Bows and Arrows

The forest was beautiful. Peaceful. Undisturbed. Barely any human ever ventured into the woods these days. Word is that, many decades ago, the sightings of wild animals had been enough to have everyone stay away. Some self-proclaimed hunters tried their luck, leaving traps here and there. Not catching anything, they lost interest after a while, but people remained cautious and avoided the place.

Leaving the forest to live on its own, wild and almost completely forgotten.

The autumn leaves were freeing themselves from the trees, nature being ready for winter to take over in a few weeks. Everything around was quiet, except for the loud crunching noise that was disrupting the tranquillity of the afternoon.

Someone was coming.

She must have been 5 or 6 years old at most. Her light blond hair was in two dishevelled braids, her bright yellow beanie slouched on her head like a little parcel of sunshine trying to chase the grey clouds away. Somehow, even with a green raincoat and glittery blue rubber boots, everything looked in perfect harmony.

The bear, the she-wolf and the snow leopard cub observed in silence what was about to unfold, waiting for the right moment. They had hidden themselves behind some nearby bushes and large ancient trees because, even in their spirit forms, they had to be vigilant. You can never really know who is watching and Willow had been very clear: no one could see them or everything would be ruined.

Not that the little girl would’ve seen them anyway. Her bright green eyes were fixated on something in front of her: a small bundle of grey and white fur with what seemed to be a cut on its front paw. A small growl escaped the pup’s mouth, making the girl stop walking and hold her hands up in a surrender motion. Her face scrunching up, brows all furrowed, she was trying to solve the situation.

Then her face lit up.

What idea had just crossed her mind?

And, more importantly, how was the pup going to react?

Amazed, the spirits watched the child lower herself to the ground, kneel, and bare her neck to the little pup.

Clever girl, they thought, as she started to speak in a very soft voice.

“I saw a documentary about wolves with my mom the other day. The lady talking said that when a wolf wants another wolf to know that they mean no harm, they show their neck like this. That way, the wolf knows they won’t hurt them because they respect their…hum… authoritary. I really hope the lady was not lying, though. Because if she was, showing you my neck will do me no good, won’t it? Mom and I have read Little Red Riding Hood, you know.”

She paused, the pup observing her with curiosity.

“Well, you’ve stopped growling at me. That’s good, right? Does that mean I can move closer?”

She laughed out loud, remembering the wolf could not answer her. She had always loved animals. They were all so unique and interesting. Meeting a wolf was definitely a first, and she was well aware that the situation was more dangerous than petting Mr. Willy, the class’s guinea pig. She had to be in “super-extra-careful mode,” as her mom would say.

Still down on her knees, she shuffled a little closer while keeping her head tilted to the side so her neck was still showing. When she was about one foot away from the pup, she extended her hand toward him, hoping he would sniff it and accept her. Not wanting to watch her hand maybe get the chop, she closed her eyes and waited.

After what seemed like the longest seconds of her life, she could not help the giggle that escaped her when she felt something licking her hand.

“So, I guess we are best friends now?” she said, smiling at the wolf, who was now looking at her with his tongue lolling out of his mouth.

“To really help you, I need to sit down and take stuff out of my backpack, okay?”

She sat on the ground, moving slowly to make sure she was not scaring her new wolf friend. She started rummaging through her backpack. For one this small, she sure took a lot out of it before finding what she was looking for. Weirdly shaped rocks, dried flowers, a magnifying glass, a headlight, the figurine of a turtle with a purple mask wielding a bō staff and, finally, some bandages and plantain leaves.

“It won’t hurt, I pinky promise. These are just plantain leaves,” she reassured the pup smelling the leaves with apprehension.

“My mom taught me to use them to help when the skin is hurt. Mom said they were first used in Scotsland by the knights. Knights used swords to fight, you know? I guess they were bound to get some cuts, huh?” she explained.

As if that was enough explanation, the pup was now lying on his belly, watching the girl’s every move.

“How did you hurt yourself like that? You are so lucky my window was opened. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have heard your little howls and—”

At that, the pup growled a bit louder as if to say, “how dare you? I am a powerful wolf!”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I mean your big wolf king howls,” she corrected herself, and the pup huffed, seemingly satisfied that the girl understood whom she was dealing with.

She delicately took the pup’s paw in her hands to look at the nasty cut. She put some leaves into her mouth and chewed on them to make a paste, just like her mom had taught her. When pleased with the mixture, she placed it on the wound and wrapped a bandage around it.

“There, all done! You can go to your mum-wolf and dad-wolf now, little king.”

But as she got up, the pup took her raincoat in his mouth and pulled on it, making the little girl fall back on her butt.

“Hey! What was that for?” she asked the pup, who was wagging his tail and looking at her expectantly.

“You want me to stay? All right, I can stay but only for a little bit because, to tell you the truth, my mom does not want me in the woods alone,” she said in a hushed voice as if her mom could hear her from this far.

She leaned against a nearby tree and the pup came closer, careful with his bandaged paw, to snuggle into her arms.

They stayed there together for a while. She petted him, caressing his soft fur and observing his piercing, golden eyes. He truly was adorable. Since they were friends now, she talked about herself. She talked about how she loved the colour green a lot. “All the greens, really,” she said. She explained why Pocahontas was her favourite princess, even though she hated the second movie.

“Pocahontas does not marry John Smith! That’s just crazy!” she said, clearly frustrated. She also explained why Mulan was a close second because “she saved all the China with her horse, her dragon and her cricket and her friends.”

She told the pup about her mom, recalling how they’d always lived near the forest and how much she loved her house. She went on and on about her bedroom that had so many plants in it. She even let the pup in on her mom’s secret.

“You need to talk to the plants, you know? Mom says it helps them grow and stay strong. Mom really loves plants, and she is just the bestest at mixing them. It’s true! She makes my shampoo with flowers and stuff and it smells so good!”

The pup yipped happily, as if he was agreeing with her, climbing on her and sniffing her hair with his snout.

“Well, speaking of my mom, I have to go now. She will wake up from her nap soon. She thinks I’m also taking a nap,” she said, slowly getting up and putting the pup on the ground.

The pup whined a little and made what the girl thought must have been the cutest “puppy-dog-eyes.”

“Aww, don’t look at me like that. I really have to go. You know I would like to see you again, but you’ll probably forget about me once I am gone, huh? You’ll go back to your family and live a super fun wolf-life with all your wolf-friends. I hope you remember me, though. That way, if we ever meet again, you won’t eat me or anything,” she said, a sad laugh leaving her while she started to make her way home.

Looking one last time at her friend, the girl said, “My name is Sasha, by the way. I don’t know if you have a name, but I feel like you should have one because you’re my friend,” she says with her finger to her lips, thinking hard to choose the perfect name.

“I’ve got it. I’ll call you Orion, like my favourite constellation. Bye, Orion. Be safe.”

At that name, the she-wolf’s ears perked up. She turned to the others and nodded.

“The young one really is the one,” she said.

“Let’s get to work then!” the snow leopard cub said, putting his paws in the eyes of the bear while trying to stand up on her head. The cub jumped down from his favourite spot and started running around the other two, tracing a moon crescent in the autumn leaves.

“Quick, they’re leaving!” said the bear.

“It’s ready! Did you see how fast I was?” the cub said, jumping around excitedly.

“If we did not see it, you made sure to remind us, didn’t you, cub?” the she-wolf said, rolling her eyes.

“You guys never stop. Just get in position and put your crystal on the ground. We cannot lose another second,” the bear said.

Each spirit took its place, closed their eyes and smashed their paws on the green piece of jade, just like she had instructed them to. Then, just like she had said it would, time stood still for a moment, both child and pup frozen in time and space. It was as if the entire forest had stopped breathing, not wishing to disturb whatever was happening.

The spirits opened their eyes, pupilless and glowing bright green, their gaze locked on the jade powder going into the air, shimmering like fairy dust, and gathering over their heads to form a scintillating bow and three piercing arrows.

The bow bent on its own, the cord going tight as if held by an invisible hunter, ready to shoot at its target.

As the arrows were released, a wave of power surged through the forest, making all the fallen leaves fly high in the air. When the last one fell back in place, everything started moving again, and where the spirits were once seated, no trace of them could be found.

The spirits were gone, and the forest was breathing again.