Guided by the desire to seize the inheritance, the daughters-in-law decided to get rid of the blind mother-in-law and took her to a deep forest, hoping that no one would find her there. They were sure that the woman would not understand anything, because she had been blind from birth. But they forgot one thing – during the years of darkness, her hearing and intuition had become extremely acute.
After her husband’s death, all the property passed to her: the house, the bills, the land. And it was from that moment that the daughters-in-law’s attitude became cold and false.
That day they said that they were taking the old woman for a walk to get some fresh air and unwind a little. The mother-in-law silently got into the car, but her heart was clenching with anxiety. The road was too long, and there was not a single familiar sound around.
When the car stopped abruptly, she became alert. The passenger door opened, and she was roughly led out. There were leaves and branches under her feet.
“Here they are. Stay here. No one will find you anyway,” the daughters-in-law whispered with cold cruelty.
The door slammed. The engine roared. The car drove off.
The old woman stood alone in the middle of the night forest. The wind was piercing to the bones, her bare feet were numb from the cold. Strange sounds were heard all around – the cracking of branches, rustling. And then she heard a howl. First somewhere far away. Then closer. Even closer.
Instead of a bite, she felt something warm press against her side. Then something else. The wolves surrounded her and lay close, as if protecting her from the wind. Their thick fur warmed her body, and their heavy breathing no longer seemed scary. They did not leave the woman all night.
In the morning, the old woman woke up from the warmth of the sun’s rays. The forest was quiet. The wolves were no longer nearby. She carefully got up, felt for the trunk of a tree and slowly moved forward, holding on to the bark and branches. She walked for a long time, stumbling and falling, but did not stop. Towards evening, she felt smooth asphalt under her feet. Cars rushed by, and someone finally noticed an elderly woman in a thin dress in the middle of the road.
People stopped and saved her.
And those who left her to die in the forest for the sake of her inheritance could not even imagine that that night the wild animals would turn out to be more humane than them.
