I sit on the porchThe dark woods around meInsects chirpingAnd listenTo the distant sounds of the partyInside.

It is a party thrown for me,By my parents.A party I didn’t want—Strangers crowding into our little housePeople I don’t knowPinching my cheeksMuttering lies about“How she’s grown!”

I escape to the woodsFleeing the lightsAnd the cheerful, pointless chatterAnd crouch in a dark clearingReveling in the silenceAnd the dark.

A flash of movementAnd a wolf creeps into the clearingI freeze in fearBreath making tiny white puffs in the airTerrified to moveTerrified to stay still.

The slim, strong, deadly animalLooks at meDark, intelligent eyes.Like my own.We stare in silenceCaught in the spell of the winter woods.

Then I whisper,“You’re alone, too?”The beautiful, elegant headSeems to dip in a nodAnd then the wolfProud, fierce, and yet gentle,Turns and vanishes into the shadows.

I walk slowly back to the houseReturning to my partyWhere I wasn’t missed.Before I go insideI turnFor one last look.Hoping somehowShe had come to say goodbye.

The trees are still and empty.Disappointed, I reach for the doorAnd then stop—A sound from the forest.A long, lonely howl.It starts out roughBut spirals up into a sweet, sorrowful noteThat sounds like tearsAnd ends.

I think of the wolfAlone in the forest.I face the trees and whisper,“Me too.”