Article 8: Into The Forest
By Freddie Barkman
Once there were three wolves who lived in the forest and they took care of each other. One wolf was the father who took care of his young sons named Niko and Chase. Niko was bigger, faster, and more disciplined than Chase because he looked up to his father who’d always get rabbit and fish with his father. Chase was always the curious and playful one who’d always scare the hunt away before they could all perform as a team.
Niko and Chase woke up one morning. “I’m going hunting alone today,” the father said. “You two stay here and I’ll be back later.”
The day turned to night and their father still didn’t show up. Niko and Chase started to get cared and worried. “Father’s probably caught something or is lost somewhere. Niko told Chase, “Just go to sleep.” They both went to sleep.
More came and there was still no sign of their father. “Let’s go and get something to eat,” Niko told Chase. Then they both disappeared into the deep forest.
The two brothers went on to their usual water stream where they would catch salmon. After they caught enough salmon to get their strength back they were still on a mission to look for their father. Even though both were determined to find their father, Niko was always pushing the search further than Chase was. Niko was the closest one to his father as he would always go on hunting trips with him and learnt a lot from his father. This made a bigger impact on Niko because he was worried about his father. He knew he had to take care of his brother and take the responsibility. Niko slightly grew agitated with his brother Chase as days went by from trying to teach Chase how to hunt and work both independently and as a team. Chase slowly learned from his brother how to hunt effectively.
As weeks passed by Niko decided not to look for their father, but to test their hunting skills for bigger game because they were sick of fish and smaller prey. The brothers tracked down a deer in the forest behind a broken log. “Are you ready Chase?” Niko says, “Since I’m bigger and faster I’m going for the kill, you try and slow it down and go for the legs.”
It was at this moment Chase felt his confidence shrinking within him and became hesitant. “Yeah, maybe we should wait until we improve our hunting skills,” Chase was trying to tell his brother.
“Go!” Niko shouted out loud. He rushed out to the deer and latched onto the neck. As Niko carried out his plan, not further behind him Chase did his part and latched on to the rear leg. The deer’s powerful legs kicked off Chase fifteen feet away while Niko was still fighting to stay on the deer. Chase got back up to help his brother bring down the deer, but the deer threw Niko off its back with its antlers. The deer had thrown Niko further the other way from Chase. When Chase saw his brother Niko down and hurt, Chase was shocked and concerned. He didn’t want to take on the deer alone but was more concerned about his brother, Niko. The deer already had ran off into the wilderness. Chase immediately ran over to his brother side, “Niko are you okay?” Chase asked.
Niko slowly got back up in pain with blood dripping down his front right leg. He didn’t say a word to Chase, but Niko’s facial expression looked like he was in pain and disappointed on how the hunt had failed. Suddenly, Niko lashed out at Chase. “If father were here he would have known exactly what to do! What are you good at, Chase? Chasing your own tail? You know that’s how you got your name right? Just leave me alone, Chase.”
Chase watched his brother Niko slowly limping away into the forest as he was left alone and very disappointed in himself. He slowly walked away to the opposite direction; he stopped and looked back once more time, then he carried on.
Early one afternoon when the sun was shining at its brightest, Chase saw a rabbit rattling around the leaves. He told himself, “Hey no matter how hard you tried to get away from me, I’ve got you. He was so determined to catch the rabbit that he paid no attention to where he was going. The hunt led him to areas he wasn’t too familiar with but still proceeded. During the hunt something caught the corner of his eye; he saw a pack of wolves. He realized he has stumbled into another territory of wolves. Unsure if they were going to attack him or not, he noticed three of those four wolves were cubs like himself. Mother wolf was fierce and over protective of her cubs as any mother would be. Chase mustered up the courage within him. “I didn’t mean to intrude into your territory, I was chasing a rabbit,” he explained.
“Where’s your pack?” the mother wolf asked while she was stilling watching over to see whether there were other wolves.
“I lost my father a few months ago, my brother… is gone.” Chase sadly replied back. The mother wolf felt empathy for this young newcomer and said, “So you were chasing a rabbit huh? I can see you’re not very good at hunting. We were about to have dinner, care to join?”
“Yes,” said Chase as he felt a warm familiar feeling.
Years passed by, and one cold winter season, Chase was still with the family of wolves who brought him in. He grew and became faster, more disciplined, and more humbled.
One night Chase asked his stepbrothers to go on a hunt with him. They would do this for their hungry mother. The four went off into the forest to look for anything they could find in the cold dark forest. During their search, one of the stepbrothers caught a scent in the air and heard a noise coming from the trees. Chase took one of his stepbrothers with him, and the other two went off to a different direction to execute their plan. Chase and his stepbrothers all rushed to the trees where the noise was coming from. He saw two of his stepbrothers already wrestling and growling with this thing at the spot the noise was coming from. As Chase ran towards his stepbrothers to join the fight he sees a familiar face, he stopped dead on his tracks and said, “Father?”
Still in shock, as the fight was still happening, Chase snapped out of his shocking revelation and yelled out, “Stop! That’s my father!” The fighting stopped when they heard the request of their stepbrother Chase. While they were still growling at each other, Chase toldhis stepbrothers, “Go home guys, I’ll catch up later. I need to have a minute with my father.” Out of respect for Chase, they all slowly walked away and head on home to their mother.
“Father, where were you all this time?” Chase asked his father.
“During my hunt the last time you saw me I was being hunted by another pack. I couldn’t let anything happen to my sons; I had to lead them the other away. Where is your brother, Niko?” his father asked. Chase was hesitant to tell his father about what happened between the two.
“N-Niko got hurt when we were hunting down a deer and I couldn’t keep up. He got injured badly and took it out on me, then he walked away.” Chase stuttered.
“Come with me, we have to look for your, brother Niko.” Chase’s father demanded.
“Yes, father, I just have to say goodbye to the others first.” Chase replied back.
Chase and his father traveled through rough snowy weathers to find Niko. And one night, during a cold blue moon Chase and his father heard a familiar howl. At first they could barely hear it, but it got louder. “Could it be?” the father asked.
“Yes father, I-I think it could be Niko.” Chase responded back to his father. When both stood still and quiet to hear it again, the howling stopped. Both heard the howl once again, they both started running towards the sound full speed. The two stopped for a minute, and could hear something approaching. To their surprise and excitement, it was Niko coming out from the pine trees. They were all so happy to see each other after years of searching for each other. First thing Niko said was “Chase you know I didn’t mean what I said right? I’m very sorry brother.” Of course Chase forgave his brother, Niko, for the hurtful words that was thrown onto him years ago when they were both young. Father was very happy to see his two sons both alive and growing well after all those years.
The next day, father caught a scent and found fresh tracks on the snowy ground leading up a hill. Father, Niko, and Chase followed the tracks up the hill. When they reached the top. To their amazement, they saw a large heard of caribou just down the hill. The trio looked at one another with excitement. Their father asked, “Are you ready boys?”
Niko and Chase looked at each other with a smile. As always father wasted no time and got a running head start as an old habit, he saw Niko beside his right side and Chase on his left. Their father decided to slow down because he realized they were old enough to hunt on their own, as he watched his sons from a distance about to kill the caribou, their father felt very proud of his two sons, who survived on their own.
About the Author: Freddie Barkman is from a remote community of Garden Hill. He speaks Oji-Cree. He is currently in his first year of the Bachelor of Arts program. He likes playing the guitar and occasionally he works on his cardio while listening to music. He is a father of three: one boy and two girls.
Instructor’s Remarks: I am very pleased to see Freddie publishing his short story in our first edition of Muse from the North. This opportunity has certainly encouraged him to write even more fiction, and I am very pleased to have been a part of that creative process. Congratulations Freddie! (Dr. Gilbert Mcinnis)