Status: Work in Progress.
Wolf Girl
Elias
Elias woke up with a start. It was 4:58 AM.
Every single night, for the past 8 years, he had been waking with nightmares. It's really just one nightmare, over and over again. Sometimes he sees it twice. But it's there every night, without fail.
He sat up in bed and grabbed the cup of water on the nightstand. He went to take a drink, but discovered the glass was empty.
Typical, he thought.
He tread with heavy feet down the hall to his bathroom to fill the cup. He wasn't worried about waking his father; it was deer hunting season, and his father would have left a half hour ago with his brother and his mom's dad to head out to the great Washington State forests to hunt helpless animals. Elias never understood the thrill of hunting. He had gone with his dad once or twice, and he was a pretty incredible shot, but there was no point to what they did. His father told him it put food on the table. Elias argued that you can get food in a grocery store and not contribute to the crash of the ecosystems. It was a lose-lose battle on either side. His father stopped asking him to go hunting years ago.
When he flipped on the light switch, Elias studied himself in the mirror. His pale skin seemed to stretch taut over his high cheekbones, and his black hair fell in a messy waterfall down the front of his face. There were dark purple circles under his mossy green eyes, a sign he was hardly sleeping. He felt those effects nearly every day; luckily he was taking time off from school to focus on his career as an art therapist. For some reason, sitting in classes for 8+ hours a day were draining him. He was much better off working under an art therapist every week and actually acquiring the skills he would need for his career.
Elias rubbed on his eyes, and splashed some cold water in his face to wake him up. There was no point in trying to go back to bed; his nightmare had taken all of the energy out of him, like it did every other night. He thunked down the stairs, two at a time and made his way into the kitchen, where he opened the fridge and debated breakfast.
After finally settling on a bowl of Lucky Charms and some toast, he sat down at the island that faced his backyard. It was a nice yard, full of flowers that his mom loved so much and his dad actually tried to keep up with, a large, inground pool with a jacuzzi, and trees that stretched on forever. The forest was his favorite part; it brought tons and tons of wildlife into his own little niche that was his, and his alone. There were rabbits, foxes, bears and coyotes, but the best part of all were the wolves.
There was a whole pack of them living right outside his home, and he could hear them calling to one another at night. There was one wolf that sounded different from all the others, the voice at a higher frequency. Elias liked that one the best. It was melodic, sounded like a smaller wolf, or maybe even the alpha. Either way, he listened for that one's call every night. It was music to him.
It was when he was thinking about them when he saw her; the flash of white and the thick, burly tail darted right across the edge of the woods. She was looking for something.
Elias knew that particular wolf from when he was a kid. He would watch them all the time, as they were his mother's favorite animal. She had a special connection with the ones in her backyard. The white one was her friend. She would come up and sit just feet from Elias and he even got close enough to touch her once, but he was too afraid of getting bitten.
Now, he would do anything to touch the white wolf and be close to his mother once more. He watched her stop and contemplate him before darting into the woods. He wondered if she remembered him, they say that canines have a great memory. Elias stood from the island and stepped outside, into the dense fog and brisk morning air. There was only one way to find out.
Every single night, for the past 8 years, he had been waking with nightmares. It's really just one nightmare, over and over again. Sometimes he sees it twice. But it's there every night, without fail.
He sat up in bed and grabbed the cup of water on the nightstand. He went to take a drink, but discovered the glass was empty.
Typical, he thought.
He tread with heavy feet down the hall to his bathroom to fill the cup. He wasn't worried about waking his father; it was deer hunting season, and his father would have left a half hour ago with his brother and his mom's dad to head out to the great Washington State forests to hunt helpless animals. Elias never understood the thrill of hunting. He had gone with his dad once or twice, and he was a pretty incredible shot, but there was no point to what they did. His father told him it put food on the table. Elias argued that you can get food in a grocery store and not contribute to the crash of the ecosystems. It was a lose-lose battle on either side. His father stopped asking him to go hunting years ago.
When he flipped on the light switch, Elias studied himself in the mirror. His pale skin seemed to stretch taut over his high cheekbones, and his black hair fell in a messy waterfall down the front of his face. There were dark purple circles under his mossy green eyes, a sign he was hardly sleeping. He felt those effects nearly every day; luckily he was taking time off from school to focus on his career as an art therapist. For some reason, sitting in classes for 8+ hours a day were draining him. He was much better off working under an art therapist every week and actually acquiring the skills he would need for his career.
Elias rubbed on his eyes, and splashed some cold water in his face to wake him up. There was no point in trying to go back to bed; his nightmare had taken all of the energy out of him, like it did every other night. He thunked down the stairs, two at a time and made his way into the kitchen, where he opened the fridge and debated breakfast.
After finally settling on a bowl of Lucky Charms and some toast, he sat down at the island that faced his backyard. It was a nice yard, full of flowers that his mom loved so much and his dad actually tried to keep up with, a large, inground pool with a jacuzzi, and trees that stretched on forever. The forest was his favorite part; it brought tons and tons of wildlife into his own little niche that was his, and his alone. There were rabbits, foxes, bears and coyotes, but the best part of all were the wolves.
There was a whole pack of them living right outside his home, and he could hear them calling to one another at night. There was one wolf that sounded different from all the others, the voice at a higher frequency. Elias liked that one the best. It was melodic, sounded like a smaller wolf, or maybe even the alpha. Either way, he listened for that one's call every night. It was music to him.
It was when he was thinking about them when he saw her; the flash of white and the thick, burly tail darted right across the edge of the woods. She was looking for something.
Elias knew that particular wolf from when he was a kid. He would watch them all the time, as they were his mother's favorite animal. She had a special connection with the ones in her backyard. The white one was her friend. She would come up and sit just feet from Elias and he even got close enough to touch her once, but he was too afraid of getting bitten.
Now, he would do anything to touch the white wolf and be close to his mother once more. He watched her stop and contemplate him before darting into the woods. He wondered if she remembered him, they say that canines have a great memory. Elias stood from the island and stepped outside, into the dense fog and brisk morning air. There was only one way to find out.