A Magical Night
The children settled down quietly# in front of the fire.
They were exhausted,# but they were happy.
It had been a good day.
The best day of his life, Jamie thought.
Dad had got them out of bed earlier.
If we are to hear the wolf-cry,# we have to go now, he had said.
It was what they had spent# the whole holiday waiting for.
Jamie rubbed his eyes# and stumbled into his clothes.
They were dirty, but today no-one cared.
He was actually a little bit scared# but he had not been able to tell anyone.
Tom and Lea, his older brother and sister,# had been so keen to go# he did not want to say that he was scared.
Scared of the wolves they were going to see.
Scared that they might break away# from their pack and run towards him.
Scared of the sound that they would make.
It was true that wolves# were handsome, majestic creatures,# but they were also fierce-looking.
And they were also vicious and wild.
But everyone else had been so excited# at the possibility of going to hear the wolf-howl# that he did not like to say anything.
Why was he always the one# who was afraid of everything?
So he followed Tom and Lea into the car.
He snuggled in between them,# grateful for their warmth in the cold morning air.
They drove for miles and miles# and Jamie could feel himself# drifting back to sleep.
Suddenly the car stopped and Jamie was jerked awake.
It was dark outside.
The trees made strange,# frightening shapes against the sky.
Dad did not need to ask the children to be quiet.
They were spellbound; because it was late,# because it was dark,# because it was all so strange.
Jamie glanced up at Tom and Lea.
They were scared!
He could see in Tom, a wide-eyed stare,# and in Lea, tightly-drawn lips.
And now that they were there,# he, Jamie, was not scared at all.
He hardly had time to puzzle over# how strange this was, when he saw something move# in the distance.
He could just make out some shapes# moving towards the opening in the trees.
It was the wolves!
There were several of them,# maybe ten or twelve, maybe more.
All at once, there was a cry.
It was a sound unlike any other;# a cry, a howl, a lament.
The strangest, eeriest sound# Jamie had ever heard.
The wolves thrust their heads back# and they were calling#, calling up to the sky,# to the moon.
Jamie thought it was the most beautiful sound# he had ever heard.
When they drove home,# he could not sleep any more.
He felt he had witnessed something# so mysterious that he needed space in his head# to think about it.
Tomorrow he would get a book# out from the library.
Maybe he would write a story about wolves.
One thing he knew for certain,# a wolf-howl was nothing to be scared of.
It was the most wonderful thing# that he had ever heard.