Broken Soul, Reaching Out

Fern felt gratitude for the silence Rudy had allowed her to partake in at first. When she broke the silence with her mundane question, Rudy offered her a slight nod of acknowledgement. The sound of birds chirping and small animals scurrying through the underbrush fills the space between for a moment before Rudy went on to explain they were close to where his family made their dens. The stiff smile that rests on her lips ticks up a degree and some tension melts from her body at the thought of being close to safety.

With a nod of understanding, Fern is ready to lapse back into a comfortable silence when Rudy’s voice surprises her. He lists the answers to her question from yesterday when she had brazenly accused him of not knowing what kind of wolf she is. A bubble of laughter raises in her throat and Fern clamps her jaws shut to try and hide. Instead, it decides to escape through nose as a disbelieving huff. The lopsided grin he gives her disarms Fern and her paws falter for moment before finding their normal cadence again.

He is very sure of his instincts and, for the moment, Fern will allow him this victory. With a snort of amusement, Fern says, “Fine Fly Boy. I will let you win this round. Maybe your instincts were right… this time.” Heavy emphasis is applied to the last two words. Fern worries that if he relies solely on his instincts to detect good and bad wolves he might need someone to be the voice of reasons at times. At that, the thought that she could be that wolf tries to enter mind, Fern quickly shoves it away. No. She is not getting attached to him.

Then Rudy asks the question that Fern had hoped he would forget about. How does she know of Resin? Panic swirls in her as she conjures up a million ways to avoid the question. In the end, after a couple minutes, Fern decides to be truthful. Voice soft with hidden emotions answers, “My mother was her sister.” Images flash through her mind of Meadow and her mother’s death. Before she can stop herself, Fern adds, “Her name was Meadow and she was…” anger flashes across her face before the cool mask of indifference appears, “an idiot.” The statement is flat and emotionless. No further reasoning is forth coming but a war of emotions rages behind her eyes.