z

Young Writers Society



The True Story of the Big Bad Wolf

by LadyTano


One day, as I was walking through the forest, I came across a wolf. He looked out of place, and, strangely, nothing about him made me feel scared.

"Where are you going, wolf?" I asked of him. The wolf shook his head sorrowfully without giving me a glance.

"Nowhere." The wolf looked tired and beaten, with matted, dull fur. I wondered why he hung his head and dragged his feet so.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

"Why do you question me? I am but an old wolf, noticed by no one anymore." He turned to go, but I felt as if he had a story worth telling.

"I would still like to know if you're okay," I said, stopping him in his tracks.

"Do you know who I am?" The wolf asked with a hint of malice. "I am called Big and Bad!"

"Why?" I didn't see any bad in him and he wasn't very big.

"Because I hunt and steal, I kill and I plunder! I am a dangerous monster, not one to be reckoned with," The wolf snarled with a sudden fire in his eyes that sent a chill down my spine. "I am the Big Bad Wolf!

"But I wasn't always," He drew back with remorse after he saw my fear. "I had a family, once upon a time."

"Where are they now?" I asked softly.

"Gone. All gone." The wolf said, "Except for one, my son, Cory. But alas," he said with a tear in his eye, "I shall never see him again."

I knelt beside him as he began to tell this story. . .

***

Once upon a time, when I was young, I had a family. We lived peacefully in a faraway forest where the sun always shines, and there's never a cloud in the sky.

But one day, when we were playing at a river nearby, dark clouds rolled in, and suddenly, an enormous flood of water came crashing down the river. A wave crashed over me and dragged me under, then everything went black. The river swept us all away, and I never saw our home again.

When I came to, I was on the edge of the same river, but the land looked so different. There were rolling hills instead of large forests and a quiet stream instead of a roaring river. I looked up and down for my family, but I didn't find anyone but my youngest son, Cory.

When I found him, he was weak from trying to stay afloat in the swirling river, it made my heart break. At that moment, I knew that no matter what, I would never let anything happen to him. He was the last of my family, and I was going to protect him at all costs.

During those next few months, we explored this new land and found that we weren't the only inhabitants. We met many different creatures, but most shied away from us. They seemed to be scared of our sharp teeth and our large presence. I told Cory not to mind and buried my worries.

We took long walks up the roads, across the fields, and through the meadows. Every day, without fail, we would walk. We slowly healed from our experience and found peace and contentment.

But one day, Cory disappeared. I waited, thinking he just wanted to be alone for a while, but as the hours passed by, I began to worry. Even though some of the creatures had started warming up to us, we still had made many more enemies than friends during those months.

My worry eventually got the best of me and I began searching. I called for him but he didn't answer. I looked high and low for him. But no Cory. Hours melted into days, days into months.

I was devastated. I felt as if my heart had been ripped from my chest and replaced with a heavy stone. A heavy hard stone. Eventually, there was nowhere else for me to go, nothing else for me to do. The only one I had left was gone. It was over. I was alone.

I began to loathe everything and everyone, and eventually, life itself. All the trust I had earned was destroyed. My friends became my enemies, and my enemy became my nemesis. Said enemy being a hog.

He was mean-tempered and nasty and wanted nothing to do with us. He thought it was better for the world if I didn't exist. But as long as Cory and I didn't bother him, I thought it would be fine. It wasn't.

One night, months later, I heard a long, plaintive howl. I knew at once that it was my little Cory!

I ran toward the sound, and lo and behold, there stood a house made of straw. But this was the hog's house. The hog had kidnapped Cory!

I heard Cory howl once again, a piercing, agonizing howl.

"Don't worry, Cory!" I called, "I'll huff and I'll puff, and I'll blow this house down to save you!" And that's what I did. I huffed and I puffed, and I blew the house down.

But the straw was very dusty, and for a moment, I couldn't see anything. When the haze had cleared, I saw an enormous hog running off, carrying a large basket. My little pup was in there! But the hog was too far to catch up.

I trailed him to another house. This one was made of sticks. I repeated my words to let Cory know I was there, then I huffed and I puffed and I blew that house down too. But the sticks fell on top of me, and when I finally got out, I saw two hogs running off with the large basket.

So I trailed them to a great big house, made of very strong brick. For the last time, I recited my heroic words, then commenced to blow the house down. I huffed and I puffed. But it stood fast. So I blew again, with all my might! But it wouldn't fall like the straw or the sticks. . .

***

The wolf looked at me with tears in his eyes and said, "Now I am cursed to go about my days, howling to the moon for my lost son. I only know that one day, we will frolic through the fields, and romp through the meadows, once again."

Then the wolf turned and continued walking down the path, into the sunset.

And every once and a while, I hear him howling, for the family he lost, and every once and a while, a wolf answers back.


Note: You are not logged in, but you can still leave a comment or review. Before it shows up, a moderator will need to approve your comment (this is only a safeguard against spambots). Leave your email if you would like to be notified when your message is approved.







Is this a review?


  

Comments



User avatar
76 Reviews


Points: 2866
Reviews: 76

Donate
Fri Dec 30, 2022 1:03 am
dragonight9 wrote a review...



This was very good at drawing out emotions and empathy for the wolf and his lost family. It also left a lot of things ambiguous such as whether the young wolf was truly in taken by the hog or something else was in the basket or whether the rest of the wolf's family survived but got out somewhere else. Not sure if that was intentional as many short stories or poems are like this but it was very thought provoking and drew me in as I read.

I do love reading stories about those who are seen as monsters but are really just misunderstood, and this was no exception. I love how you turned the frightening threat of blowing the house down into a heroic cry. The use of descriptive words throughout the story was also really good.

I was a bit surprised after all the wolf said about fighting for his family that he didn't try some other method of rescuing Cory. Perhaps a reason why he was unable to continue or use a different method could have been mentioned. Same with why the wolf assumed the rest of his family was dead.

The animals in this story were also anthropomorphized (seemed more human than animal) though this was probably a result of the original story being like this so it's not so much a criticism, more like an interesting consideration for future stories with animal characters. They probably wouldn't see other animals and communities like we would and that's always an interesting aspect of a story.

This is only my second ever review so if anyone reading this has any advice about how to improve my reviews please let me know in a reply or comment on my profile.




User avatar
51 Reviews


Points: 222
Reviews: 51

Donate
Mon Apr 11, 2022 12:00 pm
View Likes
fantasies says...



hi! i like this! a nice origin on The Big Bad Wolf. i honestly feel bad for him cause of the loss of his child. but it was a rather nice twist to his story. makes it interesting. good job. :)




User avatar
701 Reviews


Points: 49988
Reviews: 701

Donate
Fri Jan 21, 2022 5:26 am
View Likes
ForeverYoung299 wrote a review...



Hey! Forever here with a review!!

This was a very reflective piece we got to read here. Anyway, let's get into the review!!

Okay, first and foremost, I would like to know the identity of the narrator. Who exactly are they? Human beings? I would like a bit of clarification on that very topic because it is not very normal for every person to understand the language of other animals. So, if the narrator was a human being, I think it's best to somehow mention that they understood the language of other animals. And if they were not humans, mention that too. The conduct, however made me think that the narrator was indeed a human being.

Well, the story was a very reflective one as I already mentioned. The encounter was a very special one. I liked how you started it with the feeling that the wolf was a very innocent one and not a cruel one. It was Nature and his surrounding that made him so depressed and he just wanted to save his son. Nothing else. He did nothing and yet everyone thought him to be very cruel. It's very saddening. I wonder why he didn't really move away from there. Did he not understand that the other animals around him can be dangerous? Probably he didn't as if he had, he would have moved away with his son. All his hopes were shattered... I liked the theme of "appearance can be deceptive". It was for the appearance that the wolf was loathed at by other animals that lived there.

I wonder about the transition though. How could he really come back to his own land after he got carried away? It's true that animals generally have a very strong sense of smell and everything but is it really possible to be back like that? I wonder about that. Also what about the other animals? How did they come there? What happened to their own habitat? Affected in some sort of calamity? Perhaps. The nature plays a very important role in this story. That is crystal clear.

Overall, I think you very well managed to convey all the emotions of the wolf as well as the narrator through the descriptions. The last line was beautiful.

Keep Writing!!

~Forever




LadyTano says...


Hey, Forever! Thanks for the review!
I did write the narrator as a human. I tried to write this story in sort of a fairy tale style, and in quite a few fairy tales, animals are able to speak to humans. So that's where I was coming from.
Now for the transition, the forest that the narrator and the wolf are in isn't the wolf's original home forest. And the land where the wolf and his son arrive is just your regular fairy tale place, the wolf and his son didn't travel through a portal or something!
I guess I didn't write the story clearly enough and left out some key details!
Anyway, thanks again for your review! It means a lot.
-Lady Tano



LadyTano says...


P.S. I forgot to say that the animals that lived in the hill-land were already living there.





Thanks for the clarifications!

The concept of the fairy tale didn't even come to my mind. Now it seems a lot clearer. :D



User avatar
6 Reviews


Points: 246
Reviews: 6

Donate
Fri Jan 21, 2022 2:13 am
View Likes
Marshall2 wrote a review...



Hi, LadyTano! I really enjoyed this story, and i think it was a really good and creative story. This made me change my perspective on the story of the three little pigs a lot.

"Nowhere." The wolf looked tired and beaten, with matted, dull fur. I wondered why he hung his head and dragged his feet so.

I really like this section because at the start when i'm reading it, I wonder why he is like that. Then at the end I realize that it is the three little pigs story, and the wolf got hurt

"But I wasn't always," He drew back with remorse after he saw my fear. "I had a family, once upon a time."

"Where are they now?" I asked softly.

"Gone. All gone." The wolf said, "Except for one, my son, Cory. But alas," he said with a tear in his eye, "I shall never see him again."

I knelt beside him as he began to tell this story. . .

***

Once upon a time, when I was young, I had a family. We lived peacefully in a faraway forest where the sun always shines, and there's never a cloud in the sky.


I think the transition into the story is really good because it helps me know where the story came from. It also lets me know who the narrator is.

So I trailed them to a great big house, made of very strong brick. For the last time, I recited my heroic words, then commenced to blow the house down. I huffed and I puffed. But it stood fast. So I blew again, with all my might! But it wouldn't fall like the straw or the sticks. . .

In this part, I think you should add a little bit more. In the three little pigs story I think the wolf jumps in the chimney, so I was wondering where that part was. You should add the wolf jumping in the chimney, and then you go back to present time.

The ending is really good. I like that still, today we can hear the wolf howling.

Thank you for writing the story! and I hope you continue to keep writing good stories like this one!




LadyTano says...


Thank you so much! I actually could only vaguely remember the 3 little pigs story when writing this, so after I wrote it, I looked up the original version of the story and I was horrified! So the wolf actually eats the first two pigs, then jumps down the chimney of the third house and lands right into a pot of boiling water! After which, the third pig eats him! After reading that, I couldn't think of a way to make my story more like the original, while still maintaining the storyline I'd made for the father wolf. I might do a big rewrite in the future though. Anyway, thank you so much for your review!
-Lady Tano




When something is broken, it can be fixed.
— Benjamin Alire Saenz, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe