A few days passed.
Lina noticed something strange.
After every dream, people started talking differently.
Not about dreams.
About choices.
One patient said:
– I feel like I’m living someone else’s life.
Another man quietly admitted:
– Everyone says I’m lucky.
But every morning I hope I’ll get sick.
So I won’t have to go to work.
A third woman asked:
– Is it normal that I no longer want to be the person everyone thinks I am?
Lina no longer tried to explain everything with theories.
She just listened.
On the weekend she left the city.
With no destination.
She wanted silence.
The road led through fields.
Then through a forest.
Eventually it ended.
Beyond it there was only a narrow path.
Lina left the car.
Walked on foot.
After several minutes she saw a small wooden house among the trees.
A woman stood beside it.
Repairing an old fence.
A camera lay nearby.
Large.
Worn.
– Are you lost?
The woman asked.
– I don’t know.
The woman laughed.
– Good answer.
She was younger than Lina expected.
Short dark hair.
Sun-weathered hands.
No makeup.
No jewelry.
Only calm eyes.
The kind that were constantly listening for something.
– Do you live here alone?
– With the wolves.
Lina smiled faintly.
– Real ones?
– What other kind are there?
There were no power lines by the house.
No internet antennas.
Not even a car.
Only an old bicycle.
– You don’t have a phone?
Lina asked.
– I used to.
– And?
– Too many people could find me.
– They can’t now?
– Now the birds find me first.
They both laughed.
Inside, the house was simple.
Shelves full of photographs.
Forests.
Rivers.
Wolves.
There were dozens of them.
Some running.
Others lying down.
Others still looking straight into the lens.
Lina stopped in front of one photograph.
A large wolf stood on a hill.
Its gaze was calm.
– You were very close.
– Yes.
– Weren’t you afraid?
– I was.
– Then why did you get closer?
– Because he wasn’t afraid of me.
Lina studied the photo for a long time.
– Everyone says wolves are dangerous.
– So are people.
– But people don’t bite without reason.
The woman looked out the window.
– Are you sure about that?
They went outside.
The forest was quiet.
Only a woodpecker knocked somewhere in the distance.
– Why do you photograph wolves?
Lina asked.
– Because they never pretend.
– What do you mean?
– A wolf doesn’t act stronger than it is.
If it’s afraid, it retreats.
If it’s angry, it shows it.
If it trusts, it comes closer.
Only a human has learned to smile while hating.
And stay silent when they should scream.
They walked slowly along the forest path.
Suddenly the woman stopped.
Raised a hand.
– Do you hear that?
Lina listened closely.
Nothing.
Only the wind.
– I don’t hear anything.
– That’s exactly why people so often get lost.
– Why?
– They listen to the noise.
Not the silence.
A few moments later a deer leapt out of the bushes.
It vanished among the trees in an instant.
– Did you know it was there?
Lina asked.
– No.
– Then why did you stop?
The woman shrugged.
– I felt it.
– Intuition?
– No.
Instinct.
It’s not the same thing.
They sat down on a fallen tree.
Silent for a long time.
Lina spoke first.
– How do you tell instinct apart from fear?
The woman picked a pine needle.
Slowly turned it between her fingers.
– Very simple.
Instinct never shouts.
Fear shouts.
Lina said nothing.
– Fear rushes.
It demands.
It persuades.
It paints the worst-case scenarios.
It wants you to run.
– And instinct?
– It says one sentence.
Only one.
And then falls silent.
– But what if I’m wrong?
Lina asked.
– You will be, sometimes.
– You say that so calmly.
– Everyone makes mistakes.
Only some learn from them.
Others spend their whole lives trying not to make any.
And that way, they never start living.
The sun was already setting.
The shadows grew longer.
The woman lifted her camera.
Pointed it into the depths of the forest.
Pressed the button.
– What did you photograph?
– Nothing.
– What do you mean?
– Not yet.
A few seconds later a wolf stepped out from among the trees.
Large.
Gray.
It glanced briefly at both women.
Then calmly walked on.
Lina held her breath.
– He’s not afraid of you.
– No.
– Why?
The woman lowered the camera.
– Because I don’t want anything from him.
That evening Lina drove home.
The whole way, she drove without music.
For the first time in a long while.
At home she sat down at the desk.
Opened the black notebook.
Thought for a long time.
Then wrote.
My whole life I thought my inner voice spoke loudly.
After a long pause she added another line.
Today I realized that the loudest voice inside me isn’t the truth. The loudest voice is fear.
She closed the notebook.
Outside the window, an evening wind rose.
Somewhere very far away, almost inaudibly, a wolf’s howl echoed.
Lina smiled.
For the first time, that sound didn’t remind her of danger.
It reminded her that the wild part of a person never disappears.
It only waits patiently to be heard.