tall, buff, olive-skinned man with hair colored like a midnight sky.

            “Good morning Mrs. Ensio! And little Miss Carol! You sure have grown since the last time I saw ya,” he said.

            “Hey James, how are y….” I was cut off as Carol simply kept dragging me through the entrance.

            I quickly gave him the twenty dollar fee and continued to wherever Carol was taking me.

            Carol had always disliked him, although I’d never known why. Whenever I’d asked, she’d always responded, “There’s just something off about him,” but then again, Carol was a bit of an attention hog, so I wouldn’t have doubted that she was just trying to keep my attention on only her.

 

Part II

It wasn’t even twenty minutes later, while we were in the red wolf section of the preserve, that Carol took off running; she was yelling about having to use the bathroom. And, being the over-protective mom I was, I took off after her. I finally caught up to her in front of a tiny lavender gift shop we stopped at every once in a while. I was surprised was that the girl who usually took care of the gift shop wasn’t there.

            Instead, there was a young, slim, pale girl with long straight black hair wearing a rather expensive-looking charcoal gown that touched the floor. Her appearance reminded me of a witch you would see on a Halloween TV special. She was standing in a corner lazily holding a turtle plushy. Curiosity got ahold of me, so I went to ask her a few questions and, in the process, introduce myself.

            “…Uhm… Do you work here?”

            “Huh!” she said in a rather sudden burst of energy.

            “Ooh, hello, I’m Pyria Ensio and I wanted to know if you worked here by any chance, since I didn’t see the other girl who normally takes care of the shop,” I replied.

            “Why yes! I temporarily took over the job while she went on break. Father wanted me to became more in tune with commoners by filling in their shoes, or something like that,” she said in a sing-song way, “and by the way, my name is Elizabeth Morgana.”

            “Nice to meet you Elizabeth,” I responded reluctantly.

            “Oh no! The pleasure’s mine,” she said quickly, catching sight of something or someone out a window on the front right corner of the gift shop, next to the door. She started waving her hands as if shooing a person away. I turned around to see who she was waving at, but no one was there; the whole thing seemed rather suspicious. Before I could say anything, out of the corner of my eye I saw Carol run out the door, obviously thinking that I was back where she had left me, with the red wolves. Without uttering a single goodbye, I ran to catch her. God knew, with Morgana working there, I wasn’t bringing Carol around the gift shop; something just didn’t feel right. After that, nothing uncanny or strange happened until it was time to leave.

 

Part III

“Come on, Mom,” Carol whined, arms crossed over her chest. “Just a little longer!”

            “No Carol, we were supposed to leave at seven-thirty! Now it’s seven-forty,” I said, calm but stern.

            “Alright, Mom.”

            Out of nowhere, while making our way to the exit, we heard a gunshot. I grabbed Carol and hugged her tight. I tried to move, but was paralyzed from fear. After a time, I knew that all the security workers must have gone running toward the noise, so I let go of Carol and got my phone. While reaching in my pocket, I saw two figures walking about twenty feet away, one with an appearance that seemed to blend perfectly into the dark, except for his or her noticeably pale skin. The pale person held a comatose red wolf and a knife. The second person had a very tall stature and was holding a gun. In a sudden stage of panic, I grabbed Carol and tried to sneak as quietly as possible to the back exit.

            “Mom did...did they kill a red wolf!?” Carol said, her temper and voice rising.

            “Shhh, do you want to get killed?” I whispered a bit aggressively, trying to get my point across as quietly and quickly as possible. I saw the pair stop and start to turn around. I swiftly wrapped my arms around Carol and ran behind a tree, trying my best to erase my daughter and myself from view of the two figures.

            I heard the pale one say, “I can’t wait to add this to my collection,” with a soft voice, presumably female. It filled me with anger but I quickly calmed; it wasn’t the ideal time to unleash my rage. They seemed not to notice us and continued to make their exit from the scene, although they were going quicker this time. Gaining back my common sense and clear thinking, I rushed to get my phone out of my pocket and realized it was dead.

            “They killed a red wolf,” Carol said softly through her tears. “Why would anyone do that, Mom?”

            I looked at her sympathetically, tears streaming from my eyes as well. “I don’t know sweetie,” I said before taking hold of her hand and walking her back to the car, wanting to get away as fast as possible.

 

Part IV

As I put Carol to bed she grabbed my shirt and asked: “Mom, you’ll save the red wolves, right?”

            “Of course sweetie, of course” I said, wanting to ease her into sleep after a traumatizing day. “I’ll be your red wolf heroine, just wait,” I promised. Then I kissed her on the cheek and went off to bed myself.

            Suddenly, I found myself in a green patch of grass underneath a tree the size of a skyscraper. A red wolf made its way toward me with a gleam in its eye. “Larentia, is that you?” I said. Before I had a chance to think, she seemed to shake her head, sitting next to me, the wind blowing her shiny coat. We simply sat there in silence, looking at each other, understanding each other, and loving each other. Then out of nowhere, a cop car pulled up from the distance. It was dark, near midnight. A police man got out. I watched him arrest two people who looked like the two I’d seen earlier at the preserve. I gasped.

            “So the poachers were James and Elizabeth?” I asked Larentia. I’d known there was something off about her and I guess Carol had been right, too.

            The red wolf nodded lightly before laying down and crossing her paws. Then out of the darkness the owner of the preserve, whose face I remembered from the internet, was also there. He was enraged, but happy that the poachers had been caught. I must admit it felt nice seeing them brought to justice; Larentia looked happy too. I was in a state of bliss sitting with her, completely and utterly calm. Happy as can be. Then I was brought back into reality by the startling sound of the alarm, which usually annoyed me, but not today. I got ready and put on my outfit for the day. I kissed Carol on the head and whispered, “Don’t worry about a thing.”

            I drove to the police station to file a case. When I got there, they had already started the investigation, but I became a key witness. We went to court and won. James and Elizabeth were arrested. And although that was the one and only night I had a dream with Larentia, I guess that was all I needed to get over the past and become the red wolf heroine I was meant to be, for my daughter and for Larentia.