There is a young man and a black wolf walking in the forest. They circle in and out of the trees, no one knows how many years they have been walking, but they have been spotted so many times, different generations of families have seen them walking. I have studied them over several years, studied their path. A path that seems to follow a certain pattern, but it doesn’t really makes any sense at first glance, then you bury yourself knee-deep and you start seeing stuff repeat itself, then you’re buried to your chest and you’re able to see a pattern, a truly meaningful pattern. When you’re buried completely under what first appeared to be mutter, you slowly realized that underneath its clear water with threads tangled so neatly in each other that they create the finest patterns.

I want to tell you this ghost story before it’s too late because I think that the young man is my great-great-great-great-great-something and even if he isn’t I want to share the man and the wolfs story, because it’s incredible. The story I will tell you is called A Wolfs tale.

No one knows when they were first spotted, but the story goes that there once was a boy in the town, he was a rather normal child with a certain need for adventure. Always going into the forest when he was allowed to from a very young age. At a point, people would even ask him for help to find their way in the forest, since he had seen the heart of the forest and then some more. His parents didn’t approve of all the wandering in the forest, even though he did all his work just fine and always helped them with a smile. He was nice to everybody and always polite and respectful to anybody older than him, and he entertained the youngers with magical tales about wolf-men. 

At the boy’s time there also was – just as he told the smaller children – a rumor about wolf-men, men and women who lived as wolves and humans. Shape shifters we would call them, but only to a certain shape. The town’s population was nervous about these wolf-men, worried that they would harm them. They were convinced that the wolf men lived in the heart of the forest.

The rumor was true and in the deep depth of the forest; there lived a pack of these so-called wolf men. Men and women lived side by side as both humans and wolfs, worked like a normal wolf pack for most parts, and in this pack a beautiful little jet black wolf was born to be the new alpha. The pack cared and protected him, taught him everything he needed to know, to survive and be able to guide the next generation.

So far the boy and wolf lived their separate lives, none of them had ever seen each other, and both lived blissfully unaware of what was to come. One day at the age of 18 the boy, no longer a boy but now a young man went for a walk in the forest just like he did on most days, but because of an argument with his parents the evening before, he had gotten up with the sun and set for his walk early in the morning.  Surely, he had packed a bag with some food and water so he wouldn’t be without that in the big old forest. He had walked for hours, when he reached a small lake deep within the forest. There he sat down, just watching the water and the life around the lake. He had decided to find an apple from his bag so he did.

Just as he was about to throw the apple core into the line of trees that was surrounding the lake, his eyes caught sight of the fur of a big jet-black wolf. Because even though the man who was in his wolf shape only was 19, he was as close to a full-grown wolf as he could be.

The boy jumped to his feet scared that his life would end here, stepping back from the wolf in a fast pace, never looking away from the wolf both out of fear and amazement. He ended up tripping, unable to get on his feet, he just watched as the wolf got closer. As the wolf got closer, the boy got more frightened. When the wolf was within reach it sniffed him and he couldn’t help but wonder the life that shined in the wolfs eyes, no animal should look this controlled. The wolf kept walking until it was placed right over the boy, human nose just inches from a wolf nose. The wolf tilted it’s head and looked at him with eyes even blacker than it’s fur. Eyes that would reflect the stars at night and now he was reflected in them, but he didn’t notice and all his mind could progress was that the eyes looked so human. Several minutes passed with the boy looking at the wolf and the wolf looking at the boy, nonmoving, but slowly the boy relaxed and started to feel the itch to see if the fur was as soft as it looked. That was when a howl broke through their moment, if a wolf and a boy are able to have a moment that is. Before the boy even had been able to blink the wolf was gone. The boy wasn’t able to move puzzled by the experience with the wolf, but he knew he had to get home before the sun disappeared, or his parents would keep him inside for months.

After that there were several months where the boy and wolf almost played a game, they shared food, swam together and just looked at each other. When the wolf showed up with a rabbit between its teeth, the boy couldn’t help but be both impressed and extremely happy, his family would be so excited because they rarely got rabbit. The boy would even swear that the wolf looked proud; he had come to accept the human like feelings that the wolf showed at all times.

One day everything changed, because as the boy reached their usual meeting place, he saw the wolf and lit up in a smile, until he froze in shock. The wolf’s shape started to tremble at the edges, until every part of the animal was trembling and then the wolf slowly turned from wolf to human, in front of the boy.  The wolf - now human - jumped into the lake, swam from the edge to the other before he turned around, and saw the boy; the wolf-man froze as well. Nobody moved for what seemed like hours, nobody dared to move. Surprisingly enough the boy’s first reaction wasn’t to run, but to figure out what was happening, still loving adventure every bit as much as he did as a child.  The two eventually moved closer to one another, the wolf man having pulled on a pair of loose pants. They ended up talking, surprisingly enough both speaking the same language. Hours flew by while the pair just talked about everything between heaven and earth, which was until the boy realized he had to go come home and that quick.

From then on, they met as humans, or the wolf showed up as a wolf but shifted shape. None of them was realizing that they slowly but steadily was falling for each other, until one day where the boy got curious because the wolf’s fur was soft but did that mean that the human had soft hair? The boy therefor reached out and ran his hand through the wolf’s hair, leaning forward, personal space forgotten. For them it felt like there was a spell cast over them and they both leaned in, and in, and in, until their lips touched. Quickly both moved away shocked by the run of fire down their spines, the burning in their lips that longed for more. Before they had even considered it, they were kissing again, fiercely and clumsily. None of them knowing exactly what to do but neither of them cared, a tongue was wrestling with a tongue; hair was being gripped for dear life as other hands roamed anywhere and everywhere. It wasn’t until a loud howl was heard they broke apart both out of breath and very confused. Stumbling to his feet the wolf apologized and told the boy he had to leave, and so he did, turning into the jet-black wolf and disappearing between the trees at a high speed.

It wasn’t long until they told each other about their feelings, from then on things heated up, there was more and more frequent fleeting touches, some evolved to more, others was just that, a fleeting touch. Their relationship blossomed and the boy managed to keep it a secret from the people in the town that still feared the wolf-men and would never allow it. The wolf on the other hand had mentioned it to his pack who hadn’t been approving, but knew that finding the right mate not always happened the most obvious places.

Their relationship worked out surprisingly fine. The boy even got to meet the pack, almost as a form of ritual. He had been scared into the depth of his bones, because of the flock of wolves and humans surrounding him, looking at him with curious eyes, but every time he had looked to his left, he had seen the wolf in his human form look at him with big proud eyes. The pack had accepted him the wolf later told, with the biggest dimpled smile spread across his lips.

The boy told the wolf about his problems how the town’s people feared his kind, and the wolf understood, knowing that their past generation had been outcasts in the town after several accidents caused by normal wolves. The boy still decided to drag the wolf into the city, to show him his world and so he did.

That day their relationship was placed in great danger. As the boy and the wolf in his human form walked around the market, somebody noticed the wolf was sticking out an awful lot. Nobody had seen him before, and the rumor spread like wildfire that there was a stranger in town. People started to ask questions to the boy and the wolf, but they hadn’t thought about a lie to cover up their relationship with each other, so once again there was a whisper through the town. The boy always wandering in the woods was with a stranger, neither had an explanation to how they knew each other. Soon after the boy realized what a great danger the wolf was in, and quickly pulled him towards the forest. They ran knowing their lives depended on it, the boy several times telling the wolf to shift, knowing he would have a better chance like that. Knowing he himself wouldn’t be killed, they wouldn’t kill one of their own. The wolf refused until the boy stopped in his tracks telling the wolf that he had to shift and run back to his pack, that he would stay behind and explain it. After much arguing the wolf finally did as he was told, a quick kiss and then he was in his wolf form running like the devil himself was chasing his tail. 

The boy walked back to the town with his head hung low, scared that that might have been the last time he saw his love. When he reached the town, people were avoiding him like the plague. His parents locked him up the moment he stepped through the door. For almost a month every single night a loud howl would break through the air, tear it apart speaking of a lost lover that once again hadn’t showed up. The boy had never heard the howl before, but he knew just whom it belonged, and every night he would glance out of the window and look at the forest with longing eyes. Whishing he could be with his love and not be trapped in his small room. One day he decided enough was enough and that he would sneak out. All day he made sure, it would be easier by managing to block the door from being locked. When the clock struck 12, he slowly sneaked down the stairs and into the silent night, guided by the loud howls.

When he reached the forest, he ran after the sound of the broken howls. When he spotted the big black wolf, he somehow gained enough strength to run even faster and he clung to the wolf’s fur burying his head in it, breathing in. The wolf’s howls stopped and he placed his head on the boy’s shoulder. They stayed like that for hours, the boy just clinging to the wolf. When the sun started to rise the boy got to his feet shakenly, telling the wolf to meet him the same place tomorrow night, before he left having to be back before his parents woke up.

The next night the boy sneaked out as well, but when he reached the meeting spot the wolf was nowhere to be seen. That was when he heard a loud howl of despair and pain from the town. The boy ran faster than he ever had in his whole life, while the howls still tore the night apart. When he reached the town’s marketplace, he starred at the sight before him in shock. The wolf was tied to a giant pole trying desperately to break free, but every once in a while one of the men from the town would walk towards it and hit it with a torch, flames eating away at the end, sending another howl through the night. The boy sprung forward in-between the men and the wolf blocking them from hurting his love. Screaming at them to stop, that they would be killed by the wolfs pack. The wolf behind him was whimpering quietly, but it managed pressing its head into the back of his palm. He begged them for them to just walk away so nobody would be hurt more than what had already happened, but they laughed at him and told him that they would be able to kill every single wolf-man that crossed their path. One of the men then went for the boy, but the wolf was quicker, and flung forward, and locked its jaws around the man’s shoulder biting down hard, sending a loud crunching sound through the market, followed by a loud scream. The men jumped the wolf beating it with not only the torches, but anything they had at hand, while some hailed the boy away and tied him to a tree, forcing him to watch them beat his love.

The wolf was laying completely still at the end, only a small whimper escaping every once in a while, tearing the boys heart apart seeing the before big black proud wolf being beaten up and lifeless on the ground. The fur was completely smeared in blood, the men having ripped in it and spread it that much. The boy was silently fighting to free himself so he would be able to help the wolf. Fortunately or by just pure luck, he got free and crawled his way to the wolf, since the men had left them probably to find something. He encouraged the wolf to get back on its paws and helped it as well as he could, telling it to seek his pack who he figured probably already was on its way. That he would meet him at the edge of the forest; he just had to get something for the wounds. They both ran their separate ways. The boy was the fastest and was already moving towards the forest quickly when he spotted the wolf being followed by a dark shadow.

The wolf was barely able to stay on its feet, let alone keep on walking and the boy knew that he wouldn’t be able to do anything, but he still ran and screamed to warn his love, but too late. The moons light reflected in the blade of the knife and then it disappeared as the blade cut its way through fur, skin and flesh and was placed in the heart of the wolf, which collapsed on the ground sending a loud howl towards the now hidden moon. The boy screamed from pain and anger flinging himself at the killer. Locking him to the ground punching, and punching, and punching until all he saw was tears. He was pushed away by a big furry head. The boy watched as a big grey wolf dragged the screaming man away. Slowly he crawled back to the wolf, noticing the faint heaving of the chest showing he still was breathing but it was a fight. The boy clung to the wolfs neck whispering nothings into its ear, kissing the top of its head, telling it to rest that he would join him soon, to which the wolf made a small whimper clearly not satisfied with that statement, but he didn’t care. The wolf didn’t breathe long enough to see the rising of the sun, and the scream that filled the night send cold shivers down everybody’s spines leaving nothing but a chilling feeling behind. The boy lived to see the sunrise over the treetops, but he didn’t live to be graced by the morning sun. A broken heart was what killed both of them.

In the meantime, the wolf pack had torn the town apart; every single human being who had had the slight smell of their dead going-to-be-alpha was dead when the morning sun sent its bright warm rays down on the small town. Casting light on the terrible night that nobody in the city ever forgot in that time and later turned into A wolf’s tale. None of the humans dared to touch the dead couple, so the wolfs buried them on the spot by the lake where they had first met. The pack grieved the loss of two members in the following time.

For a long time the town thought they lived in peace, that it was all a passed chapter. That was until somebody came running back from the forest, screaming about how they had seen the boy and the wolf walking around.

The following year they were spotted around the forest, but they never left it which lead people to avoid the forest even more than before. The wolf-men made sure to keep anybody away from their meeting place, as a sign of respect. The pack of wolves also saw the couple walk around, usually at their meeting place, also one of the many reasons why they made sure to keep others away from the area, not wanting to make any ghosts angry, knowing what that could lead too.

When the day for their death arrived, a death defying silence swept through the town, nobody dared to leave the comfort of their house, every door was checked twice that night and all windows was closed. A few seconds past midnight, somebody saw the shadows of two shapes moving from the forest to the town’s market. A wolf and a boy moving slowly and carefully through the night as if they wanted not to be seen, yet they walked in the middle of the street not caring about anybody seeing them. Then horrifying sounds echoed through the empty streets, making everybody curl under their blankets, wishing for the night to be over. Howls filled the night, not only from one wolf, but from an entire pack. The living pack having decided to join the ghosts on their journey through the town, leaving everybody crippled with fear. No man wanted to set a foot outside, every single person in the town knew what wrong had been done, some even mumbled the word sorry repeatedly as a mantra – a prayer to keep them safe. As the sun rose over the forest the couple returned, the wolf changing shape, as the morning rays hit the ghosts before they both disappeared.

For years the town lived with this, until the pack slowly disappeared, and only the ghosts was left to walk through the town, without a sound but a clear warning to people to not wander out at night. This was their night; this was the payment for taking their lives so early, before they had even gotten the chance to grow up. They were a silent warning and the towns people was listening more clearly than if it had been screamed at them. As the old generation died out so did the tale, fewer and fewer people knew the tale and the couple was spotted less, only people wandering into the forest saw them. It was as if the ghosts had decided that the living world was moving on so they had no need to bother them, but they still moved through the city at the night of their dead’s, like they were forced to walk this path every single year, no matter what.

The spotting of the couple was becoming less and less frequent, but they were still seen occasionally. A hiker here and there saw them, and asked about them when they reached town or the nearest motel, curious about the human walking side by side with a wolf. This was what was keeping the tale alive, that and people still never moved out during their death night, because when people was outside after midnight horrible things happened to them. There were several incidents that resembled wolf bites, or as if somebody had been through a beating, but nobody had seen anything. Some people was even able to go outside during that night without anything happening to them. The theory was that it was the blood, those attacked was reminded once again what they ancestors once had done, had been capable of.

The hikers crossing through town also told about a weird place in the forest, that they for some odd reason feared going through, an open meadow with a beautiful lake, but the aura surrounding it screamed: ”Stay away!” Every single one going near this meadow had decided to walk around it, nobody daring to place their feet on the earth there, those who had tried told of a cold chill running down their spine, making it impossible for them to walk any further.

The boy and the wolf even though rarely spotted was clearly leaving their mark on the town and forest, marking their areas, their untouched holy ground that no stranger was allowed on. The couple wanted their piece of quiet and safe, which obviously was their most common meeting place.

As a child, my grandma always told me the tale of the boy and the wolf, A wolfs tale it was known as in the town, and everybody had been told the tale as a childhood story. I always chased the ghosts, wandering about in the forest trying to get a glimpse, to see if there was any truth to the story. I have never seen them, but I have talked to so many hikers telling me about them, about how they seemed peaceful in some way. Still drawn to the forest to this day I have been searching for their meadow for almost a year now, if I didn’t know better I would almost believe I knew the forest as well as the boy.

The day I finally found it I knew why hikers never dared to set a foot on the earth there, the chills and the warning signs running through your body was massive, and it was like a force, making you move backwards before you were even aware of you walking. I stayed around the meadow for the entire day, setting up my tent knowing that I would probably have to stay the night. The whole time I felt like I was trespassing, even though I had never set foot on their meadow. From my view, the meadow was beautiful, wild flowers everywhere and the peaceful lake in the middle; no wonder this had been their meeting place, it was peaceful and private, hard to find if you didn’t have a clue on where to search.The sun slowly set and night fell over my small camp. Sulking I decided I would go to bed, until I heard rustling from the woods, quickly I turned around and looked at the meadow.

Slowly two figures appeared from the forest and stepped onto the meadow, clearly having no problems with it, they did it with ease and elegance. They moved slowly swinging their intertwined hands with each other back and forward, laughing about something, one –the shortest- leaned his head back to let out a laugh, beautiful and melodic. The tallest one looked at him as if he was his moon and stars. They walked for a bit, before the shortest one decided to do a twirl forcing the taller to raise his arm so he was able to do it probably, the taller shook his head but the wide smile the gleamed in the moonlight showed how little he minded. For a while they danced, or it looked like dancing, it wasn’t anything special really, nothing truly planned all the way out just the shortest deciding what to do next and the taller following his lead. I felt like I was preying on a private moment, which I knew I was but it was so magical and I had finally found them. The boy and the wolf dancing on a meadow in the middle of the night, looking happy. Slowly I retreated to my tent, with a huge smile on my lips I climbed into my sleeping bag and fell asleep not shortly after.