Chapter 29: Last Day Together

The sun rose on the morning of Humphrey’s fiftieth birthday and the group of everyone closest to Humphrey gathered in the valley to start their last day together. Kate, Humphrey, Stinky, Claudette, Adam, Kenya, Steven, Jax, Jonas, Martin, Garth, Lilly, Arnold, Gerald, and Viper were all there, gathered in a big circle in the middle of the valley with no one else around.

“So,” Stinky said. “How should we start this thing?”

“Well, I’ve heard so much about this great trip to Idaho,” Arnold said. “How about we start there?”

“Alright,” Humphrey said, beginning to tell the story, right up until they got to a certain part that he had suspiciously skipped over.

“Wait, what about the moose?” Kate asked.

“Kate, please,” Humphrey said.

“Wait, what moose?” Arnold asked.

“This ought to be good,” Steven said.

“Why do guys insist on torturing me like this?” Humphrey asked.

“Because it’s fun,” Gerald replied. “Come on Humphrey, tell us.”

Humphrey sighed in defeat.

“Fine.”

After telling everyone about the moose, there was silence for a moment.

“Okay,” Steven said, getting up, “I’m going to go scream into the forest until that image is ripped from my memory. Will you come get me when dinner’s ready?”

Everyone laughed as they watched him walk away, but he did soon return. As the day passed, the group continued telling stories, filling Humphrey in on what he had missed while he was gone for seventeen years. Steven began recounting the brief food shortage they had had, when Jax decided to butt in to try and give Steven crap about the rotten carcass he had brought home.

“Hey, don’t forget about the-“

“Hey, no, no. You, shush,” Steven said quickly. “Let me tell the story.”

The entire day was filled with good times between the group. The stories they told, the laughs they shared, the things they did. Jax, Jonas, and Martin finally got to know their uncle. It was one of the best days of Humphrey’s life.

As it came to an end, the group sat in their circle again with the evening sun in the sky. They began discussing a more serious matter.

“A lot’s changed in the seventeen years that you were gone,” Lilly told Humphrey.

“Like Lucas?” Humphrey asked. “What was that all about?”

“It happened three months after we thought you had died,” Lilly explained. “Jax, Jonas, and Martin were only a couple of months old. Garth was off on a hunt and I was looking after them. One day, I was out wandering and had left them at the den. I got my front leg caught in a trap and was stuck there all night. I tried to free myself, but I just couldn’t get out.

“The next day, I was found by Lucas, although I had no idea who he was. He was just a random human to me and I didn’t trust him. He tried to help me, but I didn’t let him come near. He somehow figured out that I had pups and went to look for them. He came back a while later and I could smell them in a bag he was carrying.

“He let them out and then went over to a nearby moose carcass and started cutting it up. He tossed a few pieces to me before starting to set up his tent. The next morning, I watched as Jax and Jonas clawed a hole into his tent and woke him up. He spent the whole day simply talking to me and slowly trying to get closer. He did it for three days and I slowly started to warm up to him. One night, I let him get right up next to me and he ended up falling asleep.

“The next morning, he was awoken by Jax and Jonas again and he finally decided to try and remove the trap from my leg. He gently put his hands around it and pried it open. After I was free, I stood up and considered leaving and returning to the pack, but then I realized that they needed to know what I knew. That not all humans are bad. So, I walked up to him and tried to get him to follow me by licking his hand. He understood and followed me back here. I explained everything to Kate and Garth, and he stayed in the valley for a while until he eventually left later that day.”

Humphrey remained silent for a moment as he thought about all of this. Things had certainly changed drastically since he first got accepted into the pack. It wasn’t long before Kate and Humphrey decided to head out. Everyone gathered near the edge of the forest in the valley to say goodbye.

“I’ve lived a very eventful life,” Humphrey said, “filled with dangers and perils, rescues and escapes, friends and enemies. But I would not trade it for anything; not one piece of it. And I regret none of the decisions that were made. You have all been truly amazing friends and I could not have wished for anyone better to share my adventures with. This family that you all have given me, this life; I will never forget it. I will always remember when the Western Pack was my home.

He looked down at the ground and then at Kate and then back at the group.

“Like I said,” he continued, “Leyla lives about ten or fifteen miles due west from the Central Region in a small house in the woods. If you are ever passing through, just know that you are welcome any time. Trust me, she won’t mind one bit.”

Kate and Humphrey turned to walk away, but then Humphrey turned back around for one last comment.

“And if you should ever need us for anything, we’ll be here.”

Kate and Humphrey then walked off into the forest. Before they got too far, Viper came slithering up to them. Humphrey looked down at her.

“What?” she asked.

“I figured you’d be coming along,” he said.

Humphrey then looked back through the trees at the valley, thinking of all the memories he had made there, all the good, all the bad, and how sad he was that he had to go. And as he shifted his gaze back to the group, who were starting to depart, one by one, Kate approached him and the two nuzzled.

“Hey, don’t worry,” she said. “They’ll be fine.”

“I know,” Humphrey replied, smiling as a single tear rolled down his cheek.

He sighed in satisfaction as he, Kate, and Viper turned and left the Western Pack.