Beau the Wolf

Together with his mother, a wolf walks across the vast steppes in search of food to satisfy hunger. Since the death of his father, who was killed by hunters, his mother must provide enough food for both. Winter lasts longer than usual this year and the extreme cold will decide their fate, but as long as she can, she will protect her growing child.

She is looking for a new hiding place because the previous one was discovered by the hunters and is therefore no longer safe for her and her child. The mother keeps a close eye on them and sees that he is exhausted. Together they plod through the high snow dunes caused by the blizzard and finally, she discovers a shelter and hopes that it is not already in use by others. Vigilantly, she sneaks into the cave and discovers that it is empty. If her scent instinct does not deceive her, this cave is safe for her and her child, and together they settle into a crevice. Here she can rest for a while and feed her child with the breastmilk,

she still produces. But as time goes by, less and less milk comes out of her mammary glands, and she becomes weaker. Just before spring arrives, she dies of exhaustion and wolf must manage on her own.

Wolfje crawls close to his mother, but instinctively he feels that his mother has died and does not yet fully understand what to do. His body asks for food, and he understands that he now must take care of himself.

One more time he pushes his head against his mother’s body and gives her a lick over her head, then he turns around and heads for the exit. The exit is closed by the accumulated snow, and he diligently digs his way out.

Plodding through the snow, he feels the hunger getting stronger and stronger. His head only just rises above the snow and to get ahead he must jump up every time, which costs him a lot of energy. His paws get tired and then he suddenly bumps into a tree stump, which he climbs onto. In the distance, he sees something moving and next to it is an object.

His scent instinct tells him that there is food to be had further down the road and he carefully approaches his prey, but when he arrives, he sees a helpless boy lying in the bitter cold. He pulls up his upper lip, but something inside him makes him doubt. A strange empathy for the boy takes hold of him, a feeling he cannot bring home. For some reason, he understands that the boy is just as helpless as he is, and they need each other to survive in this inhospitable environment. With careful strides, he approaches the boy and sniffs at him. The boy looks at him in fear and understands that the wolf can take his life with one bite, but he does not. The young wolf snuggles close to him to protect him from the bitter cold, just as his mother had done to him. The boy settles into his soft fur and no longer feels threatened. Occasionally, the boy takes some food from the sledge and shares it with the young wolf.

As the days go by, it has stopped snowing and the air warms up again, causing the snow to melt and the meltwater to drain away.

The boy checks his sledge and worries about the young wolf. He can’t take him to the village. There they will kill him, and he wants to prevent that. Wolfje comes up to him and rubs his head along his leg as if he understands what the boy is struggling with.

“I’ll have to give you a name, what do you think of Beau, my name is Bob,” the boy whispers. ‘We need to go a little deeper into the forest so that we are a little further away from civilization. That’s much safer for you.’

Beau looks at him understandingly and walks in front of him. Unexpectedly, he lies down in a sneaking position and runs away from Bob. Beau’s crying makes Bob understand where he is and when he arrives at him, he sees that Beau has caught a young deer. For a moment, Bob looks at the prey with terror in his eyes but immediately understands that nature has its own laws and that they must eat anyway and that also applies to him.

While Beau eats some of the young deer, Bob makes a campfire and roasts a piece of the meat. In this way, they share their catches and always find a way to help each other in the hunt for meat, fruit, or fish.

Together they develop a deep bond and become best friends and their combined skills keep them alive in the wild.

Bob understands that they have built a close bond and that people will not understand this bond. Still, he misses his family, and friends, and tries to tell Beau that he wants to go back to his village.

“Beau, I have to leave you behind. You can’t go because people won’t understand and they will never, ever accept you,” he whispers, gently stroking his head.

Beau doesn’t understand him and when Bob sends him away and shouts that he doesn’t want to see him anymore, he looks at him sadly.

“Go away Beau, I’m not a wolf. Find your own kind and start a family,’ Bob shouts.

Beau feels abandoned and walks up the hill. Occasionally he looks back to see if Bob is following, but soon he realizes that he will be on his own in the future.

Bobs is confused and can’t fathom what’s happening to him. He misses his parents, but he feels like he’s betrayed Beau. Worrying, he sits down on a tree stump at the edge of the forest and gazes at the village so familiar to him. A group of people approach, and he hears his name calling.

‘We must find Bob. He may know a lot about nature, but when the wolves find him, they tear him apart. He’s hidden in a cavern somewhere; we must do something about those wolves.’

“There…, look…, there’s a wolf. Shoot him…,” a woman yells.

Bob looks in the direction the woman is pointing and sees that Beau is at the top of the hill. Immediately he runs up the hill.

‘There’s Bob…,’ he hears behind him!

“He doesn’t notice the wolf. Come on men, shoot that wolf,” the woman shouts.

The bullets fly over him and then he hears a softly cry at the top of the hill. With all the strength he has in him, Bob tries to get to Beau and when he kneels by him, he sees that the injury is not serious.

“It’s not too bad Beau, but we have to see that we get out of here. We will soon be able to take care of your wound when we are safe. Come let us go deeper into the forest again, no one will find us there,’ Bob whispers.

After an hour they rest a bit and Bob takes care of the wound that Beau has suffered. Fortunately, it is indeed not so bad.

Bob and Beau still roam the vast forests and steppes, enjoying each other’s company, their unexpected camaraderie cannot be broken by anything and anyone.