week 3 story: the wolf that lied

As the morning grew closer and the wolf grew tired and hungry, he was desperate for food. He had gone far too long without a meal and had a plan of action in place.

He carefully crept to the village just on the outskirts of the dark woods where he scavenges each night to find his last resource for food -- humans. As he neared, visions of his brother being shot by a farmer flashed through his mind. The nerves began to rise.

"There must me some other way," he thought as he continued to tremble through the woods.

After brainstorming for 100 yards and reaching the village, an idea popped into his head, "Maybe I can make friends with one of my cousins -- a dog!" 

This was his new mission: make friends with a dog in order to then steal his food.

As the wolf wondered through the village, the sun slowly began to peak over what was once his dark kingdom. As the roosters crowed, he looked closely for dogs to befriend. 

"Ah-ha!" he said to himself as he saw a beautiful Golden Retriever looking his way.

The wolf approached the dog with ease and greeted him with a kind, "Hi there, cousin!"

Excited to meet a new friend, the dog welcomed him over the barbed wire fence that was keeping the wolf out. What he didn't explain to the wolf was why he could not cross the barbed wire from his end.

As the owner approached the dog to feed him, he jumped back startled. Luckily, the dog and wolf made their plan of how to act when the owner approached them so he would know not to harm the wolf.

The dog's tail was wagging from side to side as he received "kisses" from the wolf. They pranced and played until the owner made it close enough to pet the wolf. He could not believe what he was experiencing!

He put out two bowls of food and disappeared. 

"YES!" the wolf shouted. 

The dog looked at him with confusion, "Have you not eaten anything?"

In an effort to be kind and care for his cousin, the dog even offered the wolf his own bowl of food. The wolf was so excited to eat, he didn't notice the owner sneak up behind him. He felt a little tug on his neck and, despite his natural instinct, he continued to eat.

The owner kept refilling the wolf's food bowl as he could see how slim he was due to malnourishment. The wolf was well-fed and ready for bed.

"I'm going to get some rest now, cousin. You know, I usually only sleep during the day, so I am exhausted!" said the wolf.

The dog showed him the barn where he could cool down and sleep until night time comes and he is re-energized.

As darkness dominated the village, the wolf arose from his slumber. 

"Time for action," he thought to himself as he crept past the dog.

He slowly made his way back to the fence from which he entered and was ready to make a run for it. 

"Thanks for the food, suckers!" He thought as he took a running lunge to send his body over the fence.

"HOOOOOOOOWL," came bursting out of the wolf's mouth.

(Image from Flickr.)

He had been shocked! Confused and in pain, he tried again, but the second time hurt even worse. The dog woke up and sprinted towards the wolf.

"What are you doing? Do you not remember my owner putting a shock collar on you? He told you not to go anywhere. Why wouldn't you listen to him?" The dog shouted angrily.

The wolf was speechless. He had no recollection of those words and could not believe what he was hearing. How could this be? In a matter of seconds he realized all that he had sacrificed for some dog kibble.

As the wolf dragged his feet back toward the barn, he mumbled, "I guess it's true, what comes easy is never worth having..."


Author's Note:

I based my story off of The Dog and The Wolf from Aesop's Fables by Joseph Jacobs. This story has a wolf meeting his cousin, which is a dog just as I have in my story. He stumbles past him as he is trembling with hunger. The dog offers him to join him and be fed by an owner and not have to worry about scavenging for food, but the wolf refuses. 
In my version of the story, I have the wolf seek the dog out of desperation without realizing all the he will lose. My version of the wolf is so hungry that he can't think of the consequences following his actions -- he just knows he needs food fast.

Aesop's Fables by Joseph Jacobs; The Dog and The Wolf.

reading notes: the shepherd's boy, part b

I read The Shepherd's Boy from Aesop's Fables by Joseph Jacobs for this reading. I chose to read this simply because it has a wolf integrated into the story.

I enjoyed this short story as another trait I learned about wolves is the fact that their foolishness can sometimes lead them into trouble. In this story, this is what stood out to me:

• The setting made the story. If this would've taken place elsewhere, this may not have happened. The author describes the surroundings with just enough detail to set the eerie mood.
• The boy wanted attention, so he lied. I think this would be integrated into my story in some way, but using the wolf in place of the boy. Maybe even having the wolf lie to his "cousin" dog that I read about in the last story in order to get food. But, ultimately becoming trapped as a pet and loosing his freedom.
• I love the quote that this story ended on, "a liar will not be believed, even when he speaks the truth." This could come into play by making the wolf need to escape to save a pup or something, but the dog not believing him.

(Image from Flickr.)

Aesop's Fables by Joseph Jacobs: The Shepherd's Boy.

reading notes: the dog and the wolf, part a

This week, I am going to put forth my best effort to zoom in on the topics that truly interest me for my project.

Today, I read, "The Dog and The Wolf" by Joseph Jacobs. I loved this story. Although it was sweet, it was to the point. 

Here are the main points that stood out to me:

• the Wolf's longing for freedom and independence 
• the Wolf's ability to have a civil conversation with one of a different kind
• the Wolf's ability to stay loyal to his values

I love how the story ends with the Wolf calling the dog a fat slave as it took a 180 degree turn from how they communicated when they first met. This shows that wolves are kind until a boundary is crossed. Even though there was no harm done to the wolf in learning that the dog was chained up every night, he believes so strongly that his way is correct. His morals are black and white to him and he will make that clear for all to see.

I see this strong trait doing both good and bad for the wolf. Who knows, there could've been a whole pack of neighborhood dogs ready to teach the hungry lone wolf a lesson.

(Photo from PixaBay)

Aesop's Fables by Joseph Jacobs; The Dog and The Wolf.