Uncle Sunny started visiting mommy more often.
The rays of bright morning sunshine shone through the curtains and landed on Cassy's face, stirring her from her sleep.
Slowly, she opened her eyes, but quickly shut them tight again after being blinded by the sunlight. Groaning, she sat up, her sleepiness all gone after staring into the dashing sun. With a quick stretch, she got out of her bed and made her way towards her usual morning routine of washing up, then going down to cook herself some food.
A small difference today, though, was probably that instead of cooking breakfast, she might have to cook herself lunch, as she'd slept till midday today.
She'd been unable to sleep all night long, thinking about what happened the night prior. The giant wolf that had kept her company (albeit from afar) during her first month alone on this ranch, who'd later run away and disappeared for a month, had finally come back. Not only so, but they made amends, and the wolf promised to come visit her often (at least that's what she interpreted), and now, she just had to eagerly wait, with fingers crossed that it actually will come back.
With how the wolf had run away last month, seeming as if its life was being threatened, and then disappearing for so long, she was almost sure that she'd done something to anger it. Cassy didn't think much of its disappearance at first, she was just slightly sad, but she was sure that it'd come back after a few days. It's not like they were close either, so what was there to be really sad about? Yet, as the days went on, it became clear that it had left her for good, as no matter how hard she looked into the woods or the pond, she couldn't even catch a glimpse of it.
Cassy had grown so accustomed to the wolf's watchful gaze, that now that it was gone, she realized just how alone she was. It reminded her too much of Joey. Be it the wolf or Joey, she and them only shared a short time together on this isolated ranch, and now they were gone. Cassy didn't realize just how much she'd taken their company for granted, and now, she was being punished to learn the lesson.
Now that the wolf came back though, she promised herself that she'll cherish every moment she had with it.
Reaching the kitchen, she took out from the refrigerator some vegetables and beans to make a simple stew. She was hungry, and she wanted to eat as soon as possible. Swiftly, she cut the vegetables, threw them into the boiling water, added seasoning, then started stirring.
The process of stirring the pot while waiting for the food to cook was slow and frankly, a little boring. Cassy raised her head and looked out the window to entertain herself. The sight was as usual, bright sunlight, a field of grass, then a forest a little distance away, but the corner of her eye caught something unexpected in front of the porch. With a double take, she realized that it was the wolf. Not only was it sitting there staring at the door, for some bizarre reason, it was holding a bunch of flowers in its mouth.
The moment her eyes landed on the wolf, it noticed her gaze and turned to face her, its ears pricking up and its tail wagging rapidly. Cassy swiftly cleaned her hands on her apron and ran towards the front door. As she opened the door, she was greeted by the giant wolf, whose body language seemed so happy that it resembled more a dog than a wolf. Despite the mouthful of flowers, the corner of its mouth was visibly upturned, like a smile, and its eyes were gleaming.
"What are you doing here, wolfie?” Cassy asked, walking forward, descending down the porch steps until she stood in front of the big creature. Its tail wagged more excitedly as she approached.
“And why do you have so many flowers in your mouth?” She smiled in amusement.
As if to respond to her question the wolf lowered its head till they were at the same height. It lightly nodded, and stretched the flowers.
"Are you….giving these to me?” Cassy asked, taken aback. The wolf nodded again, and stretched its neck out a little more, with the tip of its nose lightly tapping her hand. Its eyes were gleaming so brightly that it felt like they were blinding headlights. Even if she never owned a dog before, she'd seen their puppy dog eyes at work. That's exactly what was happening right now, only it was a hundred times heavier on her conscience. It looked like she'd hurt the wolf's feelings if she didn't take the flowers, and she didn't have the heart to do that.
".....Ok then….” Cautiously, Cassy stretched her arms forward to grab the flowers. She was almost certain by this point that the wolf wouldn't hurt her, but being so close to its large mouth still unsettled her slightly.
Surprisingly, the flowers, despite the large quantity, were in very good condition. They were ordered well, like a bouquet at a flower shop, and all of them were beautiful, fresh wildflowers in full bloom, with not a single one of them having traces of withering or bruising. The wolf had also been delicately holding them in a way that ensured they'd be mostly dry from its saliva.
"They're beautiful, thank you so much.” Cassy smiled, looking at the armful of flowers she was now holding. The wolf frantically wagged its tail and let out a soft whine in response. Its face seemed even more happy than a few moments ago.
Looking up at the wolf in gratitude, Cassy noticed a peculiar little thing nested in the fur beside its left ear.
"Is that…a flower on your ear?” She asked. The wolf followed her gaze in surprise, then lowered its head again so that Cassy could see clearly. It was a small stem full of vibrant forget-me-not flowers.
"Why do you have flowers on your ear, wolfie?” She amused. How the creature managed to put it there was beyond her, but the sight was oddly cute. "You look so pretty with them, you know?” She ruffled the fur on its forehead.
Looking into the bouquet of flowers in her embrace, Cassy picked out a lushly blooming yellow thchrysanthemum and placed it beside its right ear.
“Here, another flower to make it even.”
The wolf raised its head in surprise, trying to look at the flower newly placed on its head. It raised a paw to gently touch it after realizing that it can’t see.
“Now you’re even prettier!” She chuckled.
The wolf stared at her in shock, then quickly swooped down to shower her hand in affectionate licks.
“Ah, wait, no, stop!” Cassy took a step back from the force of its enthusiasm, as well as tried to evade the creature’s tongue. It was nice to see the wolf so happy and all, but she really didn’t want to get her hand dirty from its saliva.
After what seemed like an eternity of fighting and licking, the beast backed off, sat down, and panted with its tongue out and the corners of its mouth turned to a smile. Its large fluffy tail wagged uncontrollably while its eyes watched her with oozing adoration.
”Gee, you really like that flower, huh?” Cassy wiped her now wet hand on her apron. The wolf let out a soft whine in response. Cassy sighed in defeat.
Suddenly, the wolf straightened up, as if remembering something. It lifted its giant paw and ran it across its left ear, making the flower entangled in its fur fall to the ground. Crouching down, it gently picked it up and offered it to Cassy.
“Huh? Are you giving me this flower?” She looked at the wolf in surprise. She thought that this flower was important to it, that’s why it was wearing it on its ear. But now… it was giving it to her?
The wolf nodded, its eyes gleaming with earnestness.
“But….why?” The wolf responded with a whine and stretched its neck out a little more, using its puppy dog eyes to attack her conscience again.
“Ok, ok, I’ll take it, stop looking at me like that.” Cassy reached out her hand, and the wolf gently placed the flower onto her palm.
Immediately, Cassy noticed something off. This flower, it wasn’t real. Its stem was made of a thin wire wrapped in paper, while the forget-me-not flowers were made from fabric.
How did you get your hands on a fake flower, wolfie? Don’t you live in the forest? Cassy raised her head to look at the wolf, perplexed.
The wolf’s ears flattened and its eyebrows raised as it looked back at Cassy with a pitiful expression, as if asking ‘do you not like it?’
Cassy sighed, she placed the artificial flower with her bouquet of wildflowers in her embrace, then stretched out her hand to pet the wolf’s soft head. There’s so much I don’t know about you.
“It’s beautiful, wolfie, I really like it.” She smiled. The wolf livened up again after hearing her say that.
It seemed pretty clear now that this enigmatic creature was quite fond of her. Thinking back, it never once showed any aggression, she’s the one who’s been on edge the whole time. Now, seeing how it even went out of its way to give her pretty gifts, and gets so happy whenever she praises it, it made her feel a little indebted to it. She wanted to give something in return, but what can she give to this enormous wild wolf?
“Ah, wolfie, please stay here for a moment. I’ll be right back!” Cassy exclaimed, storming back into the house. A brilliant idea had come to her.
While she stayed home, bored out of her life, she’d found a book at the town library about making objects out of folding paper. Origami, apparently it was called. Since then, she’s been spending her free time practicing this art of paper folding.
She placed the bouquet of flowers in an empty vase, then came out of the house with a few sheets of paper and her book. Luckily for her, just yesterday she’d found the tutorial on how to fold a paper flower. What better thing to give back to the wolf than a beautiful paper flower after all the flowers she received?
Kneeling down on the grass, with the book open beside her, she put her skills to work. The wolf looked down at her in curiosity as she slowly folded the paper according to the steps written.
After a few failed attempts, a slightly crumpled, but decently looking origami flower came to be. She stuck it to a stick made of rolled up paper as a stem, and the process was done. Cassy stood up and proudly held up the origami flower. It wasn’t the most beautiful thing, but she was proud of it. The wolf let out a soft bark to cheer with her.
“Wolfie, can you lower your head for a second?” The wolf obeyed.
Carefully, she placed the origami flower in the fur beside its left ear, where the artificial flowers had been earlier.
“I know it’s not as pretty as the flowers you gave me, but I really hope you like it.” She smiled meekly.
The wolf gasped, then stared at her in awe, almost dumbfounded. It remained in that position as if frozen in time, while its glowing eyes seemed to be speaking a thousand words a second.
Before it could do anything, a loud hissing sound came from within the house. The stew, she’d completely forgotten about it!
“I’m so sorry, wolfie, let’s call it a day here! I need to go now!” She scrambled up from the grass, frantically picked up the papers and the book, then started sprinting into the house. “Hope to see you again soon!”
Tasela sat in position for a while longer. His heart pounded so hard it threatened to escape his chest, but his mind was blank. He was still processing what had just happened.
He was already overjoyed when Luna accepted his flowers, and even gave one to him. But just now, the flower she put so much effort into making, it was a gift made especially for him. It was a mutual gift.
His grandparents were right. Humans really do like flowers. This flower Luna made, does that mean that she was starting to accept his feeling?
Accepting….my feelings. A giggle escaped his mouth as he thought about Luna returning his feelings. Images and scenarios of him and Luna together started to emerge in his mind, a future filled with love and happiness, a future so far that he already started imagining their pups, and the names he’d give them. The more his imagination ran, the more he felt agitated and flustered, and the more he innocently giggled.
If he tried hard enough, and Luna finally reciprocated his love, then the future he was imagining might just become a reality. The very thought of it excited him to no end. Now that he knew flowers worked, he vowed to bring even more flowers for her tomorrow.
