Her Heart Cried Wolf

There was a girl. She moved with her parents to a new village. They told her "Be careful, we are strangers here. Men are like wolves. They will eat cute little sheep like you."

She went out and collected berries every day. It wasn't far from home and she knew that the berries she would bring home would be used as brilliant dyes for her mothers colorful wool rugs. One particular hill was her favorite. Not because it had the tastiest berries but from it she could see a boy from town herd sheep. He looked like an ant. She felt big and felt free.

One day she went down the hill to say hello to the boy. "Would you like to be my friend she asked?"

"Okay" he said. And they would play together. She made friends with all the children in town and was happy. But she liked this boy the best.

One day she strolled down the hill to see the boy. He was there with another girl. The girl was sad. She didn't know why this other girl was better than her.

"WOLF", cried her heart. "He is a wolf", she cried and cried with her heart. She cried and cried. She could see the boy from her hill. But she didn't feel so big or so free anymore.

One day the boy came to her and said "Do you want to be friends still?"

The girl felt silly. Why couldn't they all be friends?  She was very happy. She would be friends with anyone. As long as they were nice.

One day the boy was playing with a different girl than before. "Do you want to play?" she asked.

"No. This boy is my friend now" said the new girl. The girl seemed mean. She hit the boy. She said mean things to him.

"WOLF! WOLF! ", cried her heart. She ran home, sad that they were no longer friends. "He is a wolf", she cried and cried with her heart.


One day the boy came to her and said "Do you want to be friends still?"

"What about the other girl?"

"She was mean. I told her to go away."

The girl felt silly. Why couldn't they be friends now?  She was very happy. She would be friends with anyone. As long as they were nice.

One day she met a different boy from the village. He liked her and she liked him. They would play together.

The first boy saw them playing and approached them saying "Can I play with you?"

"No. This boy is my friend now" said the girl. The first boy went away, sad that they couldn't play together.But the second boy was mean. He said mean things to the girl. He laughed at her when she fell.

"I don't feel good", said the girl one day and she ran home. "WOLF", cried her heart. "He is a wolf".

She ignored her heart for a long time. She thought it was being silly. She didn't say anything. She played the boys games even though he wouldn't play her games. Sometimes he wouldn't play with her at all and she watched while he played with different boys.

Until one day; "Do you want to play today?" said the second boy.

"No, I don't feel good." said the second girl.

The second boy went away. And the girl was happy until her parents told her that she had lied. So she went to the second boy and told him the truth; that he had been mean. But the boy didn't see how he was mean so he got angry. He said mean things to the girl. He told her he never liked her and she was annoying.

"WOLF", cried her heart. "He is a wolf", she cried and cried with her heart. Her heart was right this time.
She missed the first boy but he was gone. Moved to a different village. So she was alone.

She started to play more with another boy from town. She picked berries with him on the hill and played with him later in the day. Her heart would cry "WOLF! WOLF!" and she didn't know why. This boy was very nice to her.He would bring her flowers and say nice things to which her heart hummed warnings and whispers of omens to come. He was probably the nicest boy she had ever met. Even nicer than the one that got away.

One day was particularly bad. Her heart screamed at her with cries of "WOLF!" even though she new this boy was very nice. She couldn't take it anymore. It was broken. She couldn't control it. You could tell her to move on. You could tell her to not let old boys from the past break your heart. But its not always to you, is it?

She took it out. She took her heart right out of her chest. She listened to it scream. Perpetually. Never ending. The sound of its cries was deafening. The sound to painful to bear.

She took that heart and she buried it. Deep below the berries and the flowers on her hill.