**Diary Entry**
The old woman wiped the sweat from her brow with a weary hand, her gaze settling on her husbands motionless body lying on the cart. For years now, he hadnt been able to rise from his straw bed, couldnt eat without help, couldnt speakonly breathed heavily and stared at the ceiling with clouded eyes.
To her, the man had long been a burden. Once, hed been stronga provider, a protector. But time had stripped him of everything. Now, he only consumed the last scraps of food without giving anything in return.
One day, after chopping firewood and enduring endless complaints and sleepless nights, she decided shed had enough. She hauled him onto the cart and drove him deep into Sherwood Forest, where wolves were rumoured to roam, leaving him beneath an ancient, withered oak.
“Forgive me, old man,” she murmured without tears, “I cant bear it any longer Survive if you can.”
And she left.
When the last creak of the cart wheels faded into the distance, the old man understoodhe was alone. Utterly alone. In the heart of the woods, surrounded by hungry wolves.
The cold seeped into his bones. The ground was damp and frozen, the night air biting his skin.
A lump rose in his throat. He could no longer call out; his voice was gone. He simply lay there, staring up at the dark sky through the branches. Hunger gnawed at him, and he longed for even a drop of water.
Then, something terrifying reached his ears
At first, fainta twig snapping, padded footsteps. Then closer. One, then another, and another still. Heavy paws. The wind howledor was it a wolf?
Fear gripped him. His heart pounded so violently it felt ready to burst. Wolves. Shed left him here to be torn apart.
Suddenly, a shape emerged from the shadows. Grey, massive, with gleaming eyes that flickered like cold fire. A wolf.
It stopped and stared at him. But then, something unexpected happened.
The old man wanted to shut his eyes, to escape the sight of the beast, but he couldnt. *This is the end*, he thought. *The wolf will devour me alive.*
But the creature didnt lunge for his throat, didnt bare its teeth. Instead, it stepped closer, then lay down beside himso near he could feel the warmth of its thick fur.
The wolf took a deep breath, closed its eyes, and went still, save for the occasional twitch of its ears.
The old man hardly believed his senses. Yet slowly, he pressed himself closer, half-dead and stiff with cold, seeking the heat radiating from the animals body.
The wolf didnt leave. It kept him warm.
And so they stayed all nighttwo forgotten souls, cast aside by mankind, yet finding each other in the dark depths of the forest.
