The Wolf travels far and wide, hungry. He always appears through a window, whether there is a wall for it to be attached to or not, a large arched window that he unlatches and pushes open, before climbing in to speak with whoever lies on the other side. He curls his left hand into a fist and raises his index and middle finger on his right, and using those two fingers he taps, three times on the back of his fist.
''Tap, tap, tap.'' It''s a ritual, his warning that he is present, and about to ask his question.
"Tell me a story." He asked They Who Are Of Fickle Virtue. They giggled, twinkling in code to each other before responding in unison.
"Once upon a time, there was a foolish boy, who thought himself above everyone around him. And one day, he heard the sky speak to him.
''Young great one, young great one, for thou who is so great, why not climb into the sky and stick around forever? Providing light and hope to all who are below you, for you shine bright enough to shine with us.'' The boy agreed with those who spoke from the sky trying to jump into them, to try and reach them, however he was unable to. Instead, he put on quite the amusing act for everyone around, causing him to become embarrassed and run off. He promised himself he would never try to jump to them again. Then, they spoke again.
''Young great one, young great one. Please join us, join us. We''ve need for your brilliance among us.''
''No!'' The boy responded,
''Last time I tried to join you, everyone laughed at me, and I couldn''t reach you.''
''Because you tried to jump to us from the ground. It is not high enough to reach us.''
''So, how do I reach you?''
''Jump from a higher place.'' The boy nodded and climbed to a higher place, the top of the doghouse in his backyard, however when he jumped from that, he fell onto his face. Angry, the looked to the stars again as they began laughing.
''I still fell!'' The boy shouted, angry. He began dusting himself off.
''And I''m still being laughed at!'' He shouted.
''We''re sorry, we''re sorry young great one, but surely you did not think jumping from that distance was enough.''Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
''Well, how high must I jump?''
''You must jump high enough to reach us. You are young but not stupid right, great one?'' The boy nodded indignantly, as he was not an idiot! He climbed a tree, the grand oak tree in his backyard, and once on the highest branch that could support his weight, he jumped and broke his arm.
A few weeks later the boy was in his bedroom, glaring out the window at the night sky, the moment they tried to speak to him, he would show them why they don''t mess with him, and then they spoke.
''Hello young great one, we''ve been missing your brightness among us.''
''Well, you shall continue to miss it, for you''ve done nothing to allow me to join you or encourage my quest! You''ve done nothing but give me false hopes, misleading directions, make a mockery of me to the public, and laugh at me! Why should I join you?''
''We apologize young great one. Your brightness is just too grand to ignore, and we''ve honestly never invited someone from down there to join us. We thought your jumping was all that had to be done. We were wrong, we apologize.''
''Have you figured out what must be done then?''
''We believe so we-''
''Belief is not enough for me, I want truth.'' The great one got up to shut his large window with his one good arm, when the stars rushed to speak again before they were shut out.
''We must catch you.'' The boy stopped, and let the window swing open.
''Go on.''
''There is nothing to go on with, you must jump from the highest point you can, and we will catch you and pull you to us.''
''And you swear I shall not fall? For the highest place we have is here, and I would prefer not to die.''
''You shall not die, nor shall you fall, young great one.''
''Will I get laughed at?''
''Of course not.'' The boy nodded and climbed out his window, and using his one arm, he climbed as high as he could to the top of his home, before he tried to jump, he looked to the stars once more, worried he may fall.
''You assure me, I will be caught, for a fall from this height would cause irreversible damage.''
''Yes, you shall be caught.'' With that guarantee, the boy nodded, stabling his breath and took a running up, before he ran to the sky. Arm outstretched, and for a moment, he felt he was flying. Then that flying quickly became plummeting, with the last visual he had before his demise being those fickle beings of false promises in the sky, watching him, twinkling with laughter."
The Wolf''s skin crawled as they continued to twinkle with laughter as they recounted the story, then the began telling the moral, each of them cutting each other off on delivering it, as if they were unsure which moral fit their tale more. "The moral of this story young wolf-"
"Is be careful who you wish for."
"Yes, because he trusted us far too-"
"Be careful what you wish for."
"Oh! Yes! For he did get what he wanted."
"Be wary of those in power, for they may get bored and decide to play a little game." When this one had spoken above the rest, they all quieted down, and seemed to agree with his words, not cutting him off. The Wolf nodded to himself, as he turned to go back through his window, questioning if he was like the stars he had been so terrified and repulsed by.
The End, for now
Thank You for reading
The Wolf in The Window