The young wanderer went away as he always did, but this time something was waiting for his return in the forest. As he set up his camp and ignited his lantern, and let his thoughts burn into the atmosphere with the fire spirits, the stars twinkled above his head like smiling eyes and the leaves danced in the wind to his song. It was time for the wolf to find him.
The wolf was as old as the forest was, and the forest had stood there for time immemorial, loyally waiting for souls to return. The wanderer, head down, closed his eyes and let his body sink into the nest he had built on the ground, and just as he began to drop into himself, the howling began.
The wolf was getting closer, he’d been hungry for a while.