The Large Gray Hungry Wolf: Epilogue

Epilogue: Another Thing Coming


It was a splendid, sunny afternoon when the woodcutter and his family set out on a trip to the distant village on the other side of the mountain. The village shepherd's nephew had gotten married and since the woodcutter was friends with the shepherd, he and his family were invited to join the celebration and to give their best wishes to the young newlyweds.

The woodcutter's wife had offered their newest family member to join the merry outing, but for reasons (and complications) that he reluctantly but honestly explained, he offered to watch over the cottage until their return, instead. The kind-hearted woman understood that he had learned his lesson; not to mention he was just so desperate to eat. She agreed with his offer; but did not agree with giving medicinal herbs to animals that were meant to be consumed by people… She would have a necessary discussion with the village herbalist about that.

So Jai-li and He-ping said their Zai Jans to him, and little Bao and Bao Yu did too, as well as giving him a warm hug.

Wang the Wolf now enjoyed affection. Before his new life, he use to despise it. But after joining the caring family, he realized that the only reason he thought he hated it was because he had never received it. After all, one cannot truly hate something that one has never experienced.

After the embrace, the twin children promised to bring 'pup-pup' back some treats; to which Wang responded with a wag of his bushy tail… as it had often did now a days

Shortly after their departure, the worry-free wolf was sniffing the grass around his newfound burrow, err cottage, till his yellow eyes spotted something coming straight towards him. He stood up on his hind legs and held a paw over his sights to keep the sun's bright beams from blocking his view of the approaching form.

And as that rushing form began to reach closer, the wolf noticed small amounts of reddish-brown and gold colors and the all-too-familiar, ear splitting, constant…

BARK! BARK! BARK! BARK BARK! BARK! BARK! BARK BARK! BARK! BARK! BARK BARK! BARK! BARK..!

Wang: (Annoyed) Drat and DOUBLE DRAT!

Wang reared his head back, yelling a sufferable groan to no one in particular.

Wang: Oh, you must be joking!

Unfortunately for the wolf, it wasn't a joke but a Pekinese; the very same he had dealt with just the week before. And with that snarling, short muzzle, the small dog was far from thrilled to be reunited with the slick animal that threw her into the briar rose patch.

But when the Pekinese reached the large wolf, his annoyed expression quickly flashed to amusement. The once, well-groomed and ribbon and beaded trimmed pet was now a trimmed-less, sheared one. She was patchily bald as well, which cued the upright predator's chuckling.

The little lion-dog's round eyes, shot thorns at the smirking, snickering wolf, with a heavy motive for her icy glare.

Pekinese: (Yells) Desist that mocking of me, you despicable beast!

Wang stopped his snickers in surprise of the dog's demand, who creased her furry brow in offence.

Pekinese: (Scoffs) What? Did you actually contemplate that I did not have a vocabulary other than my duteous calls of alarm? Your overgrown muzzle had never let me express myself, otherwise! Well, allow me to articulate that I certainly can and have much to tell you..! (Sits down)

The wolf rolled his eyes… Clearly, she did.

Pekinese: …Thanks to your crude shenanigans, my people had the upmost difficulty with liberating me from those terrible, tangling thorns! The only way I could be freed was for my people to shear all my lush, luminous fur! Now I cannot even proceed into the village or even in this filthy forest without being insulted! I was once known as the beautiful lion-dog. Do you know what a patched-work, peach consuming bear called me?! Do YOU?!

With silent mocking, half lidded eyes, Wang opened his grinning mouth to suggest what HE would like to call her…

Pekinese: (Interrupts) He addressed me as: Monkey-dog!

The poorly groomed canine placed a sheared paw to her head to emphasize her lament.

Pekinese: (Shouts) MONKEY-DOG! Even the villagers shout that abominating name at me! It will take MONTHS for my glorious, flowing fur to return to its former glory! So until then, I will be forced to endure the humiliating title of MONKEY-DOG!

She pointed an accusing paw at the wolf.

Pekinese: (Growls) And it is YOUR liability that has made my misery a miserable reality!

The whining dog noticed the wolf chuckling loudly with his arms wrapped around himself; she had him at 'monkey-dog'. Wang had to admit; that slowpoke panda was good for something.

Furious at his gruff laughter, the Pekinese jumped with all her small might at Wang. In response, he grabbed her scruff while she was in mid-air… yapping away.

Pekinese: Just because you are a big, bad, buffoon does not mean you can outdo me! My perfect heritage has proceeded for generations! Unlike yourself that was birthed in a shoddy hole in the dirt! But that is where you belong! Underneath the mud with the rest of the common earth worms..!

Grimacing with clenched teeth and his long ears splayed back while averting his long face, the wolf had his arm outstretched as far as possible to keep from getting a throbbing headache from the dog's tiresome chatter.

The held Pekinese halted her complaints (for two seconds), for she had noticed the once gaunt wolf certainly no longer looked like he was famished.

Pekinese: By your sated appearance, I can horridly clarify that you are devouring innocent, helpless creatures! Are you assuming that gluttonous gut of yours has actual space for my lovely self?!

Wang rolled his eyes, yet again. If he didn't have a bellyful of pork and rice he had for lunch, she would have BEEN lunch. Then again, it would be REALLY quiet again…

Pekinese: (Cynical) Do not bother to explain, 'I was being rhetorical'!

Wang narrowed his eyes and snorted from the copied retort. The grabbed dog began to twist around, going absolutely nowhere.

Pekinese: (Struggling) Un-paw me, you inferior coward, and I will demonstrate to you why I am the superior canine in your peasant covered landscape! Do you know that I never even acquired my wonderful bone! Just when I was about to reclaim what was properly mine, two, idiotic, purple vultures swiped it from me! That delectable reward for my heroicness of guarding my people was rightfully mine! And because of your delayed interference with retrieving my worthy treat, it was stolen! So that makes TWO miseries you have caused me..!

Wang gave an annoyed sideways glance to the reader of this epilogue, knowing very well what you were wondering as well…

Does this dog EVER stop talking?

Pekinese: …I have pursued you for days until my superior nose had detected my nemesis's horrible scent! So I have come to make certain that you will rue this day that you have ruined me..!

No, apparently not.

The towering predator gave another bothersome sigh at the short canine's overly big ego. Did she really believe a lap dog could outdo a wolf? He pondered if her judgment was either clouded by anger or she was just crazy…

Pekinese: (Shouting) …Did you not hear me?! RUE this DAY!

He winced. That settled it, Wang opted for crazy.

The on-the-warpath Pekinese was twirling, swiping her paws and snapping the air in vain, while still in the bored wolf's grasp.

Pekinese: (Struggling) A supreme specimen of my breed shall not be treated unfairly like this..! I… demand that you release me… right this instant!

The furry predator faced her again and smirked. The dangling dog's eyes widened as she felt his grip on her fidget.

Pekinese: No, I did not mean-!

PLOP!

The plopped Pekinese grumbled from the wolf's 'instant' release; her dark, flat face feeling even flatter.

Wang looked down at the still complaining dog, whose words were muffled with grass, which was music to his aching ears.

But that did not last as the vexed, sheared dog got back on her paws, shaking off any indignity she had left. Her black nose sneezed out a bug, which made the wolf snicker and her scowl with a snarl.

Pekinese: Insolent cur! You believe that you are so much stronger and smarter than I?!

Wang blew on his paw and rubbed his onyx mane, wiggling his furry eyebrows. He took a breath to explain that truth…

Pekinese: (Interrupts) Well, your wild birthright cannot compare to my pure will power and brilliance! (Crouches) If you think you can escape my justified wrath, you are absolutely, foolishly flawed!

Wang, unfazed by the hot-headed, ready to attack… 'monkey-dog', coolly pointed a claw straight overhead. She furrowed her brow, unimpressed.

Pekinese: (Scoffs) Please, I was not whelped yesterday! If you contemplate I will succumb to such a mindless hoax, you have another thing coming-!

BAM!

Pekinese: (Groans) Ughhh….

After the dizzy dog could stand on her paws again, she gathered that she was now a good several feet away from her tall, gray opponent.

Pekinese: What..? What sort of trickery..? What was that?!

Finally, a deep sound was heard for the wolf cleared his throat.

Wang: THAT, my hairless SLEEVE-MONKEY, was… 'Another thing coming'.

Wang almost swore he could see steam escaping from the fuming dog's ears.

Pekinese: (Scowling) Impudent flea-hide! WHAT did you call ME?!

The sneering Pekinese was ready to bite her insulter's hind feet from that slang name; she found that even worse than when he regarded her as a sleeve-dog. The calm wolf was now lounging on his side and holding up his head with a relaxed paw, he pointed his nose to the right, indicating the fuming dog to glance in that direction.

She perked her fur-less, floppy ears to the jingling of a bell, which was attached to a little, white, fluffy, lamb.

Puff-puff was scuffing the grass with a foreleg; her head aimed low to the ground and snorting as loud her small nostrils could muster.

Pekinese: (Yells) You… wooly… little MONSTER! I will not be thwarted by a MERE barn animal! I-!

BAM!

Pekinese: Cease this insolence!

BAM!

Pekinese: I am not to be treated so disgracefully! You..!

BAM!

Pekinese: …common beast of-!

BAM!

Pekinese: …livestock!

BAM!

Pekinese: I said, halt this nonsense at-!

BAM!

Meanwhile, the entertained, reclining predator's eyes followed the tossed monkey-dog ball, back and forth, as if viewing some kind of outdoor event, in which the young ewe was winning hooves down. His toothy grin grew wide at Puff-puff's display. Normally his lamb was as gentle as… a lamb. But this soon proved that if she sees any of her family provoked, especially HER wolf, the devoted small sheep's heart is bigger than a panda's.

After a dozen more times of this repeated warning, the bumped and battered Pekinese swayed on her short limbs, her eyes spiraling like trick plates, going in opposite directions.

Pekinese: (Dizzy) Y-you… w-ill rue… this…

Puff-puff: (Angry) BAAA!

Pekinese: (Jumps back) AHHH!

With her rodent-like tail between her legs, the yipping, sheared lap dog scurried home as fast as her prized pedigreed paws could take her.

Puff-puff watched her target yelp away and she let out a triumphant snort before happily prancing over to the highly proud wolf, blinking at him, adoringly. He patted her puffy head making her wiggle her puffy tail.

Wang: Well now, I didn't think you could be so rum— I mean… RAM-bustious. (Chuckles and snorts)

Wang was quite impressed with the small sheep's silent surprise on the loud mouth monkey-dog. He may not have even spotted her through slipping through the grass if she hadn't been wearing her belled collar.

Wang: That was a nice, little sneak attack ya did there. Maybe I'm rubbing off in all that cotton of yours, eh? (Snickers)

Puff-puff: (Happily) Baaa-Bahehehe!

The wolf's eyes shot wide from the little lamb's snickers… sounding very familiar. He smirked and wiggled a gray paw in the wool of the ticklish, young ewe.

Puff-puff: (Giggling) Baaa-Baaa-Bahehehehe-he! (Snorts)

Wang: (Chuckles) That's my cotton ball.

Puff-puff then rolled to her hooves and tugged at Wang's black chin tuff, enticing him to get up so they could resume their game that he liked to call: Hide n' Sneak… before the odd bonded pair's play was abruptly interrupted by the infuriated 'sleeve monkey', who liked the wolf, had learned, two well-learned lessons: Never allow bitterness to take over your senses.

And most importantly…

Never underestimate the sweet devotion of a little, white, fluffy, lamb.