Free The Return by Dayna Lorentz Page A

she’d gone too far following this new smell, but she also felt that having come so far she could not turn back until she found its source.
    Night fell over the forest. Lassie looked up at the Great Wolf’s glittering coat and asked him for guidance. As if answering her howl, one of the furs in his coat blazed for several heartbeats. Lassie thanked the Great Wolf and dashed toward where the fire had burned in the night.
    The fire led her to a small, hairless animal curled in the grass. Lassie licked the thing and it stirred. She ducked away from the animal but then remembered that the Great Wolf had led her there so this animal must not be dangerous.
    The hairless animal stretched, its gangly limbs protruding from its body like branches from a tree.
    â€œWhat are you?” woofed Lassie.
    The hairless creature started. But Lassie wagged her tail, and the creature calmed. It extended its limb, which had a sort of paw with long toes stuck on its end. Lassie raised her paw, and the creature wrapped its long toes around her pads.
    They both were shocked at the spark that ran through their lifeblood at the touch of their paws. It was as if Lassie had bathed in sunlight; she felt her fur glow. The creature’s eyes sparkled. Its smooth cheeks warmed to a rosy pink and its lips curled into a wide smile.
    The creature opened its mouth. “You are good,” the creature said. “I am a boy. What are you?”
    Lassie told the boy that she was a dog. She told him that there were many like her, and about how the Great Wolf had taught her pack to live in peace.
    The boy shook his head. “Humans are not happy the way you dogs are. We fight and struggle and live in fear.”
    â€œThat sounds terrible,” woofed Lassie.
    The boy and Lassie sat together, him with his arm around her neck and she with her head against his shoulder, and the warm glow radiated through them.
    In the morning, the boy stroked Lassie’s fur. He had an idea. “Lassie, you should come to my den and tell the humans about the Great Wolf. Maybe then we can learn to live in peace like the dogs.”
    Lassie agreed, and the boy began to lead her back to his den.
    As they walked, the scent of their happiness — that warm glow of connection — wafted throughout the forest. It drifted up to the Great Wolf, and he smiled; it drifted down to the Black Dog, and he scowled.
    â€œWhat new joy has the Great Wolf delivered?” he snarled. For the Black Dog hated anything favored by the Great Wolf.
    The Black Dog skulked up from the depths, winding his way through the shadows, and soon caught up with Lassie and the boy. He saw the golden glow shining around them and was disgusted.
    â€œNo dog should be so happy,” he growled.
    The boy introduced Lassie to his people and explained what Lassie had told him. “Lassie and the Great Wolf could teach us to live in peace,” the boy said.
    These words raised hackles along the Black Dog’s bony spine. He could never allow the Great Wolf’s influence to spread so far. He had to distract Lassie before she had a chance to speak.
    The Black Dog turned himself into a pup and began whimpering and crying. Lassie heard the pup’s cries and told the boy that she had to see what was the matter. The boy begged her not to go, but Lassie could not ignore a dog in need.
    â€œI will go with you,” said the boy, and the two ran off together.
    When they arrived at the thicket where the pup lay crying, the boy knelt beside the small dog.
    â€œDon’t cry,” the boy said. “My touch will make you feel better.”
    He laid his hand on the bristly coat, and the Black Dog revealed his true form.
    â€œYour touch will never be felt by another dog,” the Black Dog snarled.
    A hole opened beneath him and sucked both the Black Dog and the boy down into the earth.
    Lassie shrieked with terror. She ran back to the human den for help. She told the boy’s kin