Hushed Willows s e p a r a t i o n

s a f e. she felt it when she curled tightly in her hollow beneath the willow, when she wandered the small perimeter she dared to traverse outside her hollow, and even when she ventured outside that to drink at the stream beyond. it was in the air that permeated the place, in the shadow of the steep mountain cliffs that ringed the territory, and in the easy sun that filtered into her hidey-spots. morn found her on the fringes of her self-made ring-of-safety, where two small willows edged a small patch of damp earth and soft, new vegetation. 

she worked diligently, tugging the plants she deemed to be of poor quality and picking out debris from her little patch of soil. so enraptured was she in her task that her tail had begun to drift out of its normal position tucked betwixt her legs; it hung carefully just behind her hocks. at the side of her patch lay a small pile of carefully-gathered roots and small sprouts, and content with its cleanliness, she began scraping the first hole in the earth. permeating the whole ordeal was a sense of wariness, edging into wrongness - perhaps it was wrong to work so secretively and silently, hiding away her work so none could take. she was selfish, and it gave her a touch of boldness to act thus.

Olive was very familiar with the willows’ plant life, having studied it almost every single day for a year. She knew where which things grew and when, when they might blossom, and how well they served wolf kind. She knew how to read the moods of plants and to discern what they might need in order to flourish — often times, this wasn’t much different than what babies needed to flourish. Sunlight, food, love and attention. These things, fortunately, came easily to all beings housed within the sanctuary. 

For this reason, Olive also knew when things were different. Things didn’t often change within the woods, unless a tree fell [which, so far, none of the holy willows had] or a cliff face disengaged and fell in a pile at the foot of the heights [also, thankfully, none had]. Today, the face of her sanctuary had changed in such an imperceptible way that, had one not been working on their mastery in ecology, they could have easily missed. However, Olive saw the gleanings of small buds that had been plucked from the landscape — and immediately, she knew that she had a gardener on her hands. 

She was most unsure if this wolf resided within the willows or was simply passing through, though she made her introduction the same either way. “May I offer you some assistance?” the dove cooed, doing her best not to startle the woman who was hard at work.