Wolfer

Janet Woolf takes in a lecture on the provenance of surnames.  She hears in her mind a howling and is reminded of Kyoto and Wasabe, a pair of small dogs she is sitting.  

The lecturer solicits last names from his audience and speaks to the origins of each.  Margaret Bishop, George Dembinski, and Bill Noble learn about their heritage.  Janet offers her name to the speaker, who believes it references the lupine characteristics of an ancestor’s personality.  Shaking her head and raising her voice, Janet argues her feeling that her forbearers served rather than resembled wolves.

Outside the lecture hall, Margaret brushes past Janet and tells her to take a bus.  Janet hurries to the closest stop, boards, and finds a seat beside a waiting Margaret.  In hushed tones, Margaret enlists Janet to help resettle three wolves in the wilds of Michigan.  Despite warnings of surveillance, fines, and imprisonment, Janet eagerly accepts.  

Janet explains that she is taking time away from work to manage depression brought on by a recent divorce.  Margaret supplies Janet with a pair of addresses and departs.

Returning home, Janet speaks with Kyoto and Wasabe about her thrilling assignment.  The dogs vow to protect Janet on the adventure.