The Animal Shelter: A Short Story

It was a rainy October day when I was finishing up at the Animal Shelter when I heard a banging on the front doors. The Animal Shelter was already closed but I still answered the door in case it was an emergency. "Cree! Thank the gods your still here, come quick!" Said my neighbor Frank Jones. "What's going on Mr. Jones? Is something wrong with Quill?" I asked. "No ma'am that 'ole dog is fine and dandy, don't you worry about him, there's another animal I found on my back porch that I'm more worried 'bout right now!" Answered Mr. Jones. I ran down the hall to the offices and told my best friend Sarah that I had to go check something out. Me and Sarah are so close we're like sisters. We look nothing alike because the Cherokee in me shows a

lot. From the long, dark, straight hair to the high cheek bones and darker skin that looks like a permanent tan. Sarah has auburn hair that's curly and light pale skin. One thing we both have in common though is the blue eyes. Hers are dark blue while mine are a light piercing blue that look as cold as ice.

I grabbed my bag that had everything I needed for an emergency like this and ran back out to the front door. "Come on Cree, I'll bring ya to 'em." Mr. Jones said. I ran out into the pouring rain and heard a loud deep rumble as the sky thundered and lightning crackled and lit up the night sky to make it look like it was the middle of the day for a few seconds until the sky went back to being dark. I jumped into the pickup truck and Mr. Jones got in the drivers side and drove to his house. "I tried ta help the fella but he wouldn't let me get near him ta see how badly he was hurt." Said Mr. Jones. "That's very nice of you to do that, you didn't get bit though did you Mr. Jones? You never know he might have rabies..." I said. "Nah! He didn't bite me, snipped and snarled at me but he never bit me Cree." Mr. Jones said waving me off.

After about 15 minutes we made it out to Mr. Jones's house. I grabbed my bag and ran around the back of the house to Mr. Jones's back porch. At first all I saw was a huge black heap that I thought was just a tarp thrown over a grill or something but when I looked again I saw it was an animal with thick shaggy black fur. I slowly approached the animal and when I was on the porch, standing a few feet away from the animal it slowly raised its head and looked at me with icy blue eyes. It was a he as Mr. Jones had told me and as he looked at me I could see the pain in his eyes but also the high caution of a wild animal. The wolf tried to get up but when he put weight on his hind left leg he let out a loud yelp and collapsed back down to the ground and whined. "Go and get me a plate of raw hamburger please Mr. Jones." I asked. "Sure thing Cree." He said as he disappeared into his house and came back out with my request a few moments later.

I crouched down and held my bag in one hand and the plate of raw hamburger in the other. I slowly crept towards the wolf making sure I had the meat in front of me. He growled at me at first but when he inhaled he smelled the meat and lifted his nose higher into the air and started sniffing the air. I was close to him so I held the plate out to him and he sniffed it and I slowly set it in front of him. He started eating it and I reached forward to stretch his leg out so I could get a better look at it but he growled warning me to back off. I had momentarily forgotten that he wasn't a dog but a wolf, a creature of the wild and I had given him food. He definitely wouldn't let me touch him until there wasn't anymore meat on the plate. He gobbled it down and was still licking his lips when I was finally able to stretch out his injured leg. That wasn't the only part of him that was hurt though because I could also see a tear in his shoulder.

I carefully felt his leg as he began to understand I was trying to help him. It was definitely broken and I would have to find a way to get him to the Animal Shelter. I remembered I had a sedative stored in my bag in case of something like this. I pulled it out and drew out a small dose. It was the dose recommended for a dog the size of a Retriever. It was the dose I felt safe to give him even though he was big for a wolf. I eased the needle into his neck and after a few minutes the wolf started getting disoriented as the sedative took effect in his body. I pulled out a muzzle from my bag and slipped it over his mouth. Mr. Jones helped me lift him up and carry him to his truck. We carefully set the groggy wolf down on the ground and Mr. Jones opened the tailgate of his truck. Then we put the wolf in the tailgate and I climbed in with him. I dragged him all the way back so he wasn't in the middle where he would slide around. I sat next to him and Mr. Jones shut the tailgate and got inside the truck. I tried to hold onto him because the roads in this town were long overdue for repaving and with every bump I heard the wolf cry slightly. I felt bad for him and the sooner he was healed the sooner he could be back in the wild.

As we got onto the smoother better kept roads he fell asleep.

His breathing was a soothing sound and I could feel his strong steady heart beat against the palm of my hand as I held onto him. His smell was musty and earthy at the same time, like wet dog and pine needles at the same time which both unpleasant and nice but was a confusing smell all together. He already had his winter coat and when I looked down at him he looked beautiful and dangerous at the same time. His injured shoulder was going to need stitches and he would need Nate to fix his leg. Nate was the veterinarian at the Animal Shelter and he did all the surgeries, me and him got along pretty well and when I needed to talk to someone other than Sarah he was the person I went

to.

We got back to the Animal Shelter and I jumped off the side of the truck.

Mr. Jones helped get the wolf out and I went and got a stretcher. We lifted the wolf onto it and I told Mr. Jones good bye. I pushed the stretcher across the parking lot and through the emergency doors. I stopped by the phone and called Nate. He picked up on the third ring and said "Hello?" "Nate! It's me Cree come down to the Animal Shelter, I need you." I said. There was a long pause and I thought he had put the phone down and left when finally he said "I'm on my way..." and then he hung up. I pushed the stretcher into the reception area and waited. About a half hour later Nate was here and when he walked in the front doors he saw the stretcher and the wolf. He hurried in and asked "What's wrong with the wolf?" I answered his question and told him everything from when Mr. Jones got here to when I called him.

The wolf started to wake up and I could tell the sedatives I gave him were starting to wear off. "Quick get him to the operating room, I'll give anesthetics and fix him up!" Nate said. I ran the stretcher through the hallways to the operating room. Nate got everything ready and I left him to it. "Go home Cree, your exhausted. You've done your job, I'll call you if anything happens." I heard Nate say as I was walking out. I took his advice and went

home.

The next morning when my alarm clock went off I didn't want to get up because I was still tired from my long night. I got up and got ready for work and left. I was thinking over how many animals I've dealt with over the past three years when my phone went off. I ignored it and payed attention to the slippery, wet road. I got to the Animal Shelter soon afterwards and parked in my normal spot. It was still early in the morning so I could see the mist that hung around the town still. I walked in and called "Nate? Sarah? Is anybody here?" "We're back here!" I heard Nate call. I walked down the hall to where the "recovery room" was. This room was where we kept animals who were healing after a surgery. "How's the wolf doing?" I asked. "Well, he's doing fine only he won't let anyone close enough to give him food or water or anything..." Sarah said with a deep sigh. "Maybe you should try Cree, I mean you were the one who brought him in, he had to of let you get near him to sedate him last night..." Nate said.

"Fine, I'll try just I want you guys to stand back." I told them. I unlocked the kennel door and stepped inside. The wolfs reply was a low growl. I stuck my hand out palm up and slowly stepped forward. "Easy boy, I won't hurt you. That's it, just let me help you boy." I said in a soothing voice. He bared his teeth but looked like he was starting to relax. "You know, if you were going to hurt me you would've already. I know that and you know that so put those sharp pretty teeth away..." I told the wolf. He seemed to know what I was saying and he quit growling and sat down. I was right next to him and he just sat there. I reached out slowly and put my hand on his head and scratched him behind the ears. I took the muzzle Sarah was sticking in the kennel and put it over his muzzle. I let Nate come in and he brought the food and water in. He stepped out and I slowly took the muzzle off the wolf. He just sat there staring at me with those ice blue eyes. When I looked into them I could see something like understanding, this wolf was only about three years old but yet his eyes held a wisdom beyond his age, it was like I was looking into his soul.

To this day-three years later I still remember how it felt to feel his thick shaggy fur, how his wild earthy scent was both nice and bad at the same time. The thing I remember most though is those ice blue eyes that spoke to me, that held a hidden knowledge. At night I still hear him howling with his pack, I even see glimpses of him in the woods behind my house. What I learned is that you should never underestimate anything or think something will act a certain way because that's how most of those things work. I thought that wolf was going to bite me when I first saw him but he didn't, he trusted me so I tried to trust him.