Work Text:
Seven-year old Ramona raced through another pile of leaves, barking and howling with joy as the leaves cascaded down around her. She had been running through the leaves all afternoon, with a sort of unending fascination that only a young wolf could possess. Cerise had left her a while ago to go home, like the little spoilsport Hood girl that she was. She’d been all angry that mom had said she couldn’t take her hood off to play in the leaves. Ramona was having a fine time without her, though. But what the wolf hadn’t seen was that there was someone else who had been sitting on the hill, watching her. A little wooden girl who was blending in with a tree. As Ramona tore through a pile next to her, she stood up and cleared her throat.
“Hello?” she called, but Ramona didn’t hear her and didn’t stop. “Hello?” she yelled louder, and finally the wolf paused, turned, and gaped at her.
“Woah,” Ramona muttered, trotting forward and sniffing at the girl. She had never met someone who was made of wood before. The girl stiffened at Ramona poking her nose at her, but she didn’t run away.
“My name’s Cedar,” she explained as Ramona walked around her. “I saw you playing in the leaves.”
“I’m Ramona. You’re wood,” Ramona commented intellectually, reaching forward to the girl’s arm. She took a cautious nibble, to test the wood’s taste. She loved chewing wood. It was good for her teeth. Cedar jerked her arm away.
“Hey!” she yelped. “You can’t just bite someone without telling them.”
“Sorry.” Even if she was wooden, clearly she had feelings. Ramona didn’t want to eat living wood.
Cedar massaged her arm. “It’s okay. I know you’re a wolf and you didn’t mean to do it.” She then reached down and picked up a handful of leaves, running them through her fingers. “I came up to you because I saw you running through the leaves and I wanted to know why you were doing it. I’ve seen you around school.”
Ramona resisted the urge to snap at the leaves that the girl was dropping. She didn’t want to be rude again. “I was running through them because they’re nice and crunchy. You should try it.” She kicked a nearby pile, and some leaves flew into the air. “It’s fun!”
“I don’t know what crunchy is.” Cedar looked at the leaves. “Is it because the leaves are dead?”
“Yeah. It’s like how they crumble up when you touch them. That’s crunchy.”
“Are the leaves soft?” Cedar looked at the piles. “They look soft.”
Ramona barked a short laugh. “They’re soft in the spring, but now they’re crunchy. That’s different.”
“Oh.” Cedar picked up another leaf. Impulsively, Ramona reached over and grabbed her open hand.
“Here, run through the leaves with me. You’ll see.” With startling wolf speed, Ramona took off, dragging the puppet behind her. The other girl screamed at first, but when the leaves really began kicking up, she started laughing, and when Ramona looked back, she was grinning widely.
“I can hear the crunchy!” she yelled, and then Ramona laughed, and the two whipped and whirled around the trees, eventually collapsing into a pile of leaves that was sheltered under a rock. Cedar giggled and Ramona laughed for a few more minutes, until slowly, they started to calm down. Ramona realized that she had never let go of Cedar’s hand. She considered releasing it, but didn’t. She liked looking at the puppet’s smile.
“My dad said I’m not supposed to spend time with wolves,” Cedar spontaneously burst out, but she didn’t let go of Ramona’s hand, and Ramona kept her grip. The wolf grinned slyly.
“Well,” she whispered, looking into the puppet’s brown eyes that were so full of life, “I won’t tell if you won’t.”