September 24, 2008

The night was cold as I slipped out of my dark house and into the woods. Now days it goes as cold as 20 degrees F every night and not much better during the day. You have to be careful and bundle up especially if you sneak out at midnight to go moon-watching, like I am. I walked through the forest near my house, with only the full moons light to guide me. I bundled my jacket tighter around me, my long brown hair blowing in my face from the harsh breeze. Sighing, I finally walked into the small clearing I always went to every month around this time. It was my way of relaxing after my parents went to bed, tired of yelling at each other. I can't blame them, I suppose. I'm really the reason why there like this, why they fight all the time. I wasn't supposed to be born. They were high school sweethearts when they conceived me one drunken night 17 years ago and they've never been the same since.

I leaned against a fallen tree and stared up at the sky where a beautiful full moon hung, surrounded by clouds. Instantly, I was happier, peaceful. I loved the effect the moon had on me. I loved the way you could see the dark craters on its surface even with it being so far away. I loved the way it instantly energized you so you feel like you could take on anything. I loved-

A growl came from the left, followed by a twig snapping. I whipped my head around, suddenly scared and wary. My Mom had always warned me of the dangerous animals in the forest but I had always brushed it off. I mean, come on, I've lived in the same house my whole life and roamed the forest as much as possible. What could possibly happen? Another growl came, this time closer. I stood up and backed away slowly. The bushes in front of me were moving in a scary way.

Wait! - What was that? I looked closer straining my eyes, the wonderful moon no longer bathing me with its light. Is that a pair of eyes? Well, at least I know it's not harmless now. Why, you ask. Because harmless little animals don't growl and have bright yellow eyes. My breathing sped up with my heart until they were racing to see who could go faster. My mind was refusing to admit that I was about to stand face to face to a big, dangerous wolf, but I felt it in my bones.

I admit the next thing I did was totally stupid and dangerous, but then again I wasn't really thinking straight, was I? I turned around and ran away, even though all the books I had read about wolves told you not to run, as they would think you were prey. With a snarl that chilled my bones, a wolf, slightly larger than average, jumped out of the bush and gave chase. Even though I was the star track runner at my school, this wolf was able to run fast enough to reach my heels. I put on an extra spurt of speed but to no avail. With one last howl, it closed the gap between us and pushed me onto the ground. My adrenaline was pumping, pushing me to survive, giving me enough of a boost to attempt a fight. I tried to recall of the fighting tips I had read about in those same books that told me not to run. I raised my hands to cover my face and kicked out with my legs. Instead of making it back off, it grew angrier and fiercer. I struggled even more to get from under the wolf, but its huge paws pinned me down. My arms and legs were stinging with scratches from its blunt claws, but even that was overridden by a new pain. While I was distracted the wolf had reached its head down and bit down hard on my side. It hurt more than other bites I had gotten from my dog when we rough played too hard, much more. It felt like a fire was burning through my body, originating from the bite and spreading up and down my body. My eyesight started to blotch out from the blood loss and the pain. I could hardly see the wolf through my hazy vision, but I had the strange feeling it had backed off and was staring at me. I closed my eyes to rest a bit, but I couldn't open them a second later, it was just too hard.

"Look the moon came out again. How convenient." I thought, my last thought before I slipped into the state of unconsciousness.

September 25,2008

It was sunny when I came to. Above my head, a canopy of leaves and branches obscured the sky. I knew it must be at least 10:00 in the morning, which meant that my parents were probably going frantic. I scrambled up, and winced. My body was sore and ached a whole bunch. However, the bite I had gotten from the wolf didn't hurt at all. When I lifted up my shirt, I was surprised to find a neatly healed scar in the shape of a dog bite, or in this case, wolf, rather than the big gaping wound I expected to find. " Even more reason to go home. I have to go to the hospital right away!" I thought. I had inherited my mom's OCD and was therefore very worried. I took a moment to get my bearings before following the worn down path to my house. I noticed some strange things as I walked. I have very bad eyes, inherited from my dad. Usually I had to wear contacts to see, but I hadn't worn them out last night. Instead I had worn my glasses, but they had gotten lost in the struggle. I expected to be totally blind, but I could see clearer than I had ever seen before. It was freaky. And I could smell everything, from the dew on the leaves, to the bark on the trees. Not that it was a good smell. I was still trying to figure these things out when I got to my house. The lights were off, which was unusual for my parents since they both wake up at the crack of dawn. I had a bad feeling deep in the pit of my stomach.

I hurried to the door and unlocked it with our spare key. My house was built with the back to the forest, so basically we have no backyard. It lay in a clearing with a single trail leading to the main road, about a 10 minute drive away. My parents liked to be in tune with nature and it rubbed off on me. I've always preferred to hike in the forest, rather than go to the mall.

"Mom? Dad?" I yelled as I walked into the living room.

I heard nothing. I headed to the living room where my parents had their coffee every night and morning. The kitchen, I noticed as I passed, was still messy with the dessert and coffee pot from last night. I had heard them talking while I sneaked out.

"Mom! You'll never believe what happened to me last night! I got attac-," My sentence was cut off when I rounded the corner.

I couldn't speak, I couldn't even think. There were no thoughts going through my head as I took in the awkward angle of my mom's neck, the dead eyes of my father staring at the ceiling. Both of their bodies were covered in bite marks and blood and I had to run out of the room. I immediately went to the phone and started dialing.

"Hello,"

"Help! My mom and dad are dead and I don't know what happened," I screamed into the phone. I couldn't help it when I burst into tears. I have no one to turn to, nowhere to go!