I was so scared, I could hardly breathe!
What an adventure! It was a long time ago … and it was a crisp autumn weekend. I went camping with my friends and family in Waynesboro, Virginia. We were there on the weekend for a big swimming meet, but our real adventure began the night before at the campground. The leaves crunched beneath our feet as we set up our tents, and the smell of smoke from the campfire filled the air. It was perfect. We cooked hot dogs over the fire and our stomachs growled with hunger as the hotdogs sizzled on the sticks. Next came roasting the yummy marshmallows and melting the chocolate bars into gooey s’mores. We talked and laughed as a blanket of darkness began to pull up over the evening sky. I loved everything about it… until the sun disappeared completely and the shadowy figures grew.
Inspiration for Elementary Piano Music
In the darkness, we huddled around the campfire telling stories and poking fun at one another as the flames flickered and the logs from the fire crackled. Much of our talk was about the big swim meet that was to come the next morning, but I kept my eyes on the trees. I just KNEW something was lurking in the darkness. The night was chilly and the moon crept higher and higher in the sky. There seemed to be an eerie glow in the woods around us. As I watched the moon climb ever higher in the sky I couldn’t help but think about wolves. I’d read that wolves live in forests like these. “Was this a forest?” I wondered. I listened. I just KNEW that if I listened hard enough I would hear the sound of a wolf howling in the distance. A shiver went up and then down my spine as I continued to listen to the conversations around the fire.
Soon, it was time to call it a night so my friend and I crawled into our tent and snuggled into our thick sleeping bags and zipped ourselves in like a cocoon. Now darkness had really set in. The air felt heavy and even thick and the only sounds I heard were the chirping crickets and the crackling of the dying fire. I lay there still with my eyes wide open staring at the ceiling of the tent. I couldn’t move. Now as I listened, I heard my own breath and the beating of my own heart. I dared not move. More chirping crickets “chirp chirp” and fire crackles and “ka-thump, ka-thump” of my heart.
That’s when I heard it. It was a faint rustling noise outside. I held my breath. I strained to listen. What was it? Was it just the wind? What had I heard? I lay very still. Nothing. Just my heart. “ka-thump, ka-thump.” Then, there it was again. I did hear it. Rustle, rustle, snap. What was it? I strained to listen again. Was it the wind blowing through the trees? Or… could it be a wolf? My heart pounded louder in my chest, “KA-THUMP, KA-THUMP” and I imagined a wolf prowling just outside my tent. It had yellow eyes that glowed in the dark.
I lay there quietly and I didn’t dare move. I willed my breathing to calm and I listened very carefully. Nothing. I wanted to brush it off. I wanted to believe it was just the leaves rustling around in the wind. But just then that sound came again - and it was closer this time! My imagination went wild. I pictured a snarling wolf creeping toward our tent with its ears twitching as it sniffed the ground, searching for its evening meal. I couldn’t take it anymore. I shook my friend awake and whispered, “Wake up, wake UP! Did you hear that?” My friend groggily opened her eyes and mumbled, “Hear what? Leave me alone,” and rolled over and went back to sleep. But I knew I wasn’t dreaming. I knew there was something out there!
I took a deep breath. I tried to relax. I closed my eyes, and then opened them widely again. I told myself it was nothing. I kept repeating it over and over in my mind - “nothing’s out there, nothing’s out there, nothing’s out there”, but my mind was racing. Every tiny noise seemed amplified and it felt like a warning. Every rustle sounded like a paw step. The wolf was approaching. I was frozen still. I was too scared to move a muscle. I couldn’t even blink. And then I heard it again - a rustling and this time it was followed by a soft thud. My heart nearly stopped. I shook my friend again, harder this time. “It’s out there! I heard it again! Didn’t you hear it?” I hissed. My friend moaned and sat up, and took a moment to listen. She sat for a moment and then she glared at me. “There’s nothing there. Go to sleep.” But I was certain. What if a wolf was circling the tent, and just waiting for us to fall asleep. What then? It would pounce!”
I lay there, wide awake for what felt like forever. I stared into the dark. Each sound was magnified by my imagination. I couldn’t get rid of that feeling that something was out there. I finally began to drift off to sleep, but suddenly I heard it again - this time louder than ever and it was right outside! My friend’s eyes flew open, and before I could say anything, we both screamed at the top of our lungs!
Within seconds my dad came rushing to the tent with his flashlight. “What’s going on?!” he loudly whispered as he shined his flashlight all around our tent. We were huddled together and shaking. I told my dad a wolf was about to jump on us. He shined his flashlight again, and then he checked around the campsite but found nothing. “You girls are just spooked,” he chuckled. “There’s no wolves any where near here. Get some sleep.”
The next morning we all gathered around the fire for breakfast. We heard a rustle, a crackle … something was sneaking near the garbage. My heart raced. Was it the wolf? No - it was just a sneaky little raccoon, its paws digging through our trash!
All that fear. All that suspense. And it turned out to be a raccoon looking for leftovers! Everyone teased me about my wolf encounter. I had to laugh at myself. I just couldn’t shake how real the fear felt in the dark of night. And to this day - I still wonder if there could have been a wolf outside of my tent.
Have you ever heard a wolf howl in the night? The sound is distinctive. It sends a chill right up your spine. Remembering my camping adventure - the one where I was sure there was a wolf outside my tent inspired me to write “Wolf Serenade.” Wolf Serenade is one of the pieces in my Studio Savers “Songs for Autumn” collection. The piece is an elementary piano solo in 3/4 meter and is written in the key of A minor to set a mysterious mood. The melody moves along quickly, mimicking the feel of a wolf running through the night. The music is laced with minor and diminished chords to really capture the essence of the chilling wolf calls. “Wolf Serenade” includes lyrics and an optional teacher duet. There are dramatic cues included in the piece for students who are brave and love to ham it up at recitals. It’s the perfect piece to capture that mix of excitement and suspense that comes from the unknown lurking in the dark. Wolf Serenade is a fun and thrilling challenge for any young pianist.
