Yet another example of a story element leaping into real life in a startling way. The concept of a child raised by wolves or other animals seems to come from the oldest tales, from Romulus and Remus in the foundation of the Roman empire, to the Jungle Book. These tales show how humanity might learn and gain from animalkind, often acquiring their skills and traits and using them to triumph over “civilized” men who only come to pillage nature.
But there doesn’t seem to be a happy moral in this story, though it remains fascinating.
This ‘werewolf boy’ was found with a pack of wolves in a remote forest in Russia and brought into a center for medical examination and treatment. His behavior was described as “typical wolf-like habits,” including running with the wolves, snarling and biting, foraging for food, and the nails on his feet being like claws.
What astounds me is that this boy managed to evade security at the clinic, and escaped back into the wild. So far there is no news of his being recovered. It also amazed me that he’d survived for so long, and that the wolves accepted him in the first place. What kind of dynamic was involved there? How long did he live among them? All his life? Is there any potential for developing human habits and traits within him, or has his upbringing been so cemented that he will forever consider himself a creature of the wild? Is humanity as frightening to him as we might be to the animals?
If you were to take this boy and try to write a story about him, what perspective would you tell it from? The boy himself? A nurse trying to treat him? How about the wolves he ran with? What would his story be? One of survival? Of family?
What’s his story?
I see that smile.