[Vfw-times] The Blizzard Inferno (Resend)

[by way of Oren Otter]

I think I messed up the address last time, so I'm resending this story to the 
VFW-Times.  Hopefully I have the right address this time.

                                                                         
Signed: W.O.L.F 0013

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The Blizzard Inferno
                                  By: W.O.L.F 0013

The cold became fire and the ice became searing coal. Time passed between now 
and when I found myself lost from my family. It seemed like an eternity, but 
there was no telling how long I lost them.  Or perhaps, it is they who lost 
me, but that did not matter, because for the first time ever in my life, I 
was alone.

Alone in a strange land, freezing and scared, facing death from both the 
brutal elements and the strange creatures that dwelled in this wasteland.  
This is not the way I wanted to leave this world, but as my strength began to 
wane, and each step became lower towards the ground, it became all too 
apparent what fate had decided, and finally I collapsed onto the snow covered 
ground, half frozen, and all but dead.

 My Memory fell back upon my family, upon my childhood, and upon the grim 
future facing us all.

I remembered the way my mother would nuzzle me as a child, the way she played 
and rejoiced along side me, and was sad when I was sad.  I remembered the way 
my brothers and sisters ran along side me into the unknown woods, oblivious 
to the world and not caring.  I remembered when father began teaching me how 
to track and hunt animals to help feed our family.

And, I remembered when 'they' first appeared. There were only a few at first, 
strange creatures unlike anything I had seen before, slow, loud, and clumsy, 
they were more a mystery then anything else.  Then there was no end to them.  
They came through our land, burned our home, took away our food and then 
began driving us out.

Confused frightened our family fled, only to find ourselves the land where 
these foul beasts come from, so, our father decided it'd be best to cross 
this land, and avoid as many of the creatures as possible.  Memory of my 
older brother and sisters death flooded into my mind.  Their loss, results of 
fathers first and probably last mistake.

With their death's fresh in my mind, it is now a comfort to know I shall soon 
journey to the other side to join them.  There, we will run and play again, 
along with mother, father and the rest of my brothers and sisters.  There, we 
will sing to the moon and hunt in peace, and there we will all once again be 
happy.

And with that thought, I closed my eyes for the last time, and smiled as the 
snow covered my fur and sealed my fate away.

========


A crowd had gathered around the dead body of the wolf that had been 
discovered earlier in the morn. Others were found across the city, all frozen 
by the worst blizzard in city history.  Some were glad, others couldn't care 
less, many were more curious then anything else.

But one among the crowd, a child, wept for the loss.
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