Chapter 03
1317 Words
Stella Hart
When I saw that he was still breathing, a sigh—one I hadn’t even realized I was holding—escaped my lungs.
“Ah… thank God.”
The words slipped out before I knew it.
For a ridiculous second, I felt relieved.
*Relieved*
Because of an animal I’d never seen before.
I let out a nervous laugh.
“What’s wrong with me?”
“Stella?” Mom’s voice sounded distorted over the car’s speakers; I could barely hear her over the sound of the rain
“What are you doing?”
“I… I think it’s alive.” I shouted, hoping she could hear me.
“Alive? Stella, what’s all that noise? Is the car door open? Did you get out?”
“Yes, it’s breathing.”
Another pause.
“Honey...”
“You need to go home.”
“I... know.”
“Then get back in your car.”
I looked at the animal again.
Its black fur was almost invisible in the rain, except where the blood stained everything a dark red before disappearing into the water running down the ditch.
Every logical part of my brain agreed with my mom.
Leave.
Call Animal Control tomorrow.
Drive home.
Forget this ever happened.
But why?
Why couldn’t I move? Why couldn’t I just turn around and walk away?
I felt that heavy weight inside my chest.
As if walking away meant abandoning...
Someone.
No, not someone.
Something.
I furrowed my brow, bringing my hand to my face, trying to brush away the strands of hair that were stuck to my skin, wet from the rain.
This didn’t make any sense at all.
“Are you still there?” my mom asked, clearly worried.
“…Yes.”
“Honey, what are you doing?”
I didn’t answer right away.
Honestly, I wasn’t even sure myself.
My hand moved down, searching for the zipper on my jacket almost on its own.
I unzipped it and stared at it for a second.
Then I looked back at the animal.
“Stella?”
“I’m just… going to cover him up.”
“Don’t touch him, Stella! It could be dangerous! My God, girl!”
“He must be freezing, out in the rain like this...”
“No, he isn’t.”
“It’s raining really hard.”
“Then get back in the car. Leave that animal there—there’s nothing you can do, sweetheart.”
I smiled without meaning to.
“You know I won’t be able to leave him here, right?”
My mom grumbled.
“Yeah, I know.”
The rain didn’t let up for even a second; before I knew it, I was just as soaked as that animal.
Up close… he was huge.
I’d seen big dogs before.
German Shepherds.
Mastiffs.
Even a Great Dane once.
But this one wasn’t any of those.
He looked…
Wild.
Beautiful in a kind of terrifying way.
Carefully—very carefully—I draped my jacket over part of his body.
“There...”
When my fingers ran through his wet fur, something inside me changed.
I felt something warm, like a heat.
A strange, silent warmth that spread through my chest so quickly it took me by surprise.
I froze there, with my hand on him.
“…It’s okay.”
I looked around, as if someone else might have felt that too.
But it was just me there—me, the rain, and him…
“I’m officially losing my mind.”
Talking to myself wasn’t exactly helping.
Even so…
I couldn’t stop.
“It’s okay.”
I wasn’t even sure anymore if I was still talking to him.
“I… I’m going to get you out of here.”
His breathing was still slow.
Painfully slow.
“I just have no idea how.”
I crouched down closer to his side.
“You weigh… how much?”
I laughed once.
“A thousand pounds?”
No answer.
“Come on, help me.”
I shook my head, denying my own actions.
I’m talking to animals now—I can’t even believe it. My mom would definitely have me committed if she saw this.
Very carefully, I slid an arm under his shoulders.
I expected him to react.
To growl or bite.
To do something—anything.
Instead, his body remained motionless.
Heavy.
Much heavier than I expected.
“Oh my God…” I muttered with difficulty.
I could barely lift him a few inches.
“No.”
I lowered him again, breathing heavily.
“This is impossible.”
My mom was still talking on the phone, but all I could think about was how I was going to get that animal to the car.
Using my jacket as a makeshift sling, I managed to drag him little by little across the soggy ground.
It was exhausting.
Every few feet, I had to stop just to catch my breath.
Rainwater streamed down my face.
Mud was already covering my jeans.
And my hands were stained red.
Somehow, after what felt like an eternity, I reached the back door of my car.
With one last desperate effort, I managed to get him into the back seat.
Water immediately soaked the upholstery.
Mud, blood, rain.
I stared at the mess I’d just made.
“…My future self is going to hate this.”
“Stella!”
My mom, again.
“Sweetheart, what are you doing?”
“…Nothing.”
“That sound—that wasn’t the sound of ‘nothing.’”
I sat in the driver’s seat and slammed the door.
“…Maybe I put him in my car.”
“You WHAT?”
“You picked up a wild animal?”
“I think it’s a wolf.”
There was total silence.
Then—
“A wolf?”
“I think so.”
“I have absolutely no idea what goes through your head sometimes, you know?”
“…Me neither.”
“I’m serious!”
“You spent your entire childhood bringing home injured animals.”
I vaguely remembered that.
“A pigeon with a broken wing.”
“Oh...”
“A stray cat.”
“…I remember that one.”
“A… opossum pup.”
“I’d forgotten about that one.”
“And now a wolf?”
“I know it sounds bad.”
“Bad? It sounds crazy.”
I rested my forehead on the steering wheel for a second.
“I’m sorry.”
The words came out softly.
“I know I’ve worried you a lot over the years.”
She didn’t answer right away.
“It’s just that I...”
I swallowed hard.
“I’m fine, Mom.”
“You don’t have to pretend with me.”
“I’m not pretending.”
For the first time that night...
I really meant it.
As strange as it may seem...
I was fine.
“I’ll call you as soon as I get home.”
“Do you promise?”
“I promise.”
“If you don’t call...”
“I know.”
“You’ll drive out here.”
“You can be sure I will.”
That finally made me laugh.
“I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
The call ended.
For a few seconds, the only sound inside the car was the rain.
I looked in the rearview mirror.
The wolf hadn’t moved.
It was still breathing.
It was still alive.
“…What now?”
Honestly, I hadn’t the faintest idea.
—
When I pulled into my garage, it was well past midnight.
My house was exactly where it had always been—on the edge of the forest, hidden behind towering pine trees and ancient oaks.
Most people found that scary.
I’d always thought it was…
Peaceful.
Tonight, though, all I could think was:
Okay, genius.
You brought a wolf home.
Now what?
- Writer
