What Audition?

"W-What?" Maya didn't understand why she was on the ground and her hands were on damp grass. She didn't even remember tripping over anything but tripping was exactly how she felt. She realized how cold it was as she caught her breath. On all fours, both hands and knees were wet, she gave herself a second.

Was it a trick by the production crew? Was this the audition itself? In any case, she figured the panel of people definitely had their eyes on her. She felt their judgy gaze and how silently expectant they were. This was the trial. It had to be and she had to pull this off with grace and poise. She lifted her head, gently knocked her head with a cat's curl of a fist, and, with a wink, stuck out her tongue, "Teehee!"

But nothing. There was nothing except a mist around her. It was evening but the large moon was full and bright. She found herself in a clearing in the middle of tall towering trees.

Maya felt slightly relieved no one saw her fall from grace. She got on her feet and heard the faint crunch of grass beneath her sneakers. She looked around some more but no matter how many times she did, it felt impossible. Words, clouded and cold, escaped her, "Is this real?"

"How is this— What happened? Just where am I?" Maya was disoriented as she wandered aimlessly. She remembered the audition hall, the two annoying participants, the awkward moment with the assistant, and that was it. Then her foot hit something heavy.

Maya looked down and saw a rusty sword. She picked it up with surprising ease. She thought it would be heavier but maybe the time she spent venting her anger at the gym gave her more than over-refined muscles. She vented out a lot of anger. She examined the hilt and saw an almost faded crest of a bird. She couldn't make out what kind. "A sword?"

A glint came from within the mist and a familiar sound, the crunch of grass.

Maya felt immediate comfort that someone was there. She smiled as she waved the sword over her head and shouted, "Hey! I'm over here! I-I think I'm lost! No. I'm really lost! Is this still the audition?"

Something snarled.

Maya's resurgence of clarity quickly took a turn from what she saw. Initially of awe then an alarming fright, her blue eyes widened at the majestic being.

A large feral wolf stepped from the mist. It was half the size of a horse. It's black ragged coat of fur shimmered like small blades under the moonlight. Drool oozed from it bared fangs. And its bright yellow eyes were fixated on the loud woman with a sword. The beast stepped closer.

"Shit." Maya lowered the sword and her heart dropped to a pit of fear. She shuffled her feet, unsure of what to do or where to go. She realized the weapon she had then made a tight grip on the hilt with both hands. The sword was rusty but she felt that she could stab the wolf at just the right angle, she'd walk out of this with a hell of an impressive bullet point in her portfolio. "I-I can do this, right? Come on, Maya. It's gonna jump and you're gonna stab Cujo."

The wolf charged and sliced through the mist. Its paws as large as a human's head made a heavy daunting sound with each step it took towards its prey.

"Is it gonna jump though?" doubted Maya. Her hands shook and the blade wavered flimsily in her hold. She weighed her chances. A fight over the last dozen eggs on sale? Sure, she would wrestle any senior citizen who stared her down for it, even if they had a wheelchair. A line of ear-piercing children at an ice cream stand? She accidentally bumped them off with her shoulder bag without remorse.

But this fight was different. It was nothing like any movie she'd seen. Surviving the pressure of other participants in an audition was one thing but having to face a mean-looking hungry wolf was a fight Maya wanted nothing of. She dropped the sword on the ground and bolted away like a freight train on fire with broken brakes and the thruster of a space shuttle. "Shitshitshitshitshit!"

Maya gained an early lead towards the treeline which was around two hundred meters away. She was concerned about the distance but she knew that was the only option she had. Standing her ground meant death and the entire clearing was the wolf's silver platter. Her plan was to climb the closest tree she could reach. She glanced back and the wolf steadily closed the gap. She ran with all her might and thought that if she had one thruster, the wolf most definitely had two. She screamed, a primal prayer for her burning legs not to give out.

The wolf was no slug and it didn't let up its pace. It knew when prey was out of reach and when the burst of blood as it sank its teeth on fresh flesh was attainable.

Fifty meters left and it was a mad dash for both. Her blue eyes were locked on a tree whose trunk was thicker than the ones surrounding it. She didn't notice the bulge of rock on her path to salvation.

Maya tripped. She felt her heart skip a beat and her vision greyed out. At that moment, she knew she screwed up. She stumbled to the grass not like a baseball runner sliding for first base but like a skipping stone over water. She felt a crushing pain throughout her body with each revolution on the grass. She finally came to a halt and her lungs begged for air.

The wolf's footsteps pounded louder.

Maya turned around and she noticed how vivid the wolf's yellow eyes and its racing breath were. In that short amount of time, the wolf closed the gap by more than half. She heard its deep howl as it sped; To her, it was akin to when one gave thanks before a meal.

Maya clenched the rock in her hand. It was the same one that broke her momentum. She managed to take it on the first roll of her stumble. She cocked her arm, aimed at the wolf's distinguishable eyes in the mist, and threw it with desperate might.

The wolf let out a high-pitched whimper. It was hit on the side of its face and a gash bled on its cheek. It shook its head and beamed its eyes at Maya with hunger and fury, a dreadful combination to anyone on the receiving end.

But Maya cashed in on the moment. She felt the bark's hard crust on her hands. She took off her pink sweatshirt and, wearing a black sports bra, she unknowingly laid bare the buffet of toned muscles and abs for the wolf's appetite.

She loved her pink sweatshirt but she loved breathing more. She rolled it up then slung it around the trunk and used it as a belt. She remembered the times she hounded electricians to fix the wiring of her rundown apartment or the times when the promise of assistance from her internet service provider finally came three weeks later. She never knew that a time, where she watched the workers hoist themselves up the pole lines, would come useful. She coiled the end of the sleeves around each arm until she was confident of a firm grip.

"Ugh!" Maya immediately felt the tension in her arms after she hoisted herself up the first time. It wasn't as easy as it looked but there was no time to lose. She repeatedly clamped onto the trunk and flung the makeshift belt higher even if the tree bark scraped her skin.

Then she felt hot air beneath her butt. She initially thought it was the poor choice of a spicy burrito she had for breakfast before the audition. The constant pressure of squishing herself to a tree felt like she was a pressed balloon with the knot untied. She thought that if this was the way to ward off the beast, so let it be for she knew there was no shame in saving her own life.

But it wasn't her.

Maya looked down and saw the wolf's open jaw. It's heavy breath was what she felt. It's massive teeth, like rows of knives, snapped rapidly, inches away from her bottom. She knew she had to climb higher but then the bark by her thigh broke off. She felt the wolf's wet nose briefly brush on her left butt cheek but she instantly tightened her legs' vice grip on the trunk. She screamed and shouted, "Good god! Help! Someone's help!"

On cue, an arrow whizzed from the bushes and landed right next to her face. "Wha—"

Another arrow flew and dug into the tree, below Maya's knee. "What the hell— The wolf! Aim at the nasty-ass wolf trying to kill me! Do I look furry to you?!"

An awkward cough came from the bushes and Maya heard the creak of a bow's string. The third arrow flew like a spear basked in moonlight then flew past both her and the wolf. She longed for improvement from the unknown archer and she thought the wolf did too. She groaned, "Really?! Why can't you— I hit him with a rock! A rock!"

"A rock's much larger than an arrow, wouldn't you say?!" A man's voice, light and with spunk, defended himself in the cover of bushes. He pulled a bow from the quiver on his back, strung his bow, and his one open hazel eye aimed at the wolf, "I suggest you… hang on, my lady."