An Amazing Tale, The Wolf, by Author Amanda Grihm

He started coming around about thirteen years ago. Our first encounter took place in a dream. I was lost, sitting on the ground in the middle of the woods.  I marveled at the uninhibited wildlife and for the first time in my life I didn’t envy the freedom others seemed to enjoy so much, and I longed to experience. 

I looked into the dense mass of trees and watched the animals play. I saw birds singing, lighting and flitting from one branch to another.  There were nests with baby birds waiting to be fed by their mothers and spider webs that glistened from the touch of a ray of sunlight. 

The webs were larger than any I’d ever seen before yet they were intricately and delicately crafted. They were so magnificent you would have thought that only a master artist could have imagined and brought to life such beautiful designs.  With an overwhelming feeling of comfort and great satisfaction I nestled into the ground and lay bare on the long, wet blades of grass.  The grass was so tall it almost covered my body.  It was still wet from the morning dew yet its blades were sharp and cutting.  

Still, to the animals that occupied the plain it was comforting and restful. In that moment, I became more aware of the artistry and beauty of an untouched nature. My surroundings were both provocative and soothing. Everything had a meaning and a specific purpose…even the dead carcasses that lay decaying on the ground. They would fertilize and feed the earth so the plants and trees would grow healthy and strong and all the animals of the world would have the vital foods they need to exist. I thought long and hard about life and how everything came to be. I realized the hands of God had beautifully crafted the scenery and everything in it…including me. 

Everything was pure, clean, and unharmed by the effects of man.  A feeling of dread and alarm raced through me for an instant. I sat upright; perfectly still, unsure of whether I was capable of moving or what I should have been doing at that moment. I looked at the lower part of my body but I wasn’t sure of what I was seeing.  I can only assume now what I saw were my legs.  I was cold and an overwhelming weakness saturated my lower body.  It was numb and didn’t feel like it was a part of me. 

I looked up at the sky and, again, for a moment, I got caught up in the beauty and freedom of the life forms around me.  The insects and birds flying through the air, large and small animals, and what seemed to be millions of microbiotic organisms moving through the grassy plain captivated me. The trees were alive and waving in the warm, soft breeze that blew over me.  I felt the life-giving energy of the sun as it gently warmed and caressed me.  The birds circled the sky and whistled soothing sounds that made me feel rested and comfortable.

The invasive steps of an intruder rudely interrupted the sounds of nature - the birds singing, the wind blowing and the numerous sounds made by the animals in the wooded area.  And, even though the dew moistened the grass I heard crackling sounds, twigs snapping and leaves being crushed. The birds screamed out warnings of the intruder and flew away in flocks. There were so many birds they created a dark blanket across the sky as they moved away. 

Still I sat there. A strange feeling, a combination of calm, fear and strength came over me and I listened attentively for any sound that was not a natural part of my environment.  Directed by my sense of smell I turned and looked to the south in the direction of the dense trees.  I sat perfectly still and waited for the intruder to emerge and come to me. I relaxed my body and lay flat with my face next to the ground and studied the shadows. All but one was familiar.  

It was as tall as the trees but it was not still like the trees. It moved … and it was moving toward me.  The closer it got to me the smaller it grew in size.  It was the shadow of a man, a tall, thin man who suddenly was standing in front of me.  

This man stood as rigid as a tree, looking down on me and grinning with every tooth in his mouth showing.  His teeth were small, jagged at the edges and somewhat malformed.  They were bright yellow and muted green with big splotches of brown on some of them.  Many of them were chipped and ragged but they shined and glistened like they had been polished.  

The stranger stood in front of me for a long time before he said or did anything.  After what seemed to be eternity he sat down next to me.  Still, he didn’t say a word.  Tears streamed down my face without warning and uncontrollably.   I was not afraid but I knew I was in danger.   The man looked into my eyes and smiled even harder than before.  He smiled so hard the edges of his mouth stretched taunt from one end of his face to the other.  He slowly and ceremoniously twisted and squeezed both of his hands together and held them in front of my face.  He acted as though the movement of his fingers and hands was supposed to mean something to me.   He twisted the fingers of his left hand around his right, squeezing all of his fingers down except the one he used to point at me.   He squeezed his hand so tight that his knuckles and fingernails turned white.   

I stared at his finger as it moved close to my face.   I watched it as though I had no choice and until my eyes crossed.   He touched my face and followed the pattern of my tears.   The man’s smile slowly left his face.  He, instead, had a look of intensity and determination in his eyes.  I felt like he was looking inside of my soul.  His eyes pierced mine.  I tried to turn my head away from his enslaving gaze but I could not move.  The man pressed his finger firmly under my eye.  His hand was hot and soft but his touch was fiery, firm and forbidding.  The heat from his hands reached me before his finger touched me.  The wetness of my tears sizzled and dried and my skin burned from the intensity of the heat. 

He meticulously followed the pattern of my tears and erased them away, leaving a bruise and scar to mark the places where his finger touched me.  Before I knew it this man had cupped my chin in the palm of his hand and guided my face over and up so close to his I could not tell if it was my breath or his that warmed my nose.  His eyes twinkled like stars.  A smile crept oddly from one side of his face to the other until all I could see were glistening teeth and crinkled, twinkling, almost closed eyes.  I wondered if he was a friendly force coming to my rescue or an evil force coming to destroy me. 

The firmness of his grip began to intensify.    It became frightening and unyielding.   I tried to resist and push him away but I felt as though I had no resistance in me.  Still, he had my chin cupped in his hand and I could not open my mouth.  My teeth were firmly clasped together.  

I tried to scream out, No…leave me alone, but his grip was much too strong.  I tried to pull away from him and move my head from side to side to indicate my displeasure and uneasiness with this stranger but he had such a firm grip I couldn’t move.   He placed his other hand on the back of my head and in one swift movement he pulled me to an upright position, face-to-face with him. This stranger with the brownish, leather-like skin pulled me closer, his grip became stronger and his strange smile turned into a twisted frown. He opened his mouth as he drew me nearer and he acted like he was trying to eat me, whole.  Quickly, he took his hand from behind my head and grabbed my body. 

Oddly, my fears began to diminish and I felt like I had more control over him than he had over me. My lower body was no longer limp; it was strong. I could feel my strength surging, almost bursting, throughout every muscle.   For the first time since our encounter I looked at this man knowing I had the upper hand.    He glared fearlessly back into my eyes yet the twinkle in his eyes had gone away.   His eyes were opened wide.  They were as large as the acorns that fell from the trees.   They were wide with a bodacious challenge in them.  I moved closer to the man’s face so I could look directly into his eyes and accept his challenge.  

Upon closer examination I could see that there was something in the center of his eyes.  Whatever it was, it looked like small galaxies where several hundred stars orbited around some source of energy, a dark energy.  Still, I readied myself to meet his challenge, whatever it was.  I felt more in control than ever and I also began to feel more like a predator than a victim.  I watched with interest as this man raised his arms up in the air and cupped the top of his head this time.   Quickly, he turned as though he was about to leave.  Just as quickly as he turned I felt the hard ground meet and punish my body like I had been slammed and thrown onto it.  Within a few seconds I was again looking at the man, eye-to-eye.    

In the next moment I was on the ground again but this time I had not been dropped or thrown, it was where my will led me to be.  I felt an odd, warm, fullness in my mouth and I saw blood shooting from the man’s leg.  Instinctively, I wrapped myself around him and began to squeeze him.   I looked down at his feet and saw the tail of a large snake moving from side to side.   I was not afraid.   I was excited and empowered. The man’s eyes were opened wide and the reflection of a gigantic black and yellow diamond-backed snake stared at me.    I stared at the reflection in his eyes for a few minutes, admiring the sheer beauty and strength of that magnificent snake.  I was fearless, my confidence and desire had become one…control.  

The man’s mouth opened and I could see the outlining of hundreds of spirits being released into the air.  To the human eye, it would have appeared he opened his mouth and nothing came out of it.  But, being a part of the animal kingdom I saw what no man could see…the spirits that had been locked up inside of him had just been released upon the world.  Like a constrictor, I held him and he could not escape my grip.  I squeezed him until he fell to the ground. I held him tight until the pounding of his heart and the pulsation of the blood moving through his veins had stopped.  

Even after he stopped moving I squeezed him.  I kept on squeezing him until I heard bones snapping.  I stopped this man from moving altogether almost the way he stopped me from moving earlier. I held him until the bones in his neck were crushed and the weight of the blood in his head pulled it down and caused it to swing aimlessly from side to side.  His body became heavier as the blood drained from the top of his head and body down into his trunk, legs and arms.  I continued to squeeze him even though his body had been limp and lifeless for hours.  

I heard a loud pop as my mouth stretched open and my jawbones unhinged.  I put the man’s head in my mouth and crushed it until all of the bones had collapsed. I felt his shoulder blades scrape the roof of my mouth so I squeezed him until his shoulder bones were also crushed flat and small.  Each movement I made sucked more of the man’s body into my mouth and further down my throat.  Each movement caused the man to be crushed into smaller and smaller pieces.  I devoured his entire body and when there was nothing left of the man I slithered away.,,

!!!

The Wolf:

"Every woman has the Blood"

By Amanda Grihm

If I have a few days between when I finish a book and write my review, I tend to forget about what I want to say about the book... In fact, the only thing I could remember was that it was extraordinary, fantastic, a book like no other that I've ever read! Even with the title, I didn't pick up on the supernatural aspect until I read the first chapter. (See above...for part of that chapter.) This is a story about a young woman, Sarissa,  who had begun to dream--strange dreams. It frightens her of course, but she finds it intriguing, wondering what was happening.

At Age 13, she had a startling dream of being transformed into a large snake, devouring an old man that had so frightened her and...slithering away. Then she had another transformation...

As I moved away, I felt stranger and stronger than before and I felt another transformation come upon me. I was moving through the grass quickly.  I was not flying but it felt like I was running on air. Lifted by the strength of my confidence and moving by the will of my spirit, I was unfettered by the chains of conformance, fear, doubt, and anxiety.   I was free to follow my instincts.   I blinked for a second and when I opened my eyes I was looking at a large brown hairy snout in front of my face.  It looked like the snout of a dog but instinctively I knew it was the snout of a wolf. 
~~~

I saw shiny cars, trucks, and buses speeding through the streets and creatures of every kind engaged in every imaginable activity.    And, at last I was finding my way home. At that point, though, I didn’t know what or where home was. Still, I was anxious to get there. I ran faster and faster.   My stride was long and steady.  The force of my back legs pushed me harder and farther, closer and closer to the lights. The closer I got, the more powerful I became.   My shoulder blades were enormous and they moved with precision like the gears of a finely crafted Swiss watch. As I slowed down I began to see the beauty of my powerful physique in the shadow that moved along side of me and in the reflection of the glass in the cars and windows I passed. I saw creatures walking, sprinting and running. I ran toward the creatures but they ran away from me as though they were afraid.   I didn’t want to hurt them.   I was curious.   I merely wanted to see them.  I wanted to see what kind of creatures they were.   I wasn’t hungry and I didn’t sense I needed to defend myself so they had nothing to worry about.  The only time I killed was when I needed food or needed to defend myself.    Still, the closer I got the more they ran away from me.   The ones that didn’t see me kept coming toward me but when they saw me they stopped moving, altogether.

~~~ 

Here on my blog I wanted to share more of an excerpt than I normally do, not so much for the story, but to show the fantastic creative writing by the author as she shares her story...To me, it is almost as if the author is actually feeling how Sarissa is feeling...as she begins to deal with a new part of herself... and to deal with humans who made her feel danger...

She awoke in bed, not sure whether it was all a dream... Was it? It didn't feel like one--it had felt real. But how could she know? As she though about it, she remembered that she had heard of people who had connections with animals...

Sarissa was the owner of a top modeling agency, Panache, or, that is, she had given her husband Jerry, part-ownership and he emceed the shows. One night when she had been on the way home from work, she had encountered two men who she soon sensed presented danger... Soon she was transformed into her wolf persona... After the two men ran away, she went off into the woods, running and enjoying the freedom that she now felt so much. She had once been timid, but now had the strength to face things...

So that when she finally transformed back and went home, she opened the door, instantly smelling, with her extended smelling power, Chanel--Chanel splashed on an unclean body, who smelled "funky..." A strange woman was sitting on their couch with a friend of her husband... Jerry was out of the room, but Sarissa, free from the past, and knowing just what had happened in her home, went on the attack, ultimately chasing them all out of the apartment! It was fun seeing Sarissa take control of her life and her marriage. Jerry had been cheating for quite some time, but...no more..Now, Sarissa was in control of her own life...

Even if she really didn't know what her life was going to be like in the future...

And even Jerry and his new lover wasn't going to give up the money and prestige of being part of Panache...that's all they cared about...

It was an audition for new models, when Anaghta came... There had been so many great models this time, and Sarissa had decided to expand their name to Panacea International Model Troupe. Anaghia had come in late, but after she auditioned, everybody knew that she would become one of the best in the troup... But Anaghia wanted to audition only for Sarissa, and when she finished, she asked Sarissa if she had seen the wolf in her movements.

"I am telling you I, too, know
the wolf," she said in a soft,
compassionate voice.
~~~

Instantly, Sarissa and the others were on guard, Sarissa's friend automatically circling to provide protection... Who was this woman? She was the best of the best and would make a great addition to the group, but what was she all about... Sarissa knew one thing, she was connected to Anaghta, and Anaghta was the dominant force in the room... and then she began to talk to Sarissa telepathically...

I have always loved the mystical, spiritual nature and life of Native Americans. Enjoying the possibility of shape shifting into animals, or having the spirit of one or another animal.  Sarissa had much to learn...and, trust me, if any of this review sounds as fascinating to you as it did to me, then I highly recommend your checking it out! You won't be sorry!


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Amanda Grihm was born in Youngstown, Ohio and raised in Cleveland, Ohio from the age of nine. In 1987 she moved to Atlanta, GA, where seven years later she met and married the man of her dreams, J. Emil Grihm. Amanda is an author and playwright. 

Amanda writes about stranger-than-fiction events and stories. She communicates at several different levels - verbally, visually, physically and psychologically. She is a nurturing spirit and an extraordinary communicator. She writes from her heart and her mind's eye about love, friendship and spirituality. She sees everything that she writes in her mind before her pen touches the paper. Amanda enjoys writing on that almost indistinguishable line between truth and fiction and fantasy and reality. 

Amanda's main focus has been on the coming-of-age stories about African American and Indigenous Indian girls becoming strong, independent women. Amanda and many members of her family have had psychic experiences. Consequently, many of her stories delve into the supernatural. Amanda believes that God has availed Himself to her and freed her from the bonds of man's interpretation of His Word and her capabilities. Consequently, some of her stories are about her personal power and the power of God in her life. 

Amanda is also a businessperson and former business owner who has always had a genuine desire to improve situations and a unique ability to solve problems. Her ultimate aim is to improve the experiences of employees and customers. As a result of her keen attention to detail, after a few weeks of starting her first job, she was promoted to efficiency expert at a major insurance firm. 

In 2013 Amanda wrote the first of many small business books on customer care - Rat Bastard Customer Care: Committed to the fix!

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