Becoming a Wolf
Original artwork submitted by Koda Christensen
The following is a piece submitted by Koda Christensen, through our Student Submissions program.
Becoming a Wolf uses animals as metaphors, outlining issues that animals would never have to worry about to represent our own nonsense society. Koda highlights the struggle of belonging to society as a member of the 2SLGBTQ+ community, reminding us of the work society still has to do.
Becoming a Wolf
In some way, every bunny wishes they were a wolf. We yearn to be equal, to dine at the same table. Wolves aren’t kept as pets— wolves are loved, wolves are free to exist.
It’s easy to envy the wolf, but bunnies shouldn’t want to be the wolf— right?
To be a wolf is to represent an ever-present terror to your people whose existence betrays a community forged by the ones preyed upon.
Wouldn’t it be quite selfish then, to want to become a wolf? To ruin all that we’ve known? It will be lonesome, to never truly belong with bunnies or with wolves. Won’t it fill you with regret?
Will this desperate wandering for a place in the world be the freedom you seek?
My teeth are changing and I can no longer eat with the bunnies. Fangs are reflected in their eyes as I become the enemy.
I’ll always love the bunnies and support them as well as any bunny in wolf’s clothing can, but I cannot call them my own.
The wolves pretend they can’t see my round tail and big ears, but then I see my wide eyes reflected and again I don’t belong. Not here, nor there.
I am embarrassed by this pelt I’ve made, a mess of scraps and different coloured furs.
I am angry at the world for treating me like an inconceivable in-between.
I wish to belong, here, and in my body.
I crouch in a corner, shoulders sagging with the weight of being different.
My body is changing and I don’t know what I’m becoming. Bones are sliding out of place. My paws have grown large to clench dirt in terror of what’s ensuing.
As I starve myself, my stomach rumbles. This rumble, this vibration, it shakes low in my core. I move a paw to calm empty insides, only to feel coarse fur?
I gasp, then gasp again because even my own mouth surprises me, filled front to back with sharp teeth. My tongue drags along these fangs and curiosity consumes me.
I stumble out of my corner like a newborn deer. Something long is dragging behind me on the floor.
Feet spiked with claws drag their way outside, into the light. I look up, squinting, as warmth spills over me.
I peer into a puddle: muzzle, pointed ears, a smile.
The world turns, and my bright eyes give me a place to belong.
Koda Christensen (he/him), is an 18-year-old from Chatham, Ontario. Based in Toronto, he’s currently completing his Bachelor of Creative and Professional Writing from Humber College. His piece "Realistic Reincarnation" has seen notable success, winning second in BCPW's flash fiction contest. His writing explores themes like generational trauma, gender norms, and the afterlife, inspired by writers like Zadie Smith and Rainbow Rowell. You can find him on TikTok @dailyprosepoemandprompt and Instagram @daily.prose.poem.and.prompt.