The forest was swallowed by an inky blackness. On the damp earth, beneath an ancient oak, sat an old man. His breathing was laboured, his hands trembled from the cold, and his eyes were filled with despair. His own children had brought him there and abandoned him like rubbish, useless and forgotten.
For years, theyd waited for him to die. The inheritancea grand house, land, and a tidy sumwas meant to be theirs. But the old man wouldnt pass. So they decided to hurry things along: they left him in the middle of that lonely woodland, with no food or water, hoping the wild beasts would do their work and the police would write it off as a tragic accident.
The poor old man, leaning against the tree, flinched at every sound. In the distance, the wind howled, but beneath its whistle came another noisethe cry of wolves. He knew the end was near.
“Dear God is this really how it ends?” he whispered, clasping his hands in prayer.
Just then, a twig snapped. Then another. Footsteps grew closer. The old man tried to stand, but his body wouldnt obey. His eyes strained into the dark until, suddenly, from the bushes, a wolf emerged.
The creature stepped slowly onto the path. Its fur glowed silver in the moonlight, and its eyes burned like embers. It bared its fangs and crept closer.
“This is it,” the old man thought.
He shut his eyes and began praying aloud, bracing for the pain of those sharp teeth. But then, something happened he never couldve imagined.
The wolf didnt attack. It moved closer, right beside him, then stopped and lowered its head, letting out a soft whine, almost like speech.
Confused, the man reached outand to his shock, the animal didnt pull away. Instead, it let him stroke its thick fur.
Then, he remembered. Years ago, when he still had strength, hed found a young wolf trapped in a hunters snare in these very woods.
Without fear, risking his own life, hed pried open those deadly jaws and set it free. The wolf had run without looking back but it seemed it had never forgotten.
Now, that solitary predator bowed before him like a grateful friend. The wolf crouched lower, making its message clear: climb on.
With great effort, nearly spent, the old man clung to the wolfs neck. The animal rose and carried him through the shadowed forest. The old man heard twigs snap beneath its paws, saw other creatures lurking, but none dared approach.
After a few miles, light appeared aheada village. People rushed out at the sound of barking and gasped at the sight: a great wolf gently laying an old man, weak but alive, at their doorstep.
Once inside, surrounded by kind faces, the old man wept. Not from fear, but from the bitter truththat a beast had shown more humanity than his own flesh and blood.
