Crossing the Line(Shelby Lawrence) Crossing the line.

There she was, walking in the woods near her favorite spot by the stream. The water was higher than usual from all the snow meltage that had occurred two days ago. Small signs of spring were showing, a couple of green buds on the trees, squirrels bouncing around, and a few little flowers scattered about. The sun shone through the trees and glistened on the surface of the silvery water. She sat down at the edge of the water, on a rock, and dangled her toes into the icy water. It sent shivers up her spine, yet she kept her toes there because she found pleasure in it. A doe emerged from the brush across the stream. It didn’t notice her is it bent down to lap up the life-giving liquid. She watched the doe in silence, for she did not want to spook it. The birds chirping, the tranquility of the stream, the green buds showing through the clumps of snow, and the doe peacefully drinking set her mind to rest. She layed down on the rock, and the sounds of the forest began to lull her to sleep. Just as she was about to give in to the tiredness and doze off, she heard a twig snap. The doe perked up it’s head and stared off behind her. The doe bolted away.

She turned her head around to see what spooked the poor doe, she couldn’t see anything, yet she got a sudden sinking feeling in her chest, and she could sense impending doom. Without thinking she stood up, and faced toward the direction of the sound, and slowly backed up. That’s when she saw a gray tail through the brambles. Desperately she looked for an escape route. Seeing no suitable getaway, she scrambled up a tall, ladder-like pine tree. She knew the scent of the pine would disguise her scent. After about seven feet she stopped climbing. She perched on a branch that was hovering over the ground. Her mind whirled at the thought that she was directly over what could very well be the end of her life. The merciless creature stepped into the little cleared out area directly under her tree. It began sniffing around, the way that wolves do, looking for his next victim. It was one of the largest wolves she had ever seen, the big muscles rippled under his pelt, and the sharp teeth glistened in the sun.

The branch cracked slightly, and the wolf looked around, and then he looked up and made direct eye contact with her. She tried not to blink, but the wolf wasn’t stupid, it gave a short howl, and then two more equally large wolves came through the brambles. Then she grabbed a piece of branch and threw it far behind them, they bolted after it, but they weren't gone for long. They had realized they were tricked. They started jumping at her legs, and the worst possible thing happened. The branch that was her lifeline gave out on her and she plummeted to the ground, and nearly landed on top of the lead wolf. They were immediately surrounding her, glaring her in the eyes. She raised her head, thinking to herself, If this is the way i’m going to die, then I might as well die with dignity. Then, she decided that she wouldn’t go down without a fight. She grabbed the branch that betrayed her, and stood up, she began smacking it around, and the wolves began backing up. Finally she was able to get out of the circle, and ran over to a spot with a bunch of empty whiskey bottles, someone else had dropped there a few months ago. She snatched them up and tied one to each fist with some discarded shoe string, and then smashed them on a rock so that if she punched one of the wolves, the broken glass would cause a lot more damage. They advanced toward her, and she could feel their hot breath. As she slowly backed away from them, she was also showing her fists and shouting at them. She grabbed a branch and was able to reach out and smack the lead wolf in the face. He flopped on the ground and the other wolves began sniffing at him, then she bolted as fast as she could, running through the trees and getting scraped by brambles. When she looked behind her, she saw them about twenty feet away. I will never be able to outrun them, but i’ve got to try, she thought to herself. She ran as if she never ran before, and she felt their hot breath at her heels. As she ran she waved the branch behind her, trying to keep them a good distance away, but then the branch smacked against a rock and broke, so she dropped it because now it was useless, and it was just adding weight that would slow her down. Finally she saw where the woods came to an end and where her backyard started. The bright light shone through the trees, and she reached out to it as if it were an old friend. The wolves were slowing down, but not enough to stop running. Her mind was racing as fast as her feet, and she didn’t know if she was going to make it out alive.

She could just see the stretched wire that bordered the woods and yard. One of the wolves snapped at her ankles, and ripped off a piece of her pant leg. That was a close one. Another one tried to grab at her long brown hair, but it missed by a millimeter. Then, time seemed to slow down, as she leaped from darkness into light, and crossed the line into safety, yet she kept running, and that’s when her loyal dog, a medium sized Lab, German shepherd mix, came rushing out of the house and greeted her, and then stopped the wolves dead in their tracks. They stared at him, and he stared at them for a solid twenty seconds, then he growled deeply. “Scout! No!” She shouted, because she knew that he was sacrificing himself for her. She rushed over and stood beside him. “If you go, i’m going with you.” The wolves growled angrily, and bared their teeth. Scout took one small lunge at them, and smacked the lead wolf in the face with his paw, he had some sharp nails, and it was enough to send the wolf running for the hills. Two more ran after him, and the wolf that stayed leaped onto Scout, and they tumbled around tearing off bits of fur from each other, and ripping into each others flesh. “Scout! Please!” Finally the quarrel died down with Scout lying on the ground, bleeding heavily from a wound in his neck. She rushed over to him. “Scout! Oh Scout! You sacrificed yourself for me, you are the true definition of a hero.” Tears rolled from her eyes as if the Hoover Dam let loose. She turned her head and saw the wolf standing their in pride, and then she lunged at him and landed right on top of his back. Then she grabbed around it’s neck as it tried to buck her off. Her heels dug into it’s sides and she was able to force it to the ground. Then, with the wolf pinned down, she smacked it a couple of times in anger, “You stupid wolf! You killed my best friend you son of a bitch!” Finally she wrapped her hands around it’s head and snapped it back. It was dead in an instant. She looked over at Scout and saw him fighting for breath. Slowly she got off the wolf, and crawled over to Scout and stroked his ear, and laid next to him.

She laid there in anger and frustration.

Scout lifted his head up, and licked her cheek, and then flopped back down. His eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he gave a final breath. “Oh Scout. I promise to never own another dog in my life, none could ever come close to replacing you. I pray that you have a safe trip over the Rainbow Bridge.” Then she put her hand on his flank. She whispered softly, “I will avenge you, I’ll kill every last one of those God damned wolves if I have to. They crossed the line, I will always love you. That’s what love is right? You died for me, and I would do the same.”

---