Bassim
VIP Member
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2008
- Member Type
- Student or Learner
- Native Language
- Bosnian
- Home Country
- Bosnia Herzegovina
- Current Location
- Sweden
Would you please correct the second part of my tale?
Panic spread through his body as the dark tree trunks loomed above him, making him feel insignificant. He thought about the argument he was going to have with his wife. She was going to accuse him of having an affair, and she would not believe him he got lost. He had lied to her previously and denied there were other women in his life, but her intuition was like a polygraph and saw through his deception whenever he used it. He heeded his grandfather’s advice and bought her expensive presents to keep her quiet. But she was getting greedier after every argument, and he had to buy her more expensive bags, shoes and diamonds. He was reaching ever deeper into his wallet, and soon there would be nothing left. In that case, he might heed another of his grandfather’s advice, which said, “If your wife makes you too much trouble and knows about your dealings, drown her in the river and make it look like a suicide.”
He was thirsty and exhausted. He was taking deep breaths to calm himself, but tremors shook his body continuously. His wellingtons sank ever deeper into the wet ground. On a few occasions, he tripped on a root but managed to stay on his feet. Sweat collected on his forehead and trickled down his face. His shirt and the lining of his jacket were soaked, and he was contemplating of taking them off and trudge on bare-chested.
Suddenly, he saw a pair of eyes watching him. He was relieved to see any living creature because he needed a company in this unfortunate situation. He believed it was a German shepherd, and his heart raced with excitement. The dog meant humans were nearby. But as he came closer, he was less excited when a dog turned out to be a wolf covered in a thick brown and gray fur. He had never seen a wolf in the wild, although he had met many humans behaving like wolves. The wolf looked away, stepped back, and flattened its ears. It seemed to be shy, and reminded the prime minister of the timid girls he had met in the nightclubs when he was young. They demanded more attention and time, but once when you got them in bed, they turned into volcanoes.
They eyed each other for a long while. He did not know how to behave to keep the animal in his company, and the wolf looked up and down with the tail tucked under its body as if lacking courage to move forward. Then suddenly, it lifted its head and opened his mouth displaying his deadly teeth. Instead of a howl or a growl, he said, “Hello!” It was clearly and correctly pronounced, although with a wolfish accent.
His eyes widened and he shook his head in disbelief. He believed he was hallucinating, but the wolf was still standing in front of him, and now it was even wagging its tail.
“Is everything OK?” it said.
“I didn’t believe that the wolf could talk,” the prime minister said.
“It’s true we couldn’t in the past,” the wolf said, “but we have to adapt to the new realities. You know what I mean, globalisation, multiculturalism, immigration, liberalism... I’ve become multilingual, although as you can hear, I can’t lose my accent.”
They stood close to each other and he took the wolf’s paw and shook it. It occurred to him that the talking wolf would be an invaluable asset to his party. Before they parted, he must persuade him to follow him home. He was going to take it with him on his electoral campaign around the country. Their appearance would cause sensation in the whole world. “The man and the wolf working together for the better world! The wolf helping the politician to win the election! The wolf canvassing at the behest of the prime minister.” He was reading these front-page headlines in his mind’s eye, and the feelings of thirst and exhaustion seemed to have vanished, at least for a while. He patted the wolf’s sleeked fur and then scratched his chin. Wolf responded by licking his hand and face and whining. He would feed him well during the election, brush its fur regularly, and let it live in luxury no other wild animal had ever experienced before. Then when the election was finished and he was
re-elected as the prime minister, he was going to shoot it. The talking wolf could easily turn into his rival, or be used by another politician to harm him. And as his grandfather told him, “If you suffer a pang of guilt for killing someone, remember that except you, everyone is expendable.”
The prime minister now felt relaxed and said, “Mate, please would lead me to my home. I’ll reward you generously. You can take now my gold Rolex, and when we come home, I’ll give you a new Mercedes, a yacht, and plenty of diamonds.”
“What am I going to do with your watch, car, yacht and diamonds in this forest? Even the most expensive things can’t fill my stomach.”
“The prime minister lifted his arms and turned the palms of his hands upwards, as in desperation. “I don’t know what else can I give you right now. Maybe this pair of wellingtons? They are made ---.”
He never finished his sentence because the wolf lunged towards him, its fangs snapping at his throat. He managed to emit a cry, not unlike the pheasant’ call he heard a few hours before, and was dead within seconds. The wolf said, “Lovely,” and set to eat. The meat was not to his liking. It tasted worse than an old cow; it was tough and fatty, but he had to eat. As it tore chunks of flesh from the prime minister’s body and chewed them quickly, the wolf was proud of himself. This was the first human he ever ate, and it outsmarted him with its knowledge and intelligence. It would spread its knowledge to other wolves so that they came out on top whenever they meet a human.
When it stuffed itself, it moved on to find a secluded place where it could sleep in peace for a few hours. It trotted for a minute or two before falling to the ground, writhing in pain. Its wretched howling was terrible to hear, and animals and birds ran off in fright deeper into the forest.
Frothy, bubbling saliva poured out of his mouth while it was trying to bite an imaginary enemy. It rolled on the ground repeatedly, curling up and biting its own leg and tight to get rid of a pain. Then howling stopped, its body stiffened, and the quiet returned to the forest.
The next day a pair of hunters found it lying in the undergrowth. They examined its body but could not find any gunshot wounds. The wolf was well-fed and in good shape, and they were interested to learn the cause of its death. They tied it to a branch and carried it between themselves to a veterinarian. He told them to return in five days when the results of tests would come back from the laboratory. Five days later, he welcomed the hunters in his consulting room and looking at the paper on the table in front of him said, “I can’t tell you precisely what kind of flesh the wolf ate, but it was more poisonous than ricin. The poor animal, it must have suffered terribly.”
THE END
Panic spread through his body as the dark tree trunks loomed above him, making him feel insignificant. He thought about the argument he was going to have with his wife. She was going to accuse him of having an affair, and she would not believe him he got lost. He had lied to her previously and denied there were other women in his life, but her intuition was like a polygraph and saw through his deception whenever he used it. He heeded his grandfather’s advice and bought her expensive presents to keep her quiet. But she was getting greedier after every argument, and he had to buy her more expensive bags, shoes and diamonds. He was reaching ever deeper into his wallet, and soon there would be nothing left. In that case, he might heed another of his grandfather’s advice, which said, “If your wife makes you too much trouble and knows about your dealings, drown her in the river and make it look like a suicide.”
He was thirsty and exhausted. He was taking deep breaths to calm himself, but tremors shook his body continuously. His wellingtons sank ever deeper into the wet ground. On a few occasions, he tripped on a root but managed to stay on his feet. Sweat collected on his forehead and trickled down his face. His shirt and the lining of his jacket were soaked, and he was contemplating of taking them off and trudge on bare-chested.
Suddenly, he saw a pair of eyes watching him. He was relieved to see any living creature because he needed a company in this unfortunate situation. He believed it was a German shepherd, and his heart raced with excitement. The dog meant humans were nearby. But as he came closer, he was less excited when a dog turned out to be a wolf covered in a thick brown and gray fur. He had never seen a wolf in the wild, although he had met many humans behaving like wolves. The wolf looked away, stepped back, and flattened its ears. It seemed to be shy, and reminded the prime minister of the timid girls he had met in the nightclubs when he was young. They demanded more attention and time, but once when you got them in bed, they turned into volcanoes.
They eyed each other for a long while. He did not know how to behave to keep the animal in his company, and the wolf looked up and down with the tail tucked under its body as if lacking courage to move forward. Then suddenly, it lifted its head and opened his mouth displaying his deadly teeth. Instead of a howl or a growl, he said, “Hello!” It was clearly and correctly pronounced, although with a wolfish accent.
His eyes widened and he shook his head in disbelief. He believed he was hallucinating, but the wolf was still standing in front of him, and now it was even wagging its tail.
“Is everything OK?” it said.
“I didn’t believe that the wolf could talk,” the prime minister said.
“It’s true we couldn’t in the past,” the wolf said, “but we have to adapt to the new realities. You know what I mean, globalisation, multiculturalism, immigration, liberalism... I’ve become multilingual, although as you can hear, I can’t lose my accent.”
They stood close to each other and he took the wolf’s paw and shook it. It occurred to him that the talking wolf would be an invaluable asset to his party. Before they parted, he must persuade him to follow him home. He was going to take it with him on his electoral campaign around the country. Their appearance would cause sensation in the whole world. “The man and the wolf working together for the better world! The wolf helping the politician to win the election! The wolf canvassing at the behest of the prime minister.” He was reading these front-page headlines in his mind’s eye, and the feelings of thirst and exhaustion seemed to have vanished, at least for a while. He patted the wolf’s sleeked fur and then scratched his chin. Wolf responded by licking his hand and face and whining. He would feed him well during the election, brush its fur regularly, and let it live in luxury no other wild animal had ever experienced before. Then when the election was finished and he was
re-elected as the prime minister, he was going to shoot it. The talking wolf could easily turn into his rival, or be used by another politician to harm him. And as his grandfather told him, “If you suffer a pang of guilt for killing someone, remember that except you, everyone is expendable.”
The prime minister now felt relaxed and said, “Mate, please would lead me to my home. I’ll reward you generously. You can take now my gold Rolex, and when we come home, I’ll give you a new Mercedes, a yacht, and plenty of diamonds.”
“What am I going to do with your watch, car, yacht and diamonds in this forest? Even the most expensive things can’t fill my stomach.”
“The prime minister lifted his arms and turned the palms of his hands upwards, as in desperation. “I don’t know what else can I give you right now. Maybe this pair of wellingtons? They are made ---.”
He never finished his sentence because the wolf lunged towards him, its fangs snapping at his throat. He managed to emit a cry, not unlike the pheasant’ call he heard a few hours before, and was dead within seconds. The wolf said, “Lovely,” and set to eat. The meat was not to his liking. It tasted worse than an old cow; it was tough and fatty, but he had to eat. As it tore chunks of flesh from the prime minister’s body and chewed them quickly, the wolf was proud of himself. This was the first human he ever ate, and it outsmarted him with its knowledge and intelligence. It would spread its knowledge to other wolves so that they came out on top whenever they meet a human.
When it stuffed itself, it moved on to find a secluded place where it could sleep in peace for a few hours. It trotted for a minute or two before falling to the ground, writhing in pain. Its wretched howling was terrible to hear, and animals and birds ran off in fright deeper into the forest.
Frothy, bubbling saliva poured out of his mouth while it was trying to bite an imaginary enemy. It rolled on the ground repeatedly, curling up and biting its own leg and tight to get rid of a pain. Then howling stopped, its body stiffened, and the quiet returned to the forest.
The next day a pair of hunters found it lying in the undergrowth. They examined its body but could not find any gunshot wounds. The wolf was well-fed and in good shape, and they were interested to learn the cause of its death. They tied it to a branch and carried it between themselves to a veterinarian. He told them to return in five days when the results of tests would come back from the laboratory. Five days later, he welcomed the hunters in his consulting room and looking at the paper on the table in front of him said, “I can’t tell you precisely what kind of flesh the wolf ate, but it was more poisonous than ricin. The poor animal, it must have suffered terribly.”
THE END
