Animals

The sky got darker as the day came to a close, the sun had already set behind the San Diego horizons and the moon shone through the clouds as it vainly begged everyone´s attention. And, while most people´s attention was denied due to the exhaustion at the end of a busy summer day, the emerald eyes of the little girl sitting in the back of a small car were glued to the silver light in the black sky.

The windows of the car were rolled down and the slightly humid air was rushing in and messing the little girl´s hair as she just stared outside without a care in the world. Up in the driver´s side, her father glanced at the review mirror and broke out in a smile at the sight of his daughter´s curious eyes. He then turned to a side to see his wife sing along to the music playing loudly in the background and he couldn’t help but feeling satisfied with how their little trip to Arizona had worked out.

They barely lasted a week in the sweltering heat of Phoenix, but they had visited the Grand Canyon and the look of amazement in his daughter´s eyes was something nothing could beat. Now they were back in their hometown and the summer vacation was going to end in less than a week, bringing everyone back to their normal routines; he would go back to work, just like his wife, and Penelope would start her third year of elementary school.

He was driving on the roadway just outside San Diego wishing the day wouldn’t come to a close as he glanced in the review mirror once more. He leaned forward to turn the music´s volume down, taking his wife´s attention as well.

“What are you looking at, kid?”

Penelope took her eyes from the moon and looked ahead with a smile letting out a giggle. “The moon.”

Her mother smiled as she saw the way her daughter´s eyes widened in amazement and not a single trace of the exhaustion that covered both hers and her husband´s eyes. “What it´s so interesting about it?”

“In school some kid told me the moon is made of cheese,” the little girl replied before making a face. “But I don’t think it´s true.”

The man in the front seat chuckled. “And why´s that?”

“Because cheese doesn’t shine, and the moon shines!”

“That´s true, but do you know why the wolves howl at the moon?” he asked.

Penelope shook her head. “Why?”

Her father smiled and looked at her through the review mirror. “Because there´s a wolf trapped inside it, can´t you see it?”

The little girl´s face morphed into a deep frown as she titled her head to a side, making her dark brown hair fall to a side. She searched her father´s face through the mirror trying to see if he was lying, but he was completely serious, she then turned to look at her mother, but she was just as serious. Her eyes found the black sky once more and they followed the moon´s bright light until she was staring at the silver circle again. She was looking for a long moment before she gasped loudly and pointed towards it with her small hand.

“I can see it, there´s a wolf in there!”

Both her parents laughed before they sighted a small gas station up ahead, they were still a few minutes away from the city and the car was running low on gas, and he was running low on energy. So he turned on the blinker and exited the roadway to make a small detour for food and fuel. Once parked in front of the small store they all got outside the car and stretched their arms and legs. The little girl took her father´s hand and together they walked inside with her mother just in front of them, they paced the small aisles grabbing a few snacks and drinks before the bell of the door rang taking everyone´s attention.

Two masked men walked in and it didn’t take a single second for her father to push Penelope to the ground placing a finger on his lips to signal her to stay silent. She nodded and watched as her parents held each other´s hands and stared warily at the masked men. There were yells coming from the slightly visible mouths that were not covered by the black fabric and the men started waving their guns at the cashier as the old man shook as he tried to give them the money.

One of the men walked forward until he was standing just in front of Penelope´s parents and started screaming things the little girl would never forget, could never forget even if she tried. She saw her father raise both hands trying to calm the robber and she could see her mother´s eyes glister with tears as she saw the black gun point at her husband. The masked man and her father kept arguing for a moment, then there was a loud bang and everything was silent before her mother let out a shirk and started crying. But her tears didn’t last long, because another bang followed the first one and, just as the two masked man ran outside, an inevitable silence enveloped the store as the two bodies lay on the floor just a couple feet away from the little girl whose eyes were no longer wide with amazement, but with terror and a loneliness that would forever be imprinted to her green orbs.