I've Walked With You, Once Upon A Dream

The wedding reception is full of wolves enjoying themselves, eating, drinking, and laughing. Fern has been making the rounds with Rudy, talking to friends and family as they go but the whole time, the gray girl can’t help but be distracted. He had been at the wedding ceremony, the wolf from the fairytales her mother had told her about in what feels like another lifetime. Soft blue eyes sweep the collection of wolves every now and again as she looks for the winged wolf that had taken center stage in many of the bedtime stories Meadow would tell. Truthfully, she had taken all the stories Meadow told her of the wolves the older wolf had met in her travels with a grain of salt since her mother had been prone to flights to fancy. Yet… she had just seen the mythical wolf that the little pup would beg her mother to tell her about over and over and over again until the gray pup could see him in her dreams.

Eyes scan the crowd once more and her heart skips a beat as she sees him. Turning to Rudy, Fern politely excuses herself to make her way over to Mortis. His name is ingrained in her memory alongside the story of how the two had found the great horned owl named Rigel. The winged boy, Mortis, had sung a song and the owl had flown down and into their lives. A momentary pang of sadness tugs at the gray girl as he wonders where Rigel is and if he is okay. He had been loyal to Meadow and, the moment she had left this world, the grieving owl had taken flight and has not been seen by the gray girl since. Fern shrugs off the sadness and plasters on a smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes. Sidling up to the wolf she had dreamed of as a pup, the gray girl clears her throat to get Mortis’ attention, meeting his gentle gaze before saying, “Mortis? Can I… uh… steal you for a moment?”

A pale paw points toward a door that leads out to the balconies that overlook the blooming gardens as Fern turns her pleading eyes up to the winged wolf. Words are failing her in this happy place and, if he chooses not to follow her, the gray girl is certain she will loss her nerve to talk him. So, she stands there, eyes begging him to follow her out while her lips stay unmoving.

"Fern Lark"