Ol' Flint the Crow

The Runt's Tale pt. 2

Days, weeks, months past like the falling leaves of autumn, during a cold breeze. These were some of the best times of my life. Being alone with such an important wolf of the clan puffed up my chest and made me strut around arrogantly. I made sure my sisters could see, and they'd gnash their teeth at me enviously. How foolish of me.

Meanwhile, my understanding of the human language grew in spite of my ego. With the help of The Second and the desire to impress him, I quickly learned the basics of human vocabulary. The alphabet, word meanings, and sentence structure... It all came to me so easily with his help. Oh, what we can accomplish through the inane whims of our hearts!

Pretty soon, I was able to read 'The Last Lion of Joo-ador' on my own. Although I never could master verbal communication, -my vocal cords wouldn't allow it- I took to writing and reading like a fish to swimming. Each book I read, I understood better. Then it was just a matter of more practice until I could write my very own sentences in the human language.

This new found skill I kept hidden from my family. They wouldn't have understood, and I didn't want The Second and I too have a new rumor floating over our heads. So I only wrote in front of the alpha's son. What I would write to him were small arbitrary sentences that I could think of. Anything I would scribble down on the floor of his chamber in the hope that he would take more notice of me. He must have found me to be a troublesome little runt. However, he never chastised me for it like my family would have. Instead, he would chuckle or scoff, brushing it away as nothing more than child antics.

Also, in spite of these attempts to woo him, we never grew intimate. He never touched me. I meant nothing to him in that regard. There was something else that kept him from me. Someone in between us. But what or who was it?

One day while I was reading a book titled, 'The Strange Serpent of Vizland', I noticed from the corner of my eye The Second writing on parchment with his claw. I was curious to know what he was scribbling down so I got up from my reading and crept closer. He immediately took notice of me eyeballing him and quickly covered the paper with his bushy tail.

I thought that was the end of it, but suddenly The Second seemed to hesitate. With a sigh, he lifted his tail and let me look at the paper.

"What do you think about this line?" He asked me and then read out what he was writing.

~

My heart and soul aches when were apart. It longs for your warm embrace. Do not leave me alone in this tomb I call home. Take me with you to your bower. I miss the days we once had, filled with our love. Please, my sweet. Let me see you. I'd give up everything just for your touch. I miss you my dearest love.

~

After he finished, he let out a sigh of grief, making me wonder what the paragraph all meant.

'You're writing a story?' I wrote on the ground, thinking he was creating a work of fiction like the one I had been reading.

He paused for a moment and then quickly nodded his head very weakly. Although I knew he wasn't telling me the truth, I smiled at him from ear to ear, letting him know that I thought it was good.

Content with my answer, he clasped the paper in his jaws and said, "I-I'm going out again. Just for a little while. Keep reading. I won't be long."

I did as he asked while watching him scurry away with the parchment. Like he promised, he returned straight away but the paper was gone. This peaked my interest, but I knew it better not to ask him about it. What he did out in the forest was his own business.