The Sound of a Heartbeat

[Raphael Salvage]

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Word count: 355

There was a lonely span of silence after the howl, silence only broken by the occasional song of a bird as he waited. He pricked his ears forward quietly searching the thin forest in front of him. He was not patient no matter how much he often told himself he was or tried to change that trait and the silence did not help things. He once again smoothed down his short hair and readjusted his bag to a more comfortable place upon his shoulder, slowly rubbing his hand along the deer skin bag as if to whip off any contaminates. A soft crunch of a leaf sounded from the other side of the woods, his ears pricked and his eyes laid forward once more as it did so. Within moments a figure appeared.




It was a she-wolf. That was easy to tell. Her coat was a quiet mix of chocolate browns and lighter, earthy colors dancing and fading into a simple pattern along her surface. She was built tall and lean, unlike himself, though she was shaped like a pear instead of the standard hourglass shape. Still, she was not completely unattractive or she wasn’t as far as he could see at least. Her eyes were by far the most stunning thing about her, but he could not lay his on them for very long and had to almost instantly dart them towards the ground as his instincts instructed him to. At first, she spoke a word unknown to him. It sounded like it was a different language all together utilizing sounds that one almost never found in Standard English. Her next started in a language he knew well. She did not offer her name, much like he had expected her to, but instead handed him a question and a simple on at that. He did not hesitate a moment before he answered. “I have come in the hopes that I may join this pack, madam.” Though he was in his subordinate position, his confidence still hung around him in the air even as he spoke. His voice was clear yet decently loud and projecting.

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