THE STORY OF BILLY OF THE WOLVES
Table of Contents
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THE ORIGINAL MESSAGE
"Let's see... okay. So. Let's say this kid has a rough home life. IDK, like, just not great. Bad parents. Neglectful parents who never paaaay.... *flips coin* him enough attention, maybe not directly abusive but you know, just not there for him emotionally, maybe. One of them for sure smokes like two packs a day and the other one is just never around. And his life at school is mid-nineties movie rough, bullies constantly getting on his case and beating him up and stealing his stuff. Like he had a bike but they took it, so then he had a scooter but they took that, too, so now he just hoofs it everywhere. And his grades suck so the only time his parents pay him attention is when the school calls to complain about how bad he is and how much trouble he gets into so they give him half-hearted stern talkings-to and say, oh, you're grounded, but what does this mean to him? Basically nothing. He sneaks out his window to go for walks all the time because that's the only time he gets fresh air and a little clarity and some alone time. And these walks start lasting longer and longer, until one day there's this just huuuuge screaming match between him and his *flips another coin* father about how he's just such a disappointment compared to, I dunno, an older, dead sibling maybe? And he just flips his shit and can't take it anymore so he throws on his hiking boots, slips out of the house, and stomps right into the forest.But then! Those nineties bullies show up! And they have like baseball bats and shit and are totally ready to just crack this kid's head in if he doesn't run. So he runs, and I mean like his life depends on it, full tilt down a hiking trail with them hot on his heels. and he's running, and he's stumbling, and he pitches headfirst over a small cliff, down a muddy embankment, and into a river, where he loses the bullies but also loses himself. He ends up on the other side and it is just a bigass river, so he thinks, well, town is downstream, but I don't even want to be there, so let's try my luck going upstream for a while instead.
But it's late autumn, right, so it starts getting dark early. And cold. And he's wearing... a jean jacket and a band tee and some jeans, so not like, great stuff for foothill-type chilly forest weather. And he's soaking wet, too. So he's following this river, but the further upstream he goes, the further he gets from people, because he's going exactly the opposite way he should be going for that kind of thing, and that doesn't occur to him until the moon is literally rising. And then it hits him really hard, that he's alone and cold and hungry and lost and is probably going to die out here so he's just sobbing, stumbling through the forest and eventually away from the river because what even is the point anymore. And so he's falling all over himself and getting caught in brambles and he spends half the night just moving on forward, at one point freaking himself out because he finds a deer in the darkness and it scares him so he runs even further until he feels like he's just gonna pass out.
So he finds this big old oak tree to huddle under and just basically has himself a baby pity party consigning himself to death when he sees this warm little pinprick of light up in the hills. He thinks it's just a big stupid firefly and tries to just ignore it so he can get back to dying (because being dead will make everyone wish they'd been nicer to him for sure), but then the light starts getting closer, and along with it comes this rustling, squeaking noise. It's an old lantern with a rusty handle, but he can't tell who - or what - is carrying it, but for whatever reason, he figures he may as well follow the light to see where it is going. It'll probably lead to his death anyways, and wouldn't that be more poetic than dying under some dumb tree?
And this light is just bouncing along merrily through the forest, following deer trails and skirting around bramble patches, just generally taking him on a path much nicer than the one he previously bolted down, but the kid still thinks this is like a forest ghost that wants to eat him and even though he tells himself he's cool with that, he's actually super scared and hyped up by the time the lantern stops moving. He approaches to find it's sitting on the old wraparound porch of a very stately, but also very abandoned, two-story wooden cabin. He steps onto the porch and starts snooping in windows, trying to figure out if anyone is home, and he sees the fire in the hearth; he also sees the open door, and being a shitty pre-teen, he just decides to waltz right on in without knocking. He actually pretty much just falls into the cabin because it is warm and clean and cozy on the inside, and there are soft, luxurious pelts all around the hearth like a nice, warm nest. So he strips out of his nasty, wet, muddy clothes, climbs into the pile of furs, and just goes right on to sleep, not even noticing the massive wolf watching him from the banister above.
But it's late autumn, right, so it starts getting dark early. And cold. And he's wearing... a jean jacket and a band tee and some jeans, so not like, great stuff for foothill-type chilly forest weather. And he's soaking wet, too. So he's following this river, but the further upstream he goes, the further he gets from people, because he's going exactly the opposite way he should be going for that kind of thing, and that doesn't occur to him until the moon is literally rising. And then it hits him really hard, that he's alone and cold and hungry and lost and is probably going to die out here so he's just sobbing, stumbling through the forest and eventually away from the river because what even is the point anymore. And so he's falling all over himself and getting caught in brambles and he spends half the night just moving on forward, at one point freaking himself out because he finds a deer in the darkness and it scares him so he runs even further until he feels like he's just gonna pass out.
So he finds this big old oak tree to huddle under and just basically has himself a baby pity party consigning himself to death when he sees this warm little pinprick of light up in the hills. He thinks it's just a big stupid firefly and tries to just ignore it so he can get back to dying (because being dead will make everyone wish they'd been nicer to him for sure), but then the light starts getting closer, and along with it comes this rustling, squeaking noise. It's an old lantern with a rusty handle, but he can't tell who - or what - is carrying it, but for whatever reason, he figures he may as well follow the light to see where it is going. It'll probably lead to his death anyways, and wouldn't that be more poetic than dying under some dumb tree?
And this light is just bouncing along merrily through the forest, following deer trails and skirting around bramble patches, just generally taking him on a path much nicer than the one he previously bolted down, but the kid still thinks this is like a forest ghost that wants to eat him and even though he tells himself he's cool with that, he's actually super scared and hyped up by the time the lantern stops moving. He approaches to find it's sitting on the old wraparound porch of a very stately, but also very abandoned, two-story wooden cabin. He steps onto the porch and starts snooping in windows, trying to figure out if anyone is home, and he sees the fire in the hearth; he also sees the open door, and being a shitty pre-teen, he just decides to waltz right on in without knocking. He actually pretty much just falls into the cabin because it is warm and clean and cozy on the inside, and there are soft, luxurious pelts all around the hearth like a nice, warm nest. So he strips out of his nasty, wet, muddy clothes, climbs into the pile of furs, and just goes right on to sleep, not even noticing the massive wolf watching him from the banister above.