Fortunately Saved

The midnight hour made the wood seem more malevolent. Bushes and tall trees leaned together in a phalanx. The moon rose in its admiring beauty as the defiant clouds made a hazy mess with hues of black and blue. The bus rattled on the undulating path as I gazed outside the glass window into the forest with music blaring in my ears. Everyone was sound asleep but I felt a disconcerting aura emitting from the forest. The bus driver hummed on a tune as his eyes watched each and every direction. The teachers in our bus were discussing and sorting out the trips photographs.

I observed that the dark-green cover of the forest was disrupted by a black silhouette in the pursuit of our vehicle. I munched down on an energy bar not paying much heed to the silhouette for we were in the woods. A small paper draped itself on the window, blocking the small stream of air that fled into the bus. In an attempt to overthrow the invader, my arm surged past the window until it was grazed by sharp teeth for a fleeting second. I yelped in pain and inspected the wound- it was an animal bite. An external force shook the bus as it tumbled from side-to-side. The throttling bus awoke the sleeping beauties aboard as the engine died down with a last sigh and splutter. The clouds were darkened as their hostile gaze roasted us with fear. The windows fogged up as a thunderclap announced the commencing of a drop in temperature. Small drops of water padded with agility against the metallic vehicle. Phones were dead and the network link was a fragile hope.

In the distance, somewhere beyond the thicket, wolves howled with charged enthusiasm. The radio whirred as its static voice had confirmed one thing – we were caught in a thunderstorm in the woods, miles away from civilization. With shreds of hope for a better tomorrow, the bus reeked with terror and perturbed sense of security. The morning sun peeped into the glass windows. Th bus was deafeningly silent. However, the front glass was a cobweb of glass shards barely holding up.

No one dared to move…a pack of wolves had us cowering in fear in the claustrophobic conditions.

With a jerk, claws scratched the front panel of the windows until the shards battered the ground with their pointy edges. Leaping inside was a domineering wolf of a midnight black fur with pointy teeth. He bared his teeth and for a show of his strength tore apart the bus driver's seat and threw it somewhere outside. Before he could commence his perilous attack, he fell with a thud against the floor, succumbed to an electric zap. Gun shots fired in the air and the pack withdrew into the shadows of the dense grove in fleeting seconds. A search-rescue team had saved us that frightening day.