In Flaum's Find Your Howl he talks about the near extinct Red wolf species. In the 1970 there were only fourteen remaining in the wild. They were taken from the wild and placed in captivity to try and protect them. When released back into the wild they seemed to do alright except they had forgotten how to howl. Without the howl there could be not alpha male to guide them. They lived in fear and separated. Eventually nature and the animals who live around the wolves help the main wolf Mumon to find his howl. The main point of this story is to find your true self and life your life as your supposed to.
Chicken Soup for the Soul
It was the middle of springtime and across from my house where the incident took place. There was a lake there in which my brother and I loved to explore from time to time. The humidity and waterdrops where reminiscent of a fully functional sauna. The onslaught of heat and burning glow of the sun was relentless. Nonetheless, this fact did not bother us one bit, but gave us more incentive to dance with our cool and embracing "long-lost love". The first step of this operation was making sure that our neighbors had gone away from the house for at least two hours. Since it was their lake and property, this made it safe for us in not getting caught in the middle of our escapade. Upon this, my brother and I snuck to their backyard like two undercover police officers, until we were in the clear. Nerve-wracking minutes later, flowed the emerald green and ever-so lively lake in front of us. We stopped and starred in awe. The lake had appeared so shiny and reflective, it resembled a finely-cut diamond. The rare and distinct fragrance enticed us. It smelled like mother-nature herself, with aromas ranging from wildlife and wet grass, to evaporated swamp water and healthy dirt. Then, the time for us to find the desired vessel arrived. We chose the kayaks, and set out for the water. Carefully, with our torn-jeans rolled up, and shirts off, we dragged the massive thing over the slope of grass and mud into the shallow stream. We then hopped aboard, grabbed the paddles, and floated and splashed into nowhere. The wavy current sucked us downstream, periodically bouncing us off of sandbags and sharp branches leaning over the water- Now that was true adventure! Minutes later, my brother and I, after passing under many pipes and tunnels, floated into a huge "cul de sac" of water, with an island in the center. In our amazement, we paddled there as vigorously as toddlers learning to swim. We tied the kayaks to a thin branch with the slimy green rope mysteriously attached to them, and hopped onto the island. We basked in pure amazement. After the tempo settled, we started our natural brotherly routine. My brother and I sat on the muddy bank, with our feet dipped in water, and threw stones out as far away as we could in our competitive nature. We set aside our differences, and together, bonded. My newfound companion and I sat, laughed, fought, played, and talked, as the sun slowly left us. At this point it did not matter what happened to us for taking the kayaks, because whatever it was, it could not replace the priceless experience we shared with one another.
This story speaks to me because I have a younger brother whom I've shared many experiences with. We were the best of friends when we were little. He and I could stay outside all day and play together. Sure sometimes we got in a little bit of trouble but what kids don't? I like this story because it is down to earth and gives detail of real life. It makes me think of and appreciate all those times I had with him. It makes me think of what life would of been like had I only had my older sister or even worse been an only child, much different I'm sure. Sometimes I get the urge to go watch home movies of the family or just us two together. My dad loved to get us on film. Eventually I learned how to use the camera and would video tape some of the stuff my brother and I would do. One time I had the camera and video taped him riding his bike off a dock into a lake repeatedly. We wasted a lot of film that day but it was still a fun experience. In fact I’m the one who taught him how to ride a bike. He asked me to show him because he would always watch what fun I had and wanted to join.
He always did everything I did. I guess it was just a way of looking up to me. One time I had wrecked my bike really bad and broke my leg. He was with me at the time and if it had not been for him being with me I might have been stuck there for a while, and Id of done the same for him in that situation.
My brother and I got to play on the same football team in high school for my last two years. What was neat about it was we were both linebackers so we got to practice together. I tried to help him out the best I could. When he got moved to varsity we played right beside each other at every game. We’ve always been very competitive with each other. Wrestling at our house can get pretty violent at times. He thinks he’s going to beat me one day, well that's never going to happen.
Throughout school he has made his own friends and I have mine, but until that I was his only real influence. Now I study music and he is playing college football. I like to go to his games and cheer him on every now and then. He appreciates some of the songs I make because he is big into country.
Sometimes I guess I just want us both to go out in the yard and play in the mud like we used to. It’s weird to think how I kind of shaped my little brother into who he is today. I know I’ve made some mistakes but I think for the most part he will live a wonderful live and I’m glad that I was apart of it.
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