CHAPTER SIX

The Little Gray Wolf

One of the baby wolves was different from his brothers and sisters. Most of the babies had red fur. This one, however, was gray like his father.

When the baby wolf's eyes finally opened, he could see very clearly. He knew his brothers and sisters very well. They played together. He loved his mother very much. She was very gentle and warm, and she gave him good food to eat. When he slept, he slept next to her.

For the first month of his life, he slept most of the time. Now that he could see well, he was awake most of the day. He knew the cave very well. It was his world. He did not know anything about the world outside.

The little gray wolf knew that one of the walls in the cave was different than the others. The wall had a lot of light, while the others were dark. He often looked at that wall and tried to walk to it, but his mother would not let him. He wanted more than anything to go to that wall. Again and again, he tried to walk to it, but his mother always stopped him.

He was a very fierce little wolf. His brothers and sisters were also fierce. After all, they were wolves. But the little gray wolf was the fiercest of all the baby wolves. He could easily scare his brothers and sisters with his loud growls.

Everyday, the little gray wolf was interested in the wall. He knew it was special. He did not know that it was actually the entrance to the cave. He saw his father, One Eye, walk through it many times. He could not understand this. Because his mother would not allow him to go near the wall of light, he tried walking through other walls of the cave. After hitting his nose several times, he knew he could not walk through the other walls.

After many days, there was no food to eat Everyday, One Eye would go hunting for meat and would return with nothing. His mother stopped having milk. At first, the baby wolves cried. Then, they had no energy, so they just slept. One by one, the baby wolves died. One Eye looked everywhere for food, but he could find nothing. The she-wolf also left the cave to go and hunt for meat. They could find nothing.

When the little gray wolf awoke after a long sleep, his brothers and sisters were gone. He did not know that they had all died. Food finally arrived. The little gray wolf became stronger. Because he was now the only baby wolf in the cave, he learned to play by himself.

One day, the little gray wolf noticed that his father stopped coming in and out of the wall of light. The she-wolf knew One Eye was dead, but she could not explain it to the little gray wolf. When the she-wolf went out to hunt for meat, she found the place where One Eye had been killed. Another animal, a lynx, killed One Eye. After that day, the she-wolf was careful not to go near the lynx's cave.

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