Little Wolf had a problem. Whenever things didn’t go his way, his fur would bristle, his teeth would show, and he’d let out the loudest, angriest growl in the whole forest. The other animals would scatter, leaving Little Wolf all alone with his big feelings.
It happened when his sister ate the last honeycomb without sharing. GROWL! It happened when he tripped over a root and bumped his nose. GROWL! And it definitely happened when the other animals picked teams for bark-ball and chose him last. The biggest GROWL of all!
One day, after he’d scared away his best friend Rabbit by growling about losing a game of hide-and-seek, Grandmother Wolf found him sulking under a pine tree. Little Wolf’s ears were drooping so low they almost touched the ground.
“What’s troubling you, little one?” she asked, settling down beside him. Her silver fur glinted in the afternoon sun.
“I can’t help it,” Little Wolf whimpered. “When I get mad, the growls just burst out of me like thunder! And now nobody wants to play with me anymore. Even the butterflies fly away when they see me coming.”
Grandmother Wolf’s eyes twinkled. “Ah, you’ve got the family fire in your belly. Your grandfather was the same way when he was your age. But you know, there are better ways to let it out than scaring all your friends away.”
She taught Little Wolf three special tricks. First, when he felt angry, he could run as fast as he could around the big oak tree, letting his paws pound the earth until the anger tired itself out. Second, he could take deep breaths and count the clouds in the sky. And third – this was Little Wolf’s favorite – he could tilt his head back and howl his feelings to the wind.
“But how will I know which trick to use?” Little Wolf asked, scratching his ear thoughtfully.
“That’s the fun part,” Grandmother Wolf smiled. “You get to try them all and find out what works best each time. Sometimes you might need all three!”
The very next day, when Fox knocked over his carefully stacked pile of pinecones, Little Wolf felt that familiar hot feeling rising in his chest. His paws tingled, and his throat started to tighten – sure signs that a growl was coming. But instead of letting it out, he remembered Grandmother Wolf’s tricks. He ran around the oak tree three times, took four deep breaths while counting puffy clouds, and then lifted his snout to the sky.
“Awoooooooo!” he howled, but this time it wasn’t scary at all. It was more like singing.
Fox was so impressed, she helped him stack the pinecones again, even higher than before. They even made a game of it, seeing who could place the highest pinecone without the whole stack tumbling down.
Word spread quickly through the forest about Little Wolf’s transformation. Soon, other animals started coming to him when they needed to let out their own big feelings. He taught Squirrel how to run around the oak tree when she was frustrated about dropping her acorns. He showed Bear how to count clouds when the bees wouldn’t share their honey. He even had midnight howling sessions with Raccoon, who got angry when he couldn’t wash his food in the stream because it was frozen.
His sister, who used to tease him about his growling, became his biggest supporter. Together, they started the Forest Feelings Club, where animals could come to share their troubles and learn new ways to handle tough emotions.
From that day on, Little Wolf became known for something new. Not for his growls, but for helping others find better ways to handle their anger. The forest became a more peaceful place, filled with running, breathing, and joyful howls. And sometimes, on quiet evenings, you could hear a whole chorus of forest friends howling together under the stars, turning their anger into songs.
Best of all, Little Wolf learned that it was okay to feel angry sometimes – what mattered was how he chose to handle it. As Grandmother Wolf always said, “It’s not about never getting angry; it’s about finding the music in your heart when you do.”
The end.