Two Amber Eyes

• Mitchell Tepaske, Grade 7, Mornington Secondary College
• Short Story
• 2015

1st in the 'Read Write Repeat 2015' competition

Two amber eyes blinked from within the darkness. The beast stood alone. She moved with ease, her paws slipping through the undergrowth. No twigs snapped. The clearing was full of life and death. Fungi grew up trees as tall as skyscrapers. Small bugs lay in webs. She took a deep sniff. The smells of the forest curdled in a wave of air, mixing rotting meat with fragrant flowers and in the heart of it all, fresh blood. Food?
The stream gurgled incessantly as the beast tracked the blood. Small puddles of scarlet liquid pooled in the pockets of russet leaves. The blood had yet to clot. The beast moved on.
At the Eastern Checkpoint the emergency system started to beep. Something was wrong. The men grabbed their guns and hurried off.
The beast was desperate. It hadn’t had any game, let alone an animal this big, for weeks. Normally it would prey on rabbits, squirrels and birds but those had all been killed by the traps. Now it was forced to the extreme of hunting humans. Last year’s cubs had died of starvation. She wouldn’t let that happen again. Her species had to survive.
She slipped silently through the trees constantly seeking cover. Finally she saw her prey. A small girl, her wounded leg seeping blood each time she moved. The metal trap had left clear puncture marks from where its teeth had sunk into her pale skin. Her black hair whipped round as her fear filled eyes scanned the trees. She turned and struggled on at a fast pace. The beast knew it would have to make its move soon.
The men were getting close, following the trail of human and beast through the trees. Death hovered in the air. They picked up their pace and ran.
The beast reached a scorched clearing, very different to the one it had started at, human made, lifeless. In the centre of the circular space the girl sat on a decaying stump her leg lying awkwardly. It was time. The beast flattened her ears, tucked in her tail and leapt.
Everything ran in slow motion. The girl spun round to face the beast. With cold eyes she lifted a silver pistol from her lap. As the beast widened its gaping mouth the girl carelessly flicked the safety and pulled the trigger.
Silence fell across the clearing. The young girl pulled out her mobile and sent a prepared text which simply read “Got it”. Struggling with the weight she dragged the dead wolf onto her shoulders, the money was more than worth her damaged leg. Five minutes later a group of men reached the clearing. They were rangers with one mission, to protect the sole surviving wolf. The clearing was empty. The girl and her prey had gone. All that remained was the casing of a silver bullet lying on the damp leaves. The men were silent.
Far away, the wolf cubs opened their eyes. They were starving. Their mother would never return.