hYBrID [Published]

hYBrID I

And the winning cover is......ErikaRecinos9182001, 

I absolutely loved all of the submissions for the cover of this book. Thank you to everyone for who took the time to send me one.

xx

P.S.- THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN ErikaRecinos9182001 for this BEAUTIFUL cover.

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hYBrID I 

Who let the dogs out 

(woof, woof, woof, woof) 

(woof, woof, woof, woof) 

(woof, woof, woof, woof) 

(woof, woof, woof, -

Someone groaned and bed dipped slightly.

Luckily I was one of those who could succumb to sleep in milliseconds, which often came in handy, especially during times like these.

Give or take it would have been what two minutes, when the shrilling voice pierced in the air, once again disturbing the early dawn tranquility.

This time the groaning sound was much louder.

"Pick up your damn phone Ash!" Simon, my 14 year old best friend , groaned exasperatedly. His voice lacked the usual softness, clearly agitated with the caller. I was still in a far off land. I just wished that Simon could go back to sleep. His strained hand was kept lazily on my midriff. He was a light sleeper, so light that the bird chirping in the morning also gets him all riled up. I guess caller could hear my thoughts as the very next moment it stopped ringing, which instantly relaxed his taut muscles.

Simon- the chimpanzee. He hates when I call him that, but what can I do, I love irritating him.

 I still remember the day we first met as clear as day. 

I was 3 years old. My parents were not in the town and my brother Sammy who was 12 year old was living in West Virginia, Jackson County to be precise. They all visited this place once in a blue moon. Like always, I was staying at home with Beth, my nanny during those days. She was a very strict and scary old woman. She never took me anywhere nor did she ever cut me loose even for a second. No amount of whining or crying was helpful when it comes to her.  Even after complaining about this to my parents time and again, accompanied with little tears, they never allowed her to take me anywhere. I was a prisoner at my own home. My nanny used to watch me closely all day and do her work only when I go to sleep, as if I will vanish into thin air if she will cut me loose even for two minutes. She was single. That was my parents prerequisite for selecting a nanny. One fine afternoon, I wanted to see the outside world, the world beyond the gate, whether it was as beautiful as in my imagination. So I pretended to sleep when Beth was around. When she was thoroughly satisfied with me, she went for bathing. I got up from the bed quietly, keeping my auditory senses open. I moved with tiptoed steps towards the front door. On reaching that place I got caught up in between myriad locks on the door. I started with the lowermost bolt and made my way to up with the help of a table. Looking at so many bolts and the guards that I have to face outside I wondered about the perils lurking in the outside world. For the first time in my life, I marveled how dangerous the outside world could be, if everybody is so hell bent upon guarding me with their lives.