34
A spider was crawling on the sandy cave floor. William fell asleep again, and daylight, which flooded the wide opening of the cave, failed to awaken him. The spider’s long legs had reached an obstacle in their path. William’s forehead sent a message to his brain that something was crawling on the surface of his skin.
“Aaah!!!”
William was on his feet in seconds. He slapped the spider off with one sweep to his brow and shielded the new light from his eyes with the same stroke of his arm.
William’s first reaction was to head out of the cave and see what this new day was like. Not a soul was in sight. He must have traveled so far back in time that he was the only human in the area. Just as well, William figured, less to worry about.
William was losing track of time. Was it three or four days since he had arrived at this place and time? He pondered why he was so tired and slept the better part of the day and through the night in the cover of the cave. He felt it would be best to remain in the cave since it provided shelter. He had prepared a fire pit near the opening. Starting the fire was more difficult than he ever imagined. It took him almost two hours, but finally he was able to ignite the small twigs and dried leaves he had gathered. He kept the fire alive by burying embers beneath the ash so that if the flames died, he could quickly restart a blaze.
William spent as little time away from the cave as possible, staying inside except when he had to search for food. William was amazed how quickly he adapted to his new primitive existence. He caught fresh water fish in the nearby stream and picked berries, which were plentiful. But William had always been a red-meat eater, and today he craved some. He had seen rabbit droppings near the cave, but he had not actually seen any of the furry creatures. He set out on a mission to hunt and kill an animal smaller and less intelligent than himself.
The grounds immediately around the cave were now all too familiar to William. As he stared at the same rocks and the same vegetation, he realized that today it was time to go beyond his comfort zone. William tried to calculate the time of day by staring into the sun. By its position in the sky, he calculated that it was still morning. He was hungrier than ever.
As William turned, he saw another creature that appeared to him to be equally or perhaps more hungry than he was. A gray wolf, with white fur making up most of its face, was staring at him. The wolf was standing alone at the top of a small hill, but not for long. Two other wolves joined the leader then four more crested the small hill. And to William, it looked like the lead wolf was telling the pack, “Look, boys: breakfast!”
William’s mind raced with fear and the possibilities for escape. He knew that the cave behind him would be no help. Hope was lost. He accepted the harsh reality that he was alone and there was no way out. The wolves started moving toward him, splitting about as if they were about to execute a predetermined plan of attack.
William closed his eyes. In his mind it was pitch black; no light was visible. There was no opening through which he could escape. Just then he saw images of his daughters; he felt their touch. Kate was with them. They were calling him; they were there to save him. They were pulling him out of this nightmare. He looked at Kate, but his vision of her was blurred. William could make out that Kate was saying something to him, but he could not tell what it was. William was shaking. His entire body was trembling as though he had just emerged from a pool filled with ice water.
“Fight!”
William saw Kate clearly now. She was telling him to fight. As he opened his eyes, he could see the wolves were now very close. He could see his image in the eyes of the lead wolf. William reached slowly behind him, and his hand hit the vertical wall of the cliff adjacent to the cave. As he made contact with the wall small rocks fell away, making noise that startled the lead wolf.
“That’s right, be afraid. There is no way that I will let you and your friends hurt me.”
William was speaking softly as if to reassure himself that he was now in control. The wolves were sensing that their prey was about to defend himself. They moved sideways now but not away. Some of the wolves in the rear were growing impatient and now dared to make quick forward movements in William’s direction. One particular wolf emerged from the pack in an attempt to advance towards William. The others did not approve and scolded the brazen wolf.
William could feel the loose earth behind him, his right hand now frantically searching for something large enough to defend himself. The lead wolf was sensing the pressure from the others to commence the attack. The wolf launched forward at his prey with his teeth leading. William had found a jagged grapefruit-sized rock. His focus was on the teeth of the wolf that was about to tear into his neck. William placed all of his weight behind the rock. He could see the other wolves already following the lead wolf. He knew that his aim would have to deliver a fatal blow to their leader.
A deafening howl ensued upon a perfect aim by William. The rock landed heavily just over the wolf’s eye socket. The wolf fell to the ground in front of William, the fur at his head and neck saturated with dark red blood. The other wolves stopped in their tracks, growling at William but now hesitant to replace their leader. William, sensing their apprehension, quickly grabbed at the embankment, finding smaller rocks. He flung the rocks in succession. The wolves, now leaderless, having witnessed that a simple rock could be deadly, retreated toward the hill. William, now overcome with how close he had come to being harmed, continued to rifle more rocks at the animals. Finally the wolves seemed to reluctantly turn and run away until they were no longer in sight.
For the longest time, William stared at the dying wolf in front of him. The animal’s body twitched a couple of times and after all movement in the wolf’s side stopped, signs of breathing were gone. The wolf was dead. William felt compassion for the creature; it deserved to live as much as he did. He felt bad that he had actually killed an animal, worse knowing that he would probably have to do it again in order to survive. His hunger beckoned him to consider if the carcass before him was edible. In all of his recollections of western movies and in all of his reading, he did not recall a single time where the meat of a wolf was eaten. All of a sudden he realized that he was actually contemplating finding a way to dismember the animal that lay lifeless before him for his supper. The thought was repulsive. After all, this animal was a canine, and who knew what disease it might carry? On that thought, William found the strength to grab the hind legs of the dead animal and drag it away from the cave. After covering the wolf with rocks and sand some distance from the cave, William walked over to the edge of the stream. The water was cold and fast, removing the soil and sweat from his hands, arms and face, which was momentarily polluting the clear water directly in front of him. William waited a few moments; he scooped up some of the cool water into his cupped hands, drinking until he felt refreshed.