"It was a million tiny little things that, when you added them all up, they meant we were supposed to be together… and I knew it." – Tom Hanks, Sleepless In Seattle
It was an ordinary day in the town of Hillwood. The tree's were trading their vibrant green leafs for the bright colors of red, orange, yellow, purple, and brown. Just like the tree's, change had occurred everywhere. The gang from P.S.118 were all Juniors in High School. Many changes had occurred in friendships and relationships. Lorenzo had moved during the 8th grade to live with his dad in California after the divorce. Sid turned out to be one of the tallest of the gang, next to Stinky of course. Phoebe and Gerald had begun to date Freshman year and still were. Somethings will never change...
I, Helga G. Pataki, am still unconditionally in love with Arnold, but I've never told him to this day, well except for the FTi rooftop, but that was years ago.
Arnold had turned into quite a looker, he became well built after playing baseball and football for Hillwood High. He still wore the faded blue hat he had wore for his entire life. He ditched the plaid shirt for T-shirts and jerseys. We have some classes together, but not as many as I would like. We share the same Biology, Health, Lunch, and Chemistry classes. We seldom talk unless I am insulting him in some form or arguing over something stupid.
"Why am I such a basket case?" I thought as I walked home after a long and tiring day of school. "Maybe I should try to see Dr. Bliss some more. I had stopped going to her so often after Freshman year. I only went twice a month now. 'Maybe I wouldn't be such a damn basket case if I could get a peaceful nights sleep without the neighbors dumb ass dog howling and barking every 5 freaking minutes.' I thought to myself.
Just as I turned the corner to view the street which I lived on, I noticed an ambulance parked 4 houses down from mine. I could see two middle aged men carrying a stretcher covered in a blanket.
As I got closer I could see the blood soaking into the blanket. 'Crimeny! What the hell happened to this guy?'
Thats when a sudden gust of wind blew the blanket back just enough for me to see the face of the victim. I recognized him immediately, my knees went weak. For it was none other than Harold. Then my eyes caught what was causing the blanket to turn a crimson red. On Harold's right shoulder were gigantic teeth marks that sank deep into his flesh. These teeth marks were far to big for human and most animals. Roughly two inches from the bite were deep gashes that caused the majority of the blood loss. A few of these gashes went so deep that I could see the white bone beneath the muscle and skin.
What amazed me about that moment the most was that I was able to realize all of this in the time that the wind had come and gone.
Then one of the EMTs began to speak, "Do you know this person?"
There was a pause
"Miss? Do you know this person?"
"Wait you're talking to me?" I said dumbly
The EMT nodded
"Well yes. I've known him since preschool. What happened to him?"
"We got a call from a panicked jogger. He said he was on his jog when he noticed a foot sticking out from the alley over there" he pointed to the alley about 20 yards away from my house "And went to go investigate, when he realized that this young man had been attacked. We aren't positive about who or what attacked him, but we believe it to be some kind of giant dog or possibly a mountain lion. Did you happen to see anything?"
"No I just saw you two carrying him on the stretcher when I turned the corner."
"Do you live around here?"
"Um yes I live right here," I pointed to the blue bricked building in front of us.
"Well Miss I advise you to be careful. Whatever or whoever it was could still be lurking near by."
I looked left to right, suddenly feeling uneasy and frightened at the thought of what might be lurking in the shadows.
"Well have a good night Miss, you can visit your friend in the hospital soon."
With that they put Harold into the ambulance and drove away, leaving me in my thoughts.
I don't know how long I stood there for exactly, all I know is after a while of questioning everything I bolted inside, little did I know what would happen to me later that night.
