The Hunger Wolf by Mark Macadlo

The Hunger Wolf

By: Mark Macadlo

There once was a family who lived deep in the woods; there was a father, a mother and two daughters.  The father worked in the mines, the mother was a stay at home mother and the two children, Pheona and Katrina.  Katrina is older and likes to break the rules a bit, while Pheona is younger and likes to be with her mom.  

Years ago, during the normal work day for the father, there was a mine explosion.  This explosion killed their father and many other noble working men.  Katrina and her father were very close to each other.  In the woods behind their house, where it was forbidden to go to, they used to go out to the woods and spend time together.  They used to hunt, fish and when it was a calm day, her father would take her swimming to a pond about five miles from home.  They would hunt all day on Sundays for game and bring them back to the town to sell because the town was not so rich.  After the explosion, Katrina had to do something to help her family live.  She started to take over the “fatherly role.”  She would be the one to go behind the house and hunt for game and bring it back to the town for money and food.  

While doing all the hunting and gathering, Katrina and Pheona’s mother didn’t do anything, she only grieved.  She didn’t take on any role after the death.  She just wanted death to come to her and whisk her away as well.  Although their mother was like the unofficial doctor of the town.  If there was a medical issue, civilians would take their loved ones to her and she would fix them up like there was nothing wrong and was not grieving.  Pheona was too old to stay at home with mom but too young to hunt and she didn’t want to break any rules; she was a too good of a child, she didn’t want to get her hands dirty except to help her mother with the ill patient that came in.

One day, Katrina had enough with being the supporter and told her mother off and told her that she needed to start doing stuff around the house.  Her mother didn’t appreciate that too much, even though it was true and it was the reality.  So a few days later, the family gets a letter from their Grandma saying that she was ill and needed soup and bread.  The mother gave Katrina the letter and told her she needed to go to Grandma’s house and help her.  Katrina accepts the letter and goes to the woods and kills game in exchange for the cake and wine.  Katrina starts her voyage to her Grandma’s house and right before she leaves; her mother says “Be careful of the odd animals out there. I know what you do, but I don’t know how far you go out, but be careful.”

The next day, right before Katrina leaves, Pheona comes to Katrina and gives her a mocking jay pin and says “Be careful.  Here is this pin; I want you to be safe.”  Katrina doesn’t think twice about the dangers out in the woods because she is always out there.  She starts her voyage and her trip is to the next town over but it is about twenty five to thirty miles away from her home.  So Katrina goes off and starts to hear noises, she ignores them and all of a sudden, there is a wolf, a wolf that is friendly and not scary at all.  She lets this wolf join her on her voyage so she can have company.  

“Where are you going?”

“To my Granma’s house.”

“How far away is it?”

“About ten to fifteen more miles.” 

The wolf shows her a field to the left of them and starts to have a conversation about the kinds of flowers they are and how pretty they look.  

After the wolf has Katrina engaged into the flower field, he jolts off to the Grandma’s house so he can eat her.  Katrina finally leaves and decides that the flowers are so pretty that she wants to bring grandma a picked bouquet of flowers.  Katrina is now about two miles away from Grandma’s house.  The wolf reaches Grandma’s house and knocks on the door, Grandma asks who it is and the wolf says “Katrina!”  Grandma says “I have been waiting for you deary, open the latch and come inside, I am too weak to get up.”  The wolf walks in and finds Grandma in her room and dispose of her.

Katrina finally reaches Grandma’s house and walks inside and finds her room and sees her lying in bed.  Katrina, ask she walks into the room and from a distance she says, 

“Good Morning Grandma, how are you?”  And gets no response.  “Oh! Grandmother,” she said, “what big ears you have!”

 “The better to hear you with, my child,”

 “But, grandmother, what big eyes you have!”

 “The better to see you with, my dear.”

 “But, grandmother, what large hands you have!”

 “The better to hug you with.” 

“Oh! but, grandmother, what a terrible big mouth you have!”

 “The better to eat you with!”

The wolf lunges at Katrina and with her hunting instincts jumps to the side and reaches for her bow, but she can’t find it! She forgot, with courtesy, leaving her bow at the front door.  She had to improvise quickly as the wolf was coming back, lunging at her to eat her again.  She remembers that she has her knife still.  As the wolf nears closer, Katrina grabs her knife and stabs the wolf in the throat and slices it as she moves out of the way.  As the wolf falls to the ground, she goes to the wolf and cuts open his stomach and retrieves Grandma.  

After the whole fight with the wolf and Katrina and of retrieving Grandma’s body; Katrina and Grandma have some cake and wine.  Grandma says “Well, it’s getting late; I think you should get home before it gets too dark out.”  Katrina agrees and leaves and thinks of what she had done and doesn’t talk to anyone on the way back home or goes to the flower field.  She gets home right before sunset and has her mother and sister sit down around a fire outside and she tells the story of what had just happened.