Buck

Chapter 9

After William left, Grace didn't come back. So I took this opportunity to look at the candle holder thing again.

Fiddling around with it trying to remember how I opened it, it clicked open again. Oh good, I thought I had been imagining this thing. I mean, what are the chances of a weird little compartment was built into a candle holder?

I reached into it again, pulling out the scroll thing, feeling around in the small compartment, my finger touched two more things. The other thing I pulled out was a small silver coin hung on a chain. The next thing I pulled out was a piece of wood.

Wood? Placing the things onto the vanity table, I took the piece of wood into my hands again. Ow! I pricked my finger, a little bit of my blood stained the wood. Whoops.

Just as I was about to pick it up again, to see how much I had bled on it. Before I could touch it, a green spark flew out of it. What the- More green sparks flew out, but this time, there were gold and blue sparks following and I fell, scrambling to cover my eyes from the brightness of the sparks. What was going on?

When I finally pulled my arm away from my face, the color drained from my face. There was a big wolf right in front of me. It's shiny gold eyes peered at me. Its fur coat wasn't fur at all, it was made of what looked like wood and moss.

"Hi there, please don't kill me," I asked breathlessly, staring into those gleaming gold eyes.

The wolf crept towards me, stopping just a few inches away from me. For some reason, I decided to try to pet the big scary wolf with very sharp teeth. Just a few inches away from touching it, it growled, and its tree bark fur puffed up and revealed sharp blue colored thorns poking out.

Yikes, "Hey, I'm not a threat, I won't hurt you." The wolf narrowed its eyes at me and sniffed my hand. Its bark fur lowered and the spikes slid back into its back. It bumped its cold, wet nose against my palm.

I gently patted its head, "Well hello there. What's your name?"

The beast moved away from me and gently took the scroll still on my vanity table into its mouth, he dropped it onto my lap and nudged my arm.

Plucking the scroll from my lap, I broke the seal and unrolled it, there was a note:

If you are reading this, I assume I no longer exist in this world. Please take care of my beloved wolf, his name is Buck. When he gets used to you, he will speak to you in your mind. Do not feed him too much bacon or else he will get too lazy and fat.

I looked over at the wolf, Buck, he had a sour expression on his face, as if insulted by this comment, grinning, I kept on reading:

At the end of this note, I will give you the command for Buck to go back into the form you found him in. Please only use it when you absolutely have to, he dislikes being a piece of wood, as would anyone if they have tried it. Trust me, it is not pleasant. It feels like being wadded into a ball and crammed into a tiny box and never getting out unless someone bleeds on you.

Anyway, the coin/necklace thing is Buck's collar. There should be a tiny hole in the middle of the silver coin. Press a needle into the hold and a bracelet should come out. The bracelet is connected to the collar so if you ever get hurt or in trouble, the bracelet will have a shiny looking gold string only you and Buck can see, that string will lead him to you, and then Buck will come to save you. Oh, and the same goes for Buck's collar.

There is one more thing, the more you try to hurt Buck, the more he will grow. Hitting him makes him bigger and stronger, fire makes him faster, water makes him duplicate (only if he knows/thinks you're trying to kill him), and when he senses danger, he will shoot spikes out of his back.

I think I've covered it all. Wait, one more thing, he can also pass through walls and hide in them, but only if they are made of wood or natural resources.

Tell Buck I love him and miss him. Treat my Buck with love and care, he may look scary and tough on the outside, but he is a baby on the inside.

With care,

John

Oh yeah, almost forgot, here is the command: I command you, Buck Forestwood, from wood to animal, from animal to wood, change back to what you once before was.

The letter ended there, I looked at Buck, he looked so sad and droopy. Reaching out, I patted his head, "You miss him don't you?"

Buck looked up at me with his big head, dipping it up and down in a sad nod.

Poor thing, "I'm sorry about that buddy. I'll ask Grace to bring you some bacon tomorrow, how about that?"

His tongue rolled out of his maw and the word *bacon* popped into my head, I laughed, "Alright, it's getting late, or early. Whatever, let's go to sleep. Would you like to sleep with me?"

Walking to my bed, he jumped onto it and curled up. I walked over and slipped under the blankets, gently patting his rough head, "Goodnight, Buck."

*Goodnight, Edith.*

I fell asleep, wondering if this was all a dream, and wondered if Buck would disappear when I woke up.