Storm: Stormpack - Megan Thurston (phonics story books txt) 📗

Howl stared forlornly out into the pouring rain. Her brothers and sisters were still in the back of the cave, scared of the loud crashing that was coming from outside of the cave. What had Mother called it? Oh, yes. Thunder. She had said that thunder is made by a crazy Human. He was known to dance around fire(if the rain had not got it yet) and clash two things together which made thunder. Howl had asked her mother why the Human made thunder and she had said that it was because the Human was thankful for the rain and wanted to celebrate. She had also said that he was celebrating the rain because the rain helps things grow, gives prey and you stuff to drink, and keeps you cool. Howl thought that rain just brought misfortune and stuck you into a cave the whole evening. I mean the thunder was scaring the crap out of her brothers and sisters! Howl had a very strong line of self responsibility for her brothers and sisters. It had all started when they had caught Cold Cough in the middle of snow-time. Since Mother couldn't leave them Howl had caught the prey, brought the herbs, brought the water, and taken care of them when Mother had to make dirt. Howl still took care of them, even though the Cough was gone. The sickness had stunted their growth so they were very small for their age. Mother had always favored Howl saying that she was strong and pretty for her age. It was true. She was a light silver that slowly melted into a dark gray where that seeped into a light brown that dusted the top of her back. Her muscles were strong and supple. Most wolves at her age would have left their birth mothers by now. For she was seven full moons old and the leaving time was five full moons old. But Howl didn't feel like she could leave them. Her mother still needed help with the little ones. Sometimes Howl's mother would have to stay with them for a long period of time and then have to leave the cave. Then Howl would snuggle up with her siblings and keep them warm until Mother came back. This time though, she was going out to get water and prey for her siblings. Howl shook her head sharply, throwing herself out of the warm, comforting memories that were flooding her mind. She needed to go and get water and food for her family. Howl blinked and looked outside of the cave. The rain was pouring into the mud, making puddles that rippled at the slightest touch. Howl stepped outside into the cool air. This was the first time she had been in the rain. She had seen it two times in the cave but had been too young and scared to step out into it. The rain felt good compared to the hot, stuffy cave. The little drops of rain slid off of her pelt and left little rivulets of it clinging to her fur. Some of the droplets had seeped through her fur and touched her skin. She loved it! It was like the time she had rolled in the snow. It was cold and refreshing. The cold raindrops would sometimes stream into her face and she would lap them up with her tongue, secretly savoring the cold, fresh taste it left in her mouth. Then...CRACK! BOOM! A bright flash of light lit the sky and a few seconds later a rumbling sound followed. Howl jumped back, slipping in the slippery mud and sliding ungracefully onto her back. She jumped up, embarrassed that a little thunder and....and....what was that white stuff? Oh yes. Lightning. She shook the wet, slimy mud off her fur and walked towards the forest. She slipped through the crevice in the side of the hollow that shielded them. She stood outside refreshing herself in the cool air of the afternoon and started to think. Where will she collect moss for water? She racked her brain. The Mossy Tree! It was covered in moss and would have fresh water in it from the rain. She started off at an easy loping pace. She started up the ravine. The storm had stopped and there was a light drizzle. CRACK! Howl pricked her ears and went suddenly tense. What was going on? Another CRASH brought Howl bounding to the top of the ravine. She looked over the sea of trees. There! She squinted her eyes to see better and saw....Humans!

Howl stared out into the forest. There were tons of the Humans swarming around. Had they caused the cracking sound. The Humans had brought some weird bright yellow...things with them. Then one of the things made a low growling sound and started hacking down trees! Mother had told her about these. She said that they were called cars in Human talk but we wolves and dogs called them Death Machines. Mother said that a single Death Machine could run you over and kill you without a bite to the throat. And the Death Machines didn't stop to eat their prey, they would just go carrying on down their path. Their path was called a road but Mother called it a Death River. The weird thing was that the Death Machines practically never left the path except for when they had work to do. So what were these Death Machines doing here? Were they supposed to be cutting down the trees? For the Humans? Howl started down the ravine and closer to the Humans and Death Machines to get a better look. She peered through a clump of bramble bushes and saw the Humans about a few rabbit lengths away from her. She stopped breathing and listened to their weird grunts and barks. They kept moving their paws and held flat pieces of bark with white stuff on them. They kept pointing towards the Mossy Tree. One of the Death Machines rumbled over and stopped with a grunt that could make a raccoon go deaf. It snorted out some icky black smog that clouded the air. Howl blinked over and over again. The stuff was making her vision blurry. She was so intent on getting the stuff out of her eyes that she didn't smell or see or hear the Human coming her way. It peered through the bushes and let out a shrill bark of exclamation that made Howl jump. The Human waved its paw to the other Humans and they all came lumbering over. Howl shrank back into the bush as far as it would let her go without getting thorns in her pelt. The first Human reached into the bush and grabbed her scruff. Howl immediately snapped at her and the Human dropped her in the middle of all the others. One of the male Humans left the group and came back with a weird mesh box. He put it down in front of her and she smelled an intoxicating scent. Her hackles lifted and she stared at the box suspiciously. Was it meant to trap her? She padded forward warily and stuck her head into the box. The smell was stronger now. It smelled like deer meat! She had only had deer meat once and she had loved it. Deer were hard to catch though so she stuck tot he smaller things like mice and rabbits and, once, a cat. She shut her eyes and basked in the aroma of deer meat, forgetting that the Humans were watching her. She felt a shove behind her and she tumbled into the box. She was trapped!

Howl stared through the weird wire things that trapped her in the box. She had been in it for a whole day and she didn't know what to do. The smell in the box was deer meat and she found it and ate it but it was hardly enough to fill a voles stomach, let alone a growing wolf. She looked at the wires. They were made out of some indestructible vine or something because she couldn't chew through it, she couldn't dig through it, and she couldn't dent it at all. She was starving and she stank of Humans and she had to get back to her mother but how!? She thought of her mom. What would she do if she was trapped in this weird cage? Of course! Her mother would inspect her surroundings for a weak spot or some way to get out. Then she would think of how to get out through that spot, and finally she would escape! Howl inspected the weird mesh. The mesh was knotted firmly into the other sides of the cage and in the front had a weird metal thing. It was a stick going through a hole that went into the ground. She inspected the stick. It looked as if a bug could slide it up with ease. Howl inspected the thing even more. She saw how it made the opening thing stay closed and inescapable. Ding! That's what she would do! She would move the stick up somehow and open the door. Then she could slip out and go home. But how would she move the stick? Her snout was to large to fit through the mesh holes and so was her paw. Her stomach started to rumble, distracting her from her problem. She started imagining freshly caught mice, plump rabbits, the deer meat from earlier. She shook her head and scolded herself. "Stop playing around! You have to think!" But all the same she kept licking her chops hungrily. Her nose started to get dry and Howl licked it, liking the feel of her wet tongue on her dry, itchy nose. That was it! Her tongue! It was flexible enough that she could slip it through the mesh holes and it was strong enough to lift the stick up and help her get out. She jumped up. It was worth a try! She stuck out her tongue and squeezed it through one of the holes. She lifted the stick by putting her tongue underneath a handle type of thing sticking out from the stick and lifting up. The stick slid up and out of