Suddenly, Jaekob stopped.

“This is the place, Mother. ” he announced.

“Are you sure, Jaekob?” said Mother as she glanced at the surrounding woods. “This looks just like a dozen other places we’ve seen tonight.

Jaekob glared at her with surprisingly intensity for an eight year old.

“Right, right. ” said Mother. “You lead, I follow, no questions. That was the deal. ” She mimed zipping her lip. “I’ll be quiet. ”

“Good. ” said Jaekob. “Because he’ll be here soon. ”

And indeed, it seemed like it was only two and a half breaths before the enormous shaggy Wolf loped into the clearing.

The moment it saw Jaekob, it began to growl. And the growl was a terrible sound, deep and cruel, the kind of sound that raises the hair on the necks of even the most seasoned of hunters.

Jaekob smiled at it. “Hello my Wolf. Hello my beautiful boy. Hello my mighty hunter. Hello to you. ”

The Wolf advanced on Jaekob slowly, slavering fangs glistening in the moonlight. Jaekob took a few slow steps toward it.

“Jaekob!” said Mother. “What are you doing? That thing will eat you alive!”

“No he won’t. ” said Jaekob. “Will you, big fella? You don’t want to hurt anybody. You just want to be safe. Isn’t that right?”

Jaekob extended his hand toward the Wolf, palm down. The Wolf’s growling intensified, and slowly it crouched down. muscles tensing to pounce.

“Jaekob!” said Mother. “Get away from there! That monster is going to kill you!” She wanted to run and snatch her boy away from the predator, but to her great shame she was too scared to move.

Jaekob moved even closer to the Wolf, smiling, eyes full of love. “Look at his paw, Mother. ” he said.

Mother looked, and gasped. The creature’s right front paw was dripping blood from the teeth of a massive metal trap. The heavy drops of blood hissed slightly when they hit the snow. The edges of the wound were gnarled and dried.

“You see, Mother?” said Jaekob as he continued to move closer to the Wolf. “He’s not a monster, he’s just in pain.

The Wolf snarled and snapped its teeth an inch from Jaekob’s nose, causing Mother to cry out in anguish and move a step closer.

Jaekob didn’t even flinch.

“Oh no. Not this time. ” said Jaekob. “I know what you want. You want to chase me back to my home, just like you have done so many times before. But this time, I’m not going anywhere. You need me, and I am here for you. Now let’s see about getting that nasty thing off of you. ”

Jaekob knelt and took the injured paw, trap and all, into his little hands. The Wolf growled and whimpered from the pain but remained absolutely stock still.

Jaekob gently caressed the paw, and said “Such a cruel device. ” He ran his fingers very softly over the place where the teeth of the trap met the Wolf’s flesh, and tsked.

“I can remove this, old friend, but I will need your help. ” said Jaekob. “I need you to relax your paw as much as possible. Can you do that for me?”

The Wolf looked deep into Jaekob’s eyes, and found there only love and compassion and a genuine desire to help. So he nodded his great shaggy head, closed his eyes that were as big as a grown man’s palm, and tried to relax.

‘That’s it…. ” cooed Jaekob encouragingly. “Let go…. let go…. let go… and… AHA! ”

The Wolf opened its eyes in surprise and looked at its paw. And what do you know, the trap was gone! Jaekob had slipped it off and it now lay empty and broken nearby.

The Wolf was so astonished that it leapt to its feet, only to bark sharply in pain as it tried to put weight on its still mangled front paw and slide back down in shock.

Instantly, Jaekob was there, stroking that big shaggy head soothingly, and murmuring “It’s OK, it’s OK, big brother. It’s all going to be okay now. You are safe now and everything is going to be okay from now on. Nobody is going to hurt you any more. Nobody is going to hunt you any more. Nobody is going to try to stick you in a cage to make you behave any more. From now on, you can be a Wolf and I can be Jaekob and together we can be a team. Would you like that, old friend? Me and you as a team?”

Once more the Wolf looked deeply into Jaekob’s eyes, probing. And then the wolf nodded once, and woofed.

Jaekob beamed. “Good. Because I love you, big Wolf. I love you more than anything else in the world.”Jaekob drew that big shaggy head inot his lap, and stroked the Wolf’s ears. ” And I love all of you, from the tip of your tail to the sharp points of your fangs. I love you and accept you for all that you are, and I know I love you the same way.

The Wolf’s eyes drifted closed, and he nuzzled the boy’s tummy softly as his tail, big enough to knock over a telephone pole, began to slowly wag.

And the two of them stayed that way, warm and close, for a long time. Mother, being wise, saw the two together and knew that, despite what the fear in the pit of her stomach said, this was a good thing, and so she slipped quietly away, happier than she had bene in a very long time without knowing why.

And then, naturally as can be, the spell was broken, and Jaekob slid out from under the massive muzzle of his Wolf, and woke up the Wolf who wagged at his boy and gave the boy a massive slurp on the cheek, and then the two walked off into the big wide world together and had many wonderful adventures together, and no matter what happened, they never forgot that a boy is a boy, and a wolf is a wolf, and both are just fine how they are, thank you very much.

I will talk to you nice people again tomorrow.