Gunshots Echoing

The woods cast shadows over the pack running across the land of East Indiana. My pack. As I run with them I can't help but get lost in the beauty of this forest – my home. The forest floor is covered with brilliant colors of autumn. I fall behind, taking all of it in, the smell of musk, the sound of deers grazing near by and the dark woods looming above me. The alpha snaps at me, telling me to speed up. I love the way we communicate, one short bark and the wolf's posture tells everything. I'm going to hunt for the first time today and maybe if I get lucky, I'll catch something big. That's just how it is here, prey and predator.

The forest is usually peaceful. Used to be usually peaceful. Before these two-legged creatures came along. The elders tell us to stay away from them. They carry strange items with them, dangerous items. I've seen them in action. Those brutal merciless creatures. A big boom echoing in the forest and in the blink of an eye, a wolf drops down. Dead.

They kill us. I don't know what for. The pack says for selfish reasons. For our hides, our teeth and... I can't even think about it. It's hard to believe that anyone is capable of such cruelty.

Last year they shot my friend. He was the best of us. The fastest, the most clever wolf I've known. But those brutes were faster and smarter than him.

That's the difference between us and them. They kill out of want, we kill out of need.

I keep waiting for my time and the way things are going right now, my turn to die is not that far away.

I'll drop to the ground, just like the others . My body will lay there unmoving, my golden eyes lifeless, staring into oblivion. I will bleed to death. The other wolves will howl and mourn my death, unless the humans kill them too.