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Tarak Chapter OneTarak And The WolfMany years ago in a time before history itself had begun there lived a young boy called Tarak.He belonged to a tribe of stone age people who were known simply as the People of the Forest.Tarak's tribe lived in caves high above a thick,dark forest.At that time the forest was full of enormous trees which pointed high into the sky like giant fingers.All kinds of animals roamed the forest back in this distant age,and some like the deer and wolves can still be found today,but other creatures like the gargantuan mammoth elephants that wandered across the plains and forests then can no longer be found anywhere on earth for they are extinct. Tarak's tribe were hunters,they hunted mammoths and deer.But there was one animal they were very afraid of,this was the wolf.For they could hear the wolves at night,while they sat by their camp fires.The wolves would cry out into the night with cold,long howls,and people wondered if it would be safe to go to sleep that night.Perhaps they would be attacked by a pack of hungry wolves as they slept,they thought.Tarak's grandfather,Merak,who was an old man,was not afraid.In all his long life he had never heard of wolves attacking men.Wolves were scared of people.The old man tried to tell the others not to be frightened,but most people only had to think of the way the wolves moved silently through the forest,and to look into the creature's cold,yellow eyes to think there had to be something evil about these animals. One morning tarak woke up to find a thick blanket of snow covering the land,and the trees and rocks that surrounded the caves where he lived.Tarak dug his hands deep into his fur wrap.His fingers felt numb from the cold. "Tarak,your father wants you to help him collect wood for the fire.Hurry up and have something to eat.You must go now while the sun is high in the sky!"Tarak's mother,Asla exclaimed. Tarak's father,Petak,stood over him,tapping his foot impatiently. "Come on!We must get going before the weather changes!I can smell a change of wind direction in the air!"Petak said. The boy gulped down his meal of mammoth stew as fast as he could. Ten minutes later,boy and man set off into the white,winter landscape.Petak was a tall,bulky figure,the young boy who walked by his side seemed quite small,and thin next to him.As they walked towards the horizon their feet sank deep into the snow leaving behind two sets of footprints.Both Tarak,and and his father carried with them large waterproof fur bags into which they put small tree branches,and twigs. By late morning the wind direction had changed,just as Petak had predicted,and was now beginning to blow quite strongly. "We should be getting home!This wind has a thousand sharp teeth,it's not good for a man or beast to be caught out in it!"Petak said,turning to face his son. But as they set off for home,fresh snow began to fall,and the wind became almost gale force.Tarak fell onto the snow,losing sight of his father.The snowstorm made it impossible to see anything,and the strength of the wind kept the young boy pinned to the ground. "Father!Father!Where are you!"Tarak shouted in desperation. The snow and the wind seemed to muffle his cries.Tarak could feel the wet,white powder covering him.His whole body felt totally numb and unable to move.Tarak called out again for his father..His voice was almost a whisper.The boy did not try again.Suddenly,he felt very tired,and just wanted to sleep. He closed his eyes,but the sound of someone,or something moving towards him made him open them again.He thought it might be his father.But he knew almost instinctively that whatever was moving so silently across the snow could not be human.When he heard the creature's panting breath,Tarak hoped the animal might be a beaver or a hare.Then the beast came into sight,it was a wolf!Tarak gasped with fear.The creature seemed to be staring at him.Tarak thought it was going to attack him.He had never felt so afraid in the whole of his life.Tarak closed his eyes and waited.The boy felt the wolf's warm breath on his neck.Suddenly the animal's fangs dug into the collar of his fur wrap.Tarak could feel the wolf drag him across the snow.He thought the wolf was going to take him back to a more sheltetred spot and eat him there.By now Tarak could no longer move at all,he was completely frozen with fear and cold.He saw that the wolf had dragged him to a overhanging cliff face which was protected from both the wind and the snow. The creature lay down beside him,and covered Tarak's shoulder with one of his large paws.The boy stared at the wolf,and waited for something to happen,but nothing did. After an hour or so,Tarak fell asleep,exhausted.When he woke up,he was aware that the wind had died down,and when he looked out of the rocky shelter,Tarak found that it had stopped snowing too.Everything was calm outside once more.The boy turned to face the wolf,which was also awake.The creature didn't look at all ferocious.Tarak realized for the first time that the wolf had meant him no harm.In fact it had saved his life.Tarak smiled at the wolf.The boy thought how beautiful it was.The wolf had golden brown eyes,and thick,white fur.All at once the creature stood up,and began to walk away. The wolf glanced back at the boy one final time,and then disappeared into the trees.Tarak felt a little sad at losing his new friend,but then he remembered that his parents must be very worried about him by now,so he set off home without delay.Luckily the snow had not completely hidden all the landmarks,and within a couple of hours Tarak was back at the camp once again. When Tarak returned to the tribe the others were very surprised to see him. Petak thought his son had perished in the snowstorm.Petak gasped when Tarak appeared back at their forest campAt first he thought the boy was a ghost. "Father!It's me,Tarak. I'm back!" The boy said,hugging his father. "I.....I Thought I saw you being attacked by a wolf.I wanted to get back to you, and defend you,but the snowstorm made it impossible for me to see anything,and the wind was so strong I could hardly walk!" Petak explained. "The wolf wasn't attacking me. It saved my life,Father!" Tarak exclaimed. Petak wondered if his son knew what he was talking about.How could what he was saying be true?Wolves did not save lives,they attacked people,Petak thought.The other members of the tribe didn't really believe Tarak either.They all knew about the stories surrounding wolves.But Tarak's grandfather,Merak wasn't so sure. "I think the boy is telling the truth.Many years ago,my cousin disappeared for a few days,when he returned back to camp he said he had been saved by a wolf.It was a long time ago,before most of you were born,but I remember what happened very well." The old man said. Merak was well-respected by the tribe.Because of his age,he was considered to be very wise,so the members of the tribe decided to listen to him.They did not like or trust wolves,but if the boy said he had been saved by one,then perhaps it was the truth.Or at least not many of the tribe felt it would have been right to argue with a respected elder,and a slip of a boy. Tarak had only been back home a few days when he saw the wolf again.All the tribe were sitting by the camp fire one evening listening to stories,when there was the sound of leaves rustling,and twigs snapping in the undergrowth.Tarak turned towards the trees,suddenly from the darkness of the forest he saw two bright eyes shining through the bushes.Then slowly the rest of the animal appeared.It was his wolf,Tarak was sure of it.Tarak put down the piece of meat he was he was eating,placing it close to the wolf.The creature was very unsure of itself and of the humans that surrounded it.Cautiously,it crept closer,and began sniffing the meat.After a few minutes it picked up the piece of meat,and took it into the bushes.Tarak could see it gnawing away at its meal..Within ten minutes or so the wolf had finished eating.Tarak thought it would simply disappear back into the forest,but it didn't.Instead,the wolf sat,and stared at Tarak. "You want to be friends,don't you boy?"Exclaimed the youngster. The wolf yelped as if in response. "I know!Let's give you a name.What about Shadow?"The boy whispered softly. The wolf cocked its head to one side. "You like that,don't you boy? Okay! Shadow it is then!" Tarak laughed. That was the beginning of their friendship.Tarak knew that Shadow was his friend,and the wolf sensed that the boy was kind,and meant him no harm.Gradually he came to trust Tarak completely,so that Shadow would eat anything the boy gave him straight from his hand.The other members of the tribe,thouigh,were not so happy.they disliked having a wolf constantly around their camp fire.Some were convinced the wolf was putting a spell on them. For a short while,just before the milder weather came Tarak did not see his wolf for a month or two. The boy thought that maybe Shadow had tired of human company. He also wondered if perhaps the wolf had been killed. Then one warm spring evening there was the sound of soft yelps coming from the undergrowth. Tarak was expecting to see Shadow, and was totally surprised to see, not only his friend, but the wolf's mate, and three small cubs. The wolf cubs melted Tarak's heart straight away, they had fluffy,long fur,and large playful eyes.Shadow's mate had a sleek,grey coat, and was smaller,and not so heavily built as her male mate. Shadow himself had lost his thick, white, winter coat. It had been replaced by shorter, grey fur. As soon as the family of wolves appeared there were shouts of anger,and fear from the tribe.Carnak,an older boy of about sixteen looked at the wolves in disgust. "Isn't it enough that we have had to live with one wolf?Now this creature has brought us his family too!I expect he wants us to feed them all"!I say we kill them before we are completely surrounded by these beasts!"Carnak exclaimed. There were shouts of agreement, and it was only when Petak, Merak, and Asla made them agree not to kill the wolves for Tarak's sake that they eventually agreed not to touch the wolves.But Petak knew that most people were not happy with the wolves being there,especially now there were five of them,and not just one. For a few months nothing much happened.people still distrusted the wolves,and some had even begun to chant magic spells in the hope that the wolf family might disappear.Then one moonless, summer night,while everyone slept,there came the sound of growling from the nearby forest. At first it was not very loud.But then after a while,the growling grew louder,and louder. No one heard it though,because everyone was still fast asleep. Everyone that is except Shadow. The wolf stood up,and sniffed the air,he could smell and hear a mountain lion. Shadow saw the creature run almost silently through the dark trees. The wolf sensed danger,and began to follow the lion from a distance.Shadow saw that the lion was heading towards the tribe,and his friend,Tarak. The wolf knew only that he had to protect the boy. As the lion approached the camp Shadow hid in the undergrowth,panting softly. The lion had spotted Carnak asleep outside the cave,and was getting ready to pounce. The youth was a light sleeper,and woke up when he heard some twigs cracking. The lion crept forward slowly, stalking his prey with cold,evil eyes. Carnak saw them shine in the dark,but the youth could not move,fear had frozen every bone,and muscle in his body. Shadow rose up,and ran towards the lion. Before the creature had the time to realize what was happening,Shadow sunk his claws into the lion's side.The beast let out an enourmous roar.Everyone in the cave ran outside to see what all the commotion was about.When they reached the camp fire they saw Shadow digging his claws and teeth into the lion's side.The lion ,a young female was no match for a big wolf like Shadow, and after a few more minutes it shook itself free,and went limping off into the undergrowth. "The wolf.....Shadow.....he saved my life!"Gasped Carnak. Tarak smiled. He put his arms around the wolf's shaggy neck. "From now on, you and your family will be welcome here!You can stay with us forever!" Carnak excaimed. Tarak wiped a tear from his cheek, and patted Shadow on the head. It was good to be tame, to have a master, Shadow thought. In later years this was one of the many legends the People of the Forest passed down to future generations. The story of how a young boy by the name of Tarak had befriended, and tamed a wolf, and so had started man's friendship with dogs.
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