The lost tourist thought the hungry wolf was going to eat him alive: the wolf slowly approached him, placed its paws on his chest, sniffed his face and neck — and then did this…
As night fell, the tourist realized in horror that he had gotten lost in the vast forest. There was no cell signal, his phone had long since died, and the friends he had been walking with had disappeared from sight.
He tried several times to find a familiar path, but it was useless — identical trees, darkness, and not the slightest sign of a road. When his strength began to fade, he decided to stop and rest for a while.
The sun had long since set behind the horizon. The forest was swallowed by cold and silence, broken only by the cracking of branches and a distant growl.
The air was damp and icy, his fingers numb, and his teeth chattering from the cold. Fear slowly crept in — that sticky, paralyzing fear when you don’t know where to go, what to do, and are even afraid to call out because you’re not sure who will answer first — a human or a beast.
He stumbled over roots until he slipped and fell into a narrow stream. The icy water burned his skin, his clothes clung to his body instantly, and he gasped for breath.
He climbed out onto the bank, shivering from the cold, realizing he had no dry clothes and no strength left to continue. He collapsed onto the ground and knew — this was the end.
But just then, a loud howl echoed nearby. It was so close, it felt as though the creature was standing right behind him. The tourist slowly turned his head and froze. Behind him stood a wolf — huge, dark, with gleaming fur and eyes glowing in the twilight. Behind it, small shapes moved — wolf pups.