Progression Fantasy

The girl turns the page of the children’s picture book.

I stare at her, dumbfounded, trying to decide whether she’s actually reading or simply pretending to. Then she lowers the book, smiling brightly as she points at the page.

“Nayden!”

I try to hide my shock as I shuffle closer and peer at what she’s indicating. It’s a simple drawing: a house, with a family standing outside. She taps the figure that is clearly meant to be the father.

“Nayden!”

Then her finger slides across the page until it rests on the family dog.

“Me!”

My heart thumps.

Before I can suppress my reaction, her eyes widen. She saw it. She felt the shift. Immediately, she begins flipping through the book, moving with purpose, until she finds the page she wants.

I can’t help wondering if she’s seen this book before.

The page is filled with pictures of food. She points at it, then looks up at me, eyes intent. Next, she points toward the back door.

“No.”

Then she points at me.

“Yes!”

She beams, clearly pleased with herself.

Her logic clicks into place all at once. That’s why she called herself the dog. Food isn’t outside anymore. It’s here. With me.

But I’m already past that.

I’m stunned.

Understanding “yes” and “no” alone would’ve been incredible. But telling a story - her story - using nothing but a picture book and two words?

That’s far more than I expected.

And then the real meaning of what she’s said catches up to me.

There’s no food out there.

But there is food here.

She’s decided to stay.

My heart skips.

What does that mean for me?

It means I can’t leave town. Can’t travel. Can’t have friends over - though that’s hardly a concern. It means responsibility. Feeding her. Protecting her. Explaining her existence if anyone ever finds out.

Food is the biggest immediate issue. How much does she normally eat? Human portions are manageable. If she eats like a wolf… well.

I stop myself.

There’s no debate to be had.

Of course she can stay.

It’s the perfect opportunity. To study her kind. To teach her how to live among humans. To understand what she really is. There are a thousand ways this could go wrong - but I can’t imagine looking into those bright, hopeful eyes and telling her no.

I smile.

“Okay.”

Her tail thumps against the floor as she lifts the book again.

“Nayden!”

I blink.

“What?”

She points at the words this time, not the pictures.

“Nayden!”

I smile wider.

She wants me to teach her how to read.

She really is intelligent.

I sit down beside her. She doesn’t move away. Carefully, patiently, I begin doing my best to give the words meaning.

Over the following weeks, she learns how to read and speak.

It takes her two days to begin forming simple sentences. Four more to grasp basic descriptive words. Eight until she can read without me hovering over her shoulder. The books she consumes grow steadily more complex, reaching primary school level in a week and a half.

She’s an astonishingly fast learner, absorbing information like a sponge.

One of the first things I teach her is how to ask for help. Our system is simple. If she encounters a word she doesn’t know or a concept she doesn’t understand, she calls my name. When I come over, she points to the problem and tells me what she’s missing.

“Meaning.”
“Context.”

I have to admit, I enjoy it.

When she advances to young adult novels, her speech becomes noticeably more refined. Not quite human - yet - but far removed from the feral girl I first met in the forest. Her voice is still soft, slightly unusual, but it’s pleasant enough that I stop noticing the difference entirely.

Life settles into a rhythm.

I continue writing my report, collecting photographs, cooking meals - thankfully my wolf fears are misplaced - and keeping a general eye on her. Every time I reread my work and review the images, I’m struck by the same doubt - that it’ll simply be rejected again. So I keep working. Carefully. Diligently.

Even now, my fingers rise and fall in a constant rhythm across the keyboard, each keystroke forming a new thought.

I’m not working on my cryptozoology report at the moment, though. This is my day job - translating text from one language to another. In hindsight, it’s no surprise that teaching her to communicate came naturally.

She adapts to household life just as quickly. She doesn’t do chores yet, but she sleeps in the spare room without issue, eats almost anything I give her, and keeps herself entertained. Her curiosity is her greatest strength.

And, occasionally, her greatest danger.

I notice her approaching out of the corner of my eye and look up, smiling. She’s holding a book.

I asked her once if she wanted a name. She said she’d choose one herself, someday. Until then, I avoid using one at all. In my report, she remains simply the wolf-girl.

She smiles back and holds the book up, open about halfway through.

An adult romance.

“I don’t understand this.”

I read the page she’s indicating. It appears to be the aftermath of a steamy scene - soft dialogue, affectionate touches, promises whispered in quiet moments. Wholesome smut, if I had to categorize it.

“Which part?”

She points to the final line of dialogue.

I’ll never leave you.

“Why do they promise to stay together when mating is done?”

I nearly choke on air.

“W-what-”

“And why do they mate in so many ways?” she continues. “Isn’t it simpler to-”

I interrupt her.

“That’s called love.”

She tilts her head.

“I know that word. Is this what it means? Mating?”

I ignore the frantic pounding of my heart.

“That’s one part of it,” I say carefully. “But usually… that only happens when people are very much in love.”

She considers this.

“So it’s not just for offspring?”

I shake my head.

“There are so many humans that it isn’t really necessary. Most of the time it’s done for… pleasure.”

She blinks.

“You mate for fun?”

I wince at how casually she says it.

“I suppose you could put it that way.”

She nods, clearly deep in thought. I can almost feel the question forming before she flips a few pages back and points to a scene where the characters are cuddled together on a couch.

Her face lights up.

“I want to experience love!”

I choke on air again.