This story is told by the Shepherd
"What's interesting about a damn barn? That life is not for me. Give me a mountain, an open field where animals are riddles, and I solve them as I hunt them," the Hunter protested upon hearing the next story.
"I agree with him, as much as I don't like that," surprised the Wolf chimed in with his opinion. "Wolves also prefer our food to be hunted."
"As the saying goes, never judge a book by its cover, people by their appearance, and a Wolf with livestock," the Shepherd remarked, looking directly into the eyes of the Wolf. "You might like this story."
The Barn
When the word "barn" comes to mind, we all picture the ideal wooden structure with cubes of hay stacked on top and separated sections for all the farm animals to be protected from the cold, rain, or wildlife. It is freshly painted in the same color and very clean and well-organized.
Well, the barn I will speak of today is nothing like that. The barn I will speak of is also called a barn, but its structure differs greatly from what you pictured when you heard the word.
This barn is not one structure but multiple separate ones. The full structure of the barn has the shape of a big letter L when looked at from above. Along with the owner's house, they form an almost half-closed square. The house is on one side with the fenced yard, and the barn is on the other with an area for the stock.
The bottom half of the L is where the firewood is kept, along with a small room for brewing alcohol (the old-fashioned way). Following that is the house for the donkeys, with a door in the corner of the L structure. Next to it is a room for farming tools and other household items. Adjacent to the tools, you will find the room for the cubes of hay, along with the summer kitchen, also used for storing some non-perishable food for the winter.
Continuing along the L, there are separate areas for goats, pigs, and chickens, each fenced off. The chicken area is not built very high; a high chicken coop is not necessary, so there is less fence.
All doors from this barn lead to the center of the square, and there is a designated time and place for each of the animals when they occupy the area.
First to come out are the goats. The first task of the day is to milk them as the shepherd usually leaves for the mountain fields early in the morning. The goats are milked twice per day, unless there are newborns that need the milk.
Sara finishes milking five of the goats and stops to rest for a moment. Her breath creates white clouds as she lets go of a deep breath. It's only a matter of days before the shepherd calls it off for this season; they don't go into the mountains once it gets too cold. There's no point in taking the flock to the fields when everything is frozen. Also, there's the threat of wolves. They come down in search of food.
As Sara gets back to her work to milk the last two goats, she remembers a story that scared her when she was little about a wolf so strong it could carry a goat the same size as itself. Witnesses claimed that when spotted in the village, he jumped over a 1.5-meter fence with the goat in his jaws and disappeared into the fields. They found the goat but never tracked the wolf down. Luckily, there aren't many wolf incidents nowadays. Tom mentioned he sees them rarely on the Dam where he works, usually just a glimpse before they disappear from view. They avoid people.
With a familiar noise, the shepherd shows himself along with all the other goats and sheep from the village. The goats, now empty from the burden of milk, rush to meet the flock. Sara waves to Tristan, the silver-haired man, who raises his stick in greeting and proceeds to lead the flock into the forest.
Next are the chickens. As soon as the door opens, they practically invade the center of the space, waiting for Sara to throw corn from the bag, as it happens every day. Then the eggs need to be collected; the pigs are almost climbing out from their shed, demanding their food. The donkeys need to be led behind the barn so that they can eat undisturbed by the chickens. Then breakfast for the kids before they leave for school, chopping wood for the fire, and then lunch... The work never ends for a farmer's wife; before you know it, it's nightfall, and then the next day begins.
Tom sits on his chair in front of the house and gratefully drinks the coffee that Sara prepared. He just finished his shift guarding the Dam, having been absent for two weeks. Sara had to pick up a lot of the man's tasks while he was gone, but the job pays well, and the extra money will help with the bad tobacco sale they had this year. They have two weeks to catch up on everything.
There's no way to communicate from the Dam, aside from the SOS flare gun. There's a lot to do, a lot to... also, dinner plans. His brother is visiting this evening. Time flies very fast when there is work to do, sometimes there's not enough of it.
Faster than a rabbit chased by a hunting dog, Tom is sitting at the dinner table along with Sara and his brother Andrew. After half a bottle of brandy, like any half-drunk adults, they debate serious topics—the harvest, the goats, the chickens, and then, of course, politics, local government, state government, restrictions, political views. And yes, this is from the point of view of 7- and 9-year-old kids for whom their father and uncle are the wisest people in the world.
This goes on for a couple of hours. The room becomes a hot zone, both because the wood stove is well-logged and because of the arguments and the brandy. So after Tom's failed attempt to persuade his brother that his view of the state government allowing an oil company to build a gas pipeline over the plowing fields is not in the villagers' best interest, Tom stands up, preparing to leave the hotbox to get ready for the second round on the topic. He goes to the next room, preparing to go outside a bit to get some cold fresh air when he notices something strange.
The mountain villages are generally calm places, so in the evening, you can hear the dogs, the farm animals, the night sounds from the forest, and even a distant howl from a wolf. Tom instantly notices a difference when the front door is opened. The neighbors' dogs are riled up, and not just them, but all the farm animals are on alert, panicking mode. And ONE OF THE CHICKENS IS RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM! That's not good; a fox probably got into the chicken coop. Usually, when they hear him getting close, they disappear very fast, so he rushes to scare it off. The longer he leaves the fox inside, the fewer chickens will survive. They go into a frenzy, killing once they get in. As suspected, there's a hole in the net, but this one is bigger than before. Tom screams and storms inside, bent over. The damage has been done. Only four chickens survived: the one on his front door and three small ones that managed to get behind the wooden beams leaning in the back. But the rest were either missing, dead, or almost dead, but strangely, they still have their heads on.
Foxes usually take the heads of the chickens, and the chicken Tom inspected was bitten on the back. Also, the damn goats don't stop bleating—Tom started thinking annoyingly, already considering how to handle the damage.
Looking on the right through the fence, the wooden door was slightly opened—Tom noticed. If the fox went into the goat's area, he could try capturing it. Furious about the already caused damage, he rushed into the area for the goats, swinging the door open.
Blood on the ground, all goats on their back, scared and bleating, and one of them in front of him lifeless on the ground with a wolf on top of it, jaws on the throat. Tom started screaming for help, already hoping his brother would aid him. He pulled the wolf by the tail off the goat with an attempt to throw it at the wall—a crazy idea that first came to mind as he was empty-handed. Of course, it did not work out as expected; the wolf turned around and attacked his hands.
As soon as the wolf bit down he started moving his head left and right, trying to rip apart his left hand. He got him on the palm. A swift right punch in the wolf's eye made him let go. Next was the right leg (closest to him). Tom fell back, still shouting for help in horror.
He was now on the same level height as the wolf, looking the wolf in the eyes. An unarmed man cannot take down a grown wolf on its own; this was clear to Tom. The only thing left for him was to survive.
The wolf went for the right arm first; Tom's reflex was to raise it in front of his throat. He wrestled the wolf, rolling along with him until he let go of the arm. Bad luck—the fast wolf was now in front of his FACE! - this is it, thought Tom. The only thing he could do is tuck it down, rolling in, and tucking his chin.
Sharp pain in the right side of his lower face exploded as the wolf tried to reach his throat. The stinking breath of death was now literally in Tom's face, trying to claim him, as everything went dark in front of his eyes.
.....
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He was right; there was a better option—to go into the bigger area. The wolf was content with tonight's prey. Chickens were not enough. The goat will hold him longer as he was waiting for the goat to die holding the bite as the goat chocked Dying from blood loss and suffocation.
"This should hold me for a longer period," he thought, as it got colder, and food became harder to find in the forest. The small birds were never enough, and this was easier than hunting in the forest.
Something caught his tail and pulled him back. Growling, he turned around, sinking his teeth into the first thing he reached and started to turn his head left and right. A swing came from the left; he let go of the hand, but it was too late to dodge it. The punch in the left eye was not painful for him, but his instinct told him to be careful of all attacks.
In the forest, even small wounds can be a cause of death; all animals knew this. That is one of the reasons wolves don't risk taking down young, strong boars, and other predators too. Small wounds can get infected, or a broken bone may mean no hunting, no food.
So, he went for the closest leg, biting it down and pulling. Now he was face to face with the attacker. The wolf was surprised to see the human; they usually stay in the house and don't come out until morning.
He now realized that he is trapped. The human was at the door, and there was no other way to escape.
This human was on his way to the door that would grant him his freedom, so the only option was to attack. As his instinct told him, he went for the kill, aiming for the easiest parts of the body that would kill the prey.
But his jaws bite down the arm thrown to shield the throat. They started rolling, human trying to free his hand and the wolf trying to bite it off. Finally, a position to reach the victims neck – thought the wolf as he bites down on Toms head. Sharp pain in the middle of the back made him let it go and then his brain started shaking in his head slowly fading away from his consciousness.
.....
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"Where did Tom go?" Tristan asked Sara. "For sure, he did not blow me off to talk with the farm animals," he said, visibly angry. Sara just looked at him, rolling her eyes.
"He and I have unfinished business," he said and stood up, wobbling from the heat and the brandy. "Do you hear that?" said Sara, sharpening her ears. "SHH," she silenced the kids who were having their own argument ongoing. "The goats are restless today. I will go check if Tom needs some help," said Tristan.
The cool air hit him right away as he opened the door. "A chicken outside?" he realized something is wrong. "Probably a fox," he thought. "Where did Tom keep his axe again, or maybe he took it?" The axe was stuck in wood on the right side of the barn area next to the donkeys.
He knew time was of the essence when it comes to foxes, so he ran, took it, and headed straight for the chicken coop. As he got closer, he heard Tom's painful screams coming from the goat's area. He swung open the door and saw a WOLF on top of Tom.
He swinged and hit wolfs back. His head was too close to Toms so he wanted to make him let go. The wolf raised his head as he was not expecting yet another surprise attack.
Loosing no time Tristan hit the blunt part of the axe into his head. The wolf fell down next to the dead goat.
But I think this is as good place as any to end a story.
I can tell you the end that you want. Tom survived as the bite was on his jaw not his neck so the soft neck was not reached by the wolf to kill him, and Sara and Tristan took him to the hospital on time to get blood transfusion because of the loss of blood. While the wolf skin is now on the wall from the room to remind of their endeavor.
Or I can tell you a tragic story. Tom dies from the blood loss, bleeding before he can reach the hospital. the damage on his right arm artery was too much for the bleeding to stop and Tristan was seconds late from saving him from the beast. After all unarmed man can’t prevail a wolf attack
But what I want to tell you is:
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Don’t get greedy – the wolf got greedy to get a goat when he could have safety escaped with few chickens
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Always be prepared when going into battle, you don’t know what you will face – Tom made bad assumptions and did not took the axe thinking he will face a fox
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Never Bite more than you can chew - pulling a wolf by his tail (inspired from a True story) is not good idea