Frankie, Celine, the Wolf, and the Woods

Frankie, Celine, the Wolf, and the Woods
By Sean Dent

It was a simple love affair. She loved to be with him, he loved to be
with her, and they needed nothing else. They walked, they ate, they
played, and they slept within reach of each other.

After a while, the excitement of young love grew into the security of
deep love. They felt safe to venture from each other's arms. They once
again noticed the sun, the wind, the flowers, and a life beyond their
tiny cottage.

They planted a modest garden that brought them flowers and food to feed
their bodies and souls throughout the seasons. Then they built an
enclosure to keep their chickens and cow safe. It was perfect.

Not quite satisfied, he suggested a hunting trip. "We need meat."

"We do?" she said.

"Plus it's a chance to get away on my own sometimes. I need that." He
would return from hunting trips with a carcass of deer or a line of
rabbits. He'd skin them, roast them on the spit, and feast on their
meat. Celine didn't like the idea, and she didn't like the taste. She
prefered the food they produced on their own land.

It was while tending their garden she first spotted the large black
wolf. With silent steps, she moved toward the patch of thick grass
where Frankie lay reading. She nudged him, her eyes never leaving the
wolf. Frankie sat up and nodded. "He seems to hang around. I kind of
like him. He makes me feel safe. Think of him as security." Frankie
could see the fear in Celine's eyes and reached his hand out to her.
"He's completely harmless. He just looks mean."

"Harmless?" she said, her eyes fixed on the wolf.

"Completely," Frankie said, his back eyes on his book

So she put up with the wolf, who pretty much stayed away from
her.

As the weeks passed, the wolf became more brazen, sleeping closer to
the house. Each time she looked, he was a little closer. She screeched
one day when his shadow appeared outside her door, and that caused him
to growl. She looked over at Frankie, who remained calm. "He's
completely harmless. Don't be afraid," he said.

Then Frankie started going away for longer hunting trips, and during
one of his sojourns, the wolf let himself into the house and made
himself at home. He didn't do anything to Celine - he didn't bite her
or corner her - and she stayed well clear of him. He did, however,
growl from time to time when he was hungry and showed her every one of
his large teeth, lest she think he was really harmless. It scared
Celine. She tried to make sure he was always fed and happy.

As the months went by, Frankie's absences became longer. It reached the
point where Frankie was hardly there any more - just Celine and the
wolf. Celine was very scared and hoped Frankie would come back and be
with her, and that the wolf would go away forever.

Each time she was right at the end of believing she would ever see
Frankie again, he would return and fill her heart with so much hope
that she couldn't keep it all inside. She would cry extraordinary tears
of happiness. The wolf would become tame again, and she'd believe
Frankie was finally going to stay forever.

"Will you stay forever?" she asked, and she'd hold him tight.

"Not forever," he said with a chuckle. "We do need time to
ourselves."

Then he'd disappear again, and the wolf was alone with her, growling
and baring his teeth. It reached the point where it was just Celine and
the wolf for the longest time. She needed Frankie so much she would
stand outside door and call his name, but he never answered. She felt
fear each minute of every one of those days, never sleeping because the
wolf never seemed to.

One morning, tired and hungry, she prepared a breakfast for herself and
the wolf. It was the breakfast that Frankie loved - eggs sunny side up,
and tomatoes sliced then fried. She gave the wolf his portion first and
then started to cook her own. The wolf gulped his and then watched
Celine prepare her own. When she placed her own breakfast onto the
plate, the wolf growled. He wanted more. Sighing, she placed her own
plate on the floor and yanked her hand from his greedy mouth. She then
realized that she was starving. She lifted the heavy pan and held it in
her hand wondering what she could cook in it. There was no food left in
the house. The wolf ate too much.

She thought of going to the door and calling Frankie, but she had
called so many days and nights, and she was tired of hoping. She tried
to listen for footsteps approaching from the forest. All she heard was
her stomach begging for food and the wolf slurping. "Shhhhh," she
snarled as she struggled to listen for steps outside. He glanced at
her, but carried on gobbling her breakfast. The sound of him eating
seemed to clamor until it smothered and surrounded her, filling every
corner of the house, and echoing from wall to wall. In her mind she
tried to wander away from it - to hear any other sound at all, but
everywhere she went it followed her, trapping her, cornering her.

She looked at the wolf, him half-contented as he ate her breakfast, his
tongue lashing at the food that covered his mouth. A slob had taken
over her life and turned her into his stooge. He'd made her subject to
his every passing whim. He'd stripped her of her self-esteem, her
poise, and her pride. She thought of the next meal when she would sink
even lower as his demands became more insistent. In the window, she saw
her reflection - a scowled face and slumped shoulders. She didn't even
recognize herself. She was once so beautiful. She heard a growl, but
this time not from the wolf. It came from inside her. She thought it
was her stomach, but it rose until it transformed into a low groan in
her throat, erupting into a roar.

A swing of her hand followed, and the cast-iron pan met the wolf's face
and sent him sliding along the floor towards the door where he lay
motionless. With an anger and strength that she had never imagined
inside her, Celine dragged the wolf outside and left him there. She
looked toward the woods and remembered how she'd called Frankie's name
for so long, but the feeling of hope turned to acid in her gut. She
marched inside, slammed the door shut, and vowed never to open it
again.

In the weeks that followed, she sneaked outside only to plunder her
garden for food before rushing back inside to safety.

A few weeks later there was a knock on the door that made Celine run to
the furthest corner of the house and wrap herself in a blanket. After a
few minutes, she called out, "Who is it?"

"It's me, Frankie."

She pulled the blanket tighter. "Is it really?"

"I know what happened with the wolf. I'm sorry, and he's gone now
forever. I sent him scurrying."

Celine wasn't sure. Maybe it was the wolf pretending to be Frankie so
he could get back inside. She knew he'd be furious with her, so she
stayed far from the door.

When nightfall, she heard his steps leaving.

He came back the next day and knocked on the door. Celine stayed away
from the door and asked who it was. "It's Frankie," he said. But Celine
wasn't sure and she didn't answer.

Every day Frankie would return and knock on the door. Each day Celine
moved a little closer to the door. Eventually she sat against the door,
her forehead resting on the wood. She said, "Is that really you,
Frankie? Is the wolf really gone forever?"

Frankie said, "Yes, it's really me and the wolf is really gone
forever." But she didn't open the door.

The next time Frankie didn't even knock. "You think I'm the wolf, don't
you."

Celine remained silent for hours, neither of them moving. Then she
said, "I don't know."

"If I am the wolf, and you let him in a second time, you could never
open your door again." Hours passed. The sun disappeared and
re-appeared again. She said nothing.

"If you open the door, and the wolf is out here," Frankie said, "that
would kill your heart. Your door would be closed forever."

"Yes," she said.

"But your heart is already imprisoned," Frankie said after a while.
"Who will rescue it?"

She started sobbing. "I don't know."

Celine heard Frankie's steps disappear into the woods, then nothing
more until hours later, when she heard the sound of axe against trees.
For weeks, axe against trees. Trees falling. She took comfort from the
sound. It seemed to go on day and night. When it stopped, she waited.
For weeks she heard nothing. She startled one morning to the sound of
footsteps approaching. She moved close to the door. A note slid
underneath.

It said, "I will protect you from the wolf. Come to me. I love you,
Frankie."

His steps sounded clear and purposeful as he left. Then they faded into
nothing. For days, she read his note over and over. It comforted her,
and her appetite returned. She felt strong enough to go to the garden.
She opened her door and looked around for the wolf, but something else
caught her eye. In the woods was a clearing of trees - a bright path
that seemed to go on forever. Where the path started, the earth was
soft beneath her feet. She took one step. Then another. As she took a
third step, she looked back at the tiny cottage. "You gave me comfort,"
she said to it, "but I miss the freedom that believing gave me."

Each step felt a little lighter than the one before. Hours later, deep
into the woods, almost no fear remained. When she saw the top of the
house, she quickened her pace. A balcony appeared. Through the open
doors of the balcony, she could see a bedroom as large as her old
house. She moved faster, her hopes rising with each step, her eyes
taking in more of the house, every detail more perfect than she'd
allowed herself to hope.

When she reached the top of the hill, the entire house lay before her -
a masterpiece of craftsmanship. Suddenly, Frankie appeared in the
doorway, and her feet flew over the soft ground as she ran toward him.
She was filled with euphoria when she saw him do the same, but she
stopped just short of reaching him, suddenly short of breath, her eyes
wide with panic. She looked back along the path, and then into the
trees, scanning for movement or sound.

She looked at Frankie. "How do you know the wolf won't return?"

His eyes didn't leave hers. They were strong and adoring as she
remembered them from the first time she saw him. "Even a wolf needs
acceptance to survive. There's none for him here."

The scent of the freshly cut wood from the house filled her senses, and
she felt as new. Her feet were stuck in the earth, but she reached to
him, and he stretched his fingers until their tips met. She drew a
surge of strength from the touch and closed her eyes. When she opened
them again, she noticed behind Frankie, close to the house, a garden -
even bigger and more fertile than their old garden, filled with color
and life. Surrounding the house were trees that bore every fruit she'd
ever seen in her life. Frankie was looking too. Then their eyes met,
and without either of them feeling their feet move, they were in each
other's arms.

She looked into his eyes. "Will you ever leave me alone?" she
asked.

"I traveled the world and saw all the beauty and excitement it had to
offer," he said. "It fulfilled me only because I knew the one piece
that was missing was waiting for me at home. I didn't realize how
selfish I was. The past few weeks showed me what life is like when you
must wait for someone you love."

"Are you sure?" she asked. "Can you be happy like that?"

The way he looked at her, she felt like the most beautiful woman God
had ever made. His arms held her as close as she'd ever been to him.
"Only a fool would let that door close again," he said. "I need only
you."

END