Chapter 1
First day of summer break and two whole months free from school. I said goodbye at the end of school the previous day to both Colin and Seth my two best friends. Seth was going to spend a month with his grandparents in Alaska. Every year Seth and his sister Leah would go and leave their parents Harry and Sue Clearwater alone to have what Seth said was "quality time together". It was not until last year that I come to realise what exactly quality time was. To be honest I wished I still did not know what it was. It was bad enough I knew what my parents did in the bedroom let alone Seth's. Colin was lucky enough to score a job on a fishing boat with his uncle and would be away for the whole summer.
I finished my chores in record time and chucked food and supplies for my day out. It was a rare sunny day in La-Push and planned to go to the beach. I walked along the road and saw the beach was already getting busy even this early in the morning. I did not want to be surrounded by people today I had enough of that over the school year. So I turned and headed towards the forest. I paused for a brief moment remembering the warnings from our parents and elders a few months ago not to venture into the forest as there had been sightings of a large black bear which had killed a hiker leaving nothing of him. But I had not heard anything lately and decided that it must have just been a one off thing and the bear had moved on.
As weird as it sounded I felt at home in the forest. The smell and sounds comforted me. Never once in my whole 15 years had I felt scared or gotten loss. The forest canopy covered the sun only minutes in. The sound of animals going about with their lives made me smile. I knew exactly where I was heading to. Picking up the pace I headed to my destination an hour later I broke through the tree line. This was my slice of heaven. Seth and I found it last summer on one of our hikes. As far as I was aware he had not told Colin about it and I most certainly didn't. Colin would not appreciate the beauty and splendour of the meadow or waterfall like Seth and I.
The roar of the waterfall and the brilliant colours of the flowers was something that a photo would not do justice to. You had to see, smell and hear this place. As I headed towards the waterfall I hear the bee's busy going about filling their bodies with nectar from the flowers. They buzzed from one flower to another until they were drunk on nectar. It was not surprising that they still had even the smartest people on this earth wondering how they could even fly let alone with legs full with nectar. Careful not to trample on their food source I headed to the waterfall. Now this was something spectacular. The roar of the water and the colour of the water that glistened like silver as it hit the rocks at the bottom. By no means was it a large waterfall but still it was in my eyes beautiful.
I paused to drink from the fall before going and sitting on the large flat boulder that was just the perfect size for two people to lie on and soak up the rays of the sun. I quickly stripped my shoes and shirt before pulling out my lunch and book. Lying on my stomach facing the whole area I sit and soaked up the sight before my stomach interrupted me and demands food. Lunch was eaten at a slow and leisurely pace while I watched a doe and her fawn coming and eating the grass and flowers. This was a rare and unusual sight at this time of day as they normally come out at dawn and dusk. Their predators kept them under cover normally during daylight. I was not going to complain though as they were stunning. I wished now that I brought my camera to take a photo of these stunning mule deer. They were happy for about half an hour before something startled them and they ran past me up the rocks to higher ground. I watched the forest to see if I could see anything but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
Sighing I opened my book although it was only a few months old it was already dog eared on the corners of the pages. I opened to the title page. There was an inscription on it.
To Brady Fuller
Happy 15th Birthday
From Billy Black
This was my pride and joy. The best present I had ever been given. It was a book of our tribe history stories and language. To the average person this book would look like it was in code. Our own language was only for the Quileute people. No other tribe had our language. I knew it well having studied it at school and extra lessons with Old Quil Ateara. He offered the language to anyone who was interested in learning. Our language would die out if us younger ones did not take interest in it. Sadly not many were interested in it outside of school so other than the basics not many knew. I was determined that I would pass on the language to my children and my children's children.
My favourite part was the legends of the shape-shifters. It is believed that our ancestors took on the form of a wolf to kill the cold ones. This is where I opened to. I loved the stories so much that I read it most nights about the first wolf. At some stage in the story my eyes drooped and I decided it was time to go take a dip in the cool water to wake up. I gasped as I plunged into the water the water was so cold against my sun kissed skin.
My hair fell into my eyes wiping it away I thought I saw a large animal in the forest trees. I wanted to see if I can see any more movement but a few minutes later I was cold and needed to get out. I grabbed my towel and quickly dried myself off. Wrapping my towel around my waist I slipped my shorts off and laid them on the rock to dry. The movement I saw earlier was still on the forefront of my mind and decided to go and investigate while my shorts dry. I slipped on my sneakers as I didn't want to be stung by a bee.
Just as I was about to enter the forest I heard a howl in the far distance. I turned and headed back to the rock and gather my clothes. As much as I loved the forest I knew that it belonged to the animals and I was just a visitor on their territory it was time for me to leave. I would come back again soon. The call of the forest was too strong to not come back to my slice of heaven.
On my way home I didn't feel scared in fact I felt somehow protected as though the spirit wolf was guarding me. Stupid I know but I truly believed in the legends. Maybe I had my own wolf looking out for me. I came to the edge of the forest and with one last look I saw something that took my breath away. A set of silver eyes as beautiful as the waterfall I had just come from. But in a blink they were gone. Shaking my head I walk inside. I really needed to stop reading the story of the spirit wolves.