Heaven's Colors

Exerpt

The narrow eyes gleamed yellow in the pale moonlight. The boy could see the animal's breath on the cold night air and he felt a fear creep into his bones as cold as the night itself. The wolf looked at him, never wavering, never coming closer. It was the intensity of the gaze, the focus of thought and determination in the animal, which caused the boy the most concern.

“Go away!” he shouted at the creature. But the animal continued to stand there, not moving.

What was it doing here anyway? he thought. I've never seen a wolf in these woods before. Maybe it came from the north or had been driven from its normal home by man and machine. Whatever it reason for being here, its presence was both disturbing and frightful.

He could feel himself focusing on the beast in front of him. He dared not look away or he felt the wolf would sense his weakness. Such beasts as this prey on weakness – if he wanted to survive, he must not show any.

He remembered the hunt, the crispness of the snow under his feet. The sky was bright and sunny before. How did it get so dark, so fast? He was been following the tracks of, what was it again? A deer? A rabbit? His mind was fuzzy about these details. They seemed important at the time, but now he lost them in his memory. That was strange.

Suddenly something in the animal began to change. Its lips parted back, showing its white, sharp teeth. A low, guttural sound echoed from the throat of the beast and it arched its back, the fur standing up on end. It looked ready to spring at him.

What had he done? He had been perfectly still! He tried to raise his arms to protect himself but his arms were heavy and he was unable to move them. His hands formed a white death grip on his rifle but it was useless to him unless he could raise it. As much as he tried, his fear got the best of him and his strength wore away.

A fraction before the animal moved, the boy's heightened senses gave off an alarm to his brain that the attack was at hand. The boy gave a yelp of fear and closed his eyes just as the animal leapt toward him.