• Lucky, by Linda
• Lost and Alone, by Alistair
• My First Time in the Outside World, by Chantal
• The Adventure of My Life, by Rebecca

Lucky

The cub heard a noise. Waking up, he heard his mother growling and a gun shot, followed by his mother's horrible squeal. She had been shot in the foot by a hunter. Another hunter shot as well; he was shooting at the cub's older brother, but missed and killed the mother.

Terrified,the pack ran away to safety. The orphaned cub hid in the hollow tree trunk about a metre away from where he had been sleeping, watching the tragic events. He had closed his eyes, trying not to look and soon fell asleep.

Waking up to the morning sun was great. The wolf cub looked around for danger, but it was quiet with the birds whistling tunes. Searching around for the pack, he saw nothing but green grass and a body lying on the ground. Sniffing the air, he walked over to investigate. It was his mother. The cub lay there beside her, trying to wake her and wondering why she did not move. He did not understand that his mother was dead. After spending many minutes trying to waken her, he ran away, never stopping to find the other pack members.

Later that morning, the now hungry cub came to a river. Looking in, he saw trout slowly swimming and feeding.He realised how hungry he was feeling, but did not know how to catch the trout. Enthusiastically, he jumped into the river,not aware of the rapids which were soon dragging him down. Paddling with all his strength, but he did not have the power to fight against the current. As he was swept on to a water fall, he went down barking. The cub had been knocked out and didn't wake up until he heard a lovely singing voice. It was a human.

Afraid again, he ran away, but the young girl stopped him. She grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, picked him up and gave him some small trout. Just what he had been thinking of. He looked carefully at the girl and then quickly snapped it up.

She laughed, then said to her father, who was standing nearby, "Do we have to?"

"Yes!" he replied. "His pack is not far away."

The girl had seen the pack just before they'd come to the river and found the cub.

The wise man strapped the cub's wounds and let him run free. As the young cub ran off, the girl called out, "Bye,Lucky," because of how lucky he was. Lucky ran and ran until he heard the sound of howling. As he ran, the sound of the pack became louder and louder. At last, he could see the wolves; he was right, it was his pack.

Never ever had Lucky howled before, but at that moment he did out of loneliness and relief. The pack just looked and kept howling.

Lost and Alone

I had just awakened from sleeping in my den when Mum came bounding in to tell me that I was just about to be able to go on my first pack hunt. I was so happy I pounced on her.

After everyone had gathered together, we bounded off. We hadn't been gone long, when some gold hunters came and started shooting at us. We were all terrified of the guns. One of our pack was shot in the head. It was awful; we had to leave him to die.

With hearts pounding, we took off in one long line,desperately seeking the safety of the line of pine trees ahead. As I was one of the youngest, I was slow, and soon lost contact with the pack. The next minute, I looked up and they had disappeared.

The hunters had given up by now, but I was lost. I started wandering around looking for some shelter, as the winter snow was falling. Eventually, I found a large den in some shrubs. Just as I was about to make myself at home, a bear, saliva dripping from its jaws, came suddenly out from the darkness of the den.

As I fled, it ripped some skin from my rear end. Giving a quick yelp,I took off faster than I'd ever run before. When finally I stopped, it was starting to get dark, so I thought shelter under a low tree would be a good idea.

That night I was really restless, especially as it was the first night I had spent without mum's protection; I felt so alone. In the morning I woke up absolutely freezing. I was missing my family and the other cubs, and I was covered in snow. A shiver travelled down my spine. Suddenly, I saw a bird directly in front of me. Hungrily, I lunged at it and grabbed it; the bird started to poke at my face with its beak. Hastily, I dropped it in the snow, before, for the second time in as many days, giving a quick yelp. I was getting nowhere. I decided to do something about being lost. I sniffed the air and howled.

Three hours later, I thought I saw something over the horizon that moved in a familiar way. Sure enough, I had finally found Mum and the pack. She greeted me by cleaning my face and doing a lot of nuzzling; she was so pleased to see me again.

After this occasion I resolved that I would learn to run faster, so that I could keep up with the pack.The experience of fear, hunger and loneliness was something that I never wanted to repeat again.

My First Time in the Out Side World

Oh boy! what an exciting twenty-four hours I just had! You would not believe what type of adventure I've had. Would you like to hear about it? Okay.

My name is Bubsy, I'm part dog and part wolf. Yesterday morning, my mum said that it was about time that I started going out into the outside world with the pack, (my family, that is). Mum warned me that sometimes it can get very dangerous, but she knows that I'm a brave cub and if anything does happen, I'll find a way of getting out of it. She also told me somethimg that stuck in my head for a very long time; " Trust in your self. Your trust is bigger than any creature that is stronger than you. Your trust is stonger than his."

Mother took me to meet the rest of the gang; they were all friendly and they taught me the best ways of catching a wild animal. But there was one wolf that wasn't very keen on me. He had those eyes that none of the other wolves had; I guessed that he must have a lot of trust and confidence in himself.

He started walking towards me and said, "You're too little to be in this pack. You'll probably slow us down or get us all eaten." I told him about my strong trust in myself, but he just told me always to stay awake, otherwise I might be dinner for a bear or the skin of some rich lady's fur coat.

Wishing me good luck, he went off. I thought it was nice of him to wish me good luck, especially after the way he'd been talking to me. In the end, I decided that he was a very strong wolf with great power, so it was no wonder he was a leader. Maybe someday I'll be a leader,too.

On the way down the hill, my mum told me where we were allowed to go and not to go. " Our territory." She spoke proudly of "ours." Then all of a sudden, there was a loud noise. Mummy was hurt. Turning around I saw there was a strange creature holding an ugly looking stick. " Mummy, Mummy! What is happening?" I yelped in a scared way.

"It's a gun, Bubsy. A human has a gun and he's shot me. Go, Bubsy! Run for your life! Keep up to the others. Run, run run!"

Her voice was fading as I ran to find the others, but they were gone, long gone. "What am I going to do?" I asked myself, in despair.

After a little while, I decided to go and try to find them. How could they go running off like that on me? I ran over mountains and hills and through bushes, but there was no sign of my pack. As I lay panting on the ground, a dreadful, loud noise startled me. Terrified, I turned around; it was a large grizzly bear, and boy! did I pelt through the bush to get away from him!

A long time later, I came to a river and although I had never swum before, for a beginner I thought that I was pretty good. Plunging into the fast current, I paddled fiercely, remembering the dripping jaws of the grizzly and the fear that I had experienced.

Swimming downstream, I reached to the part of the river where it flowed into a lake. At last the bear was gone, and... you would not believe it! I saw the most delicious looking fish in the world! I remembered what mother had taught me. Many tries later, and with very wet fur, I caught the fish... it was delicious.

My thoughts were always on my mother, hoping that she was alright. Also, I thought about the pack; how they'd gone running off like that. My own family had left me and my mum alone by our selves.

For many days I wandered over the mountains of the Yukon, trying to find my lair. Then one morning, as I was stalking a snow hare for breakfast, I heard something or someone speak.

"Hey! what do you think you're doing here in my pack's territory? Get out of here!" the voice snarled.

"Oooops! Sorry, sir. I forgot about territories". I didn't notice just how far I had walked. But I knew the rules about trespassing on another wolf's territory. A fierce fight would be the punishment if I didn't leave straight away. Tail and head down in a position of obedience, I hurried away. A moment later,I saw something, something black like the first few days when I was born. I must have fallen into a tunnel or something. In the distance, I saw light. Running very fast towards the light, I hit my head hard, very hard. Tired, I just wanted to go home to my lair and find my mum.

"Are you okay, Bubsy? You must have had a bad dream! Are you ready for your big day out in the wild world?"

"Oh, mum! Am I glad to see you!' It was only a dream. Thank goodness for that. As for the hunt.. it wasn't bad at all! I had an excellent time, and we even caught a wild moose."

The Adventure Of My Life

You wouldn't believe what just happened! I've just been chased by a big bear! Well, I'd better start from the beginning...

It was when my mum was teaching my sisters and me how to hunt. Everything was fine until a big grizzly bear came along. An enormous, evil smelling thing, that stood up on its hind legs and snarled and dripped saliva from its jaws! My mum barked to go one way, but I did just the opposite. Next thing I knew the bear is right behind me... so close I could feel its breath on me. I knew that I would have to run faster, but my legs were hurting and I was tired.

Finally, a human came along and fired something at the bear. Snarling, it loped off into the forest. But I was caught, cornered in a little area of rocks . Anyway, that was fine until he made me pull a sled. I hate having ropes tied around me; I can't walk properly, and everything seems so slow. I fought him, but he made me obey.

Back at a wooden thing (probably his house), he untied the rope and put me in a fenced off area.(More like home). Determined, I managed to escape through a gate, by digging in to the earth beneath the gate.

Panting heavily, I ran and ran,until I could run no more. I lay down and suddenly, out of no-where, one of my sisters, White-nose, came running up. We exchanged greetings by sniffing each other, and then we ran down the hill, with me following close behind her.

"That's enough hunting for one day," growled my Mum with relief, when I came up to her and made my own special growl.

And, yes, you young ones, that's how I managed to get chased by a big bear, get caught by a human and get home in twenty-four hours."

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