When the Wolves Howl

One: First Day of Summer

I come down the stairs, screaming my head off.
"Oh my God, oh my God, oh. My. God!"
"What's wrong, cariño?" my mom asks, rushing out of the kitchen into the living room where I dramatically fall back onto the couch.
"Mom," I pause for dramatic effect, "it's Summer."
My mom's shoulders slump. "I thought something was seriously wrong, Lucia."
"Not wrong, awesome. I've finally finished Sophomore year." I wipe imaginary sweat of my forehead as if the year had taken a lot out of me. "Mom, we totally have to do something today."
Just then, the front door opens. "Did Lucia scream?" my older brother Diego calls out from the foyer.
"How'd you know?" I ask as him and Dad emerge into the living room.
"It just hit me as soon as I walked in."
I suck my teeth. "Shut up. And you say I'm the dramatic one."
He plops down beside me on the couch before grabbing the remote from the coffee table and clicking the TV on. Dad walks in between the couch and the table making Diego put his feet down.
"So what's going on? Why's Luc trying to break glass?" he asks.
"Your sister's just excited that it's Summer," Mom explains as she sinks into the recliner.
"Sophomore year was hard," I groan.
"If you think sophomore year's hard, you're gonna hate senior year."
I groan before leaning back into the cushions, then I sit back up. "Speaking of senior year, have you talked to that girl you took to Prom?" I ask him.
"No," he says. "I haven't been able to. It's like she's fallen off the face of the earth."
"Hey, Diego, Victoria, can you come here for a moment?" Dad calls out from the kitchen.
Mom immediately disappears through the kitchen doorway while Diego, however, takes a longer time. "He would say something when my favorite show comes on."
He gets up and shuffles into the kitchen. I grab the remote and start flipping through the channels, stopping when I hit a news channel with the heading, "Wolf Attacks."
I turn the volume up a little and tuck my legs underneath me.
"Welcome back to Channel 16 News," a female newscaster says. "This morning we'd like to inform you about recent wolf attacks that have been occurring throughout the San Francisco area. Here are some comments we retrieved from people that have survived the attacks."
A man with salt and pepper hair and a strong build pops up on the screen.
"It's really been a blur," he admits. "I remember it was dark and my wife and I were sitting on our porch, enjoying the stars. Our house faces the woods and next thing you know, three wolves came out."
"Can you describe what they look like?" the interviewer asks him.
The man looks up, recalling. "The one that attacked me had dirty blonde fur. The second one had pitch black fur and the third one had a mixture between blonde and dark brown. I've never been so scared in my life."
Next thing you know, the TV cuts off. I frown. "Dad, did you pay the cable bill this month or did you leave the check in one of the draws again?!" I call out.
But then I spot Mom with the remote in her hand. "Why'd you turn the TV off?" I ask.
"Do you really wanna watch that junk?" she questions. "It's nothing but lies."
"Is it?" She eagerly nods. "All I'm saying, Mom, is that we can't take any chances. Wolves or no wolves, we need to be really careful."
She nods again. "Absolutely."
Then she sets the remote back down and goes back into the kitchen. I watch her go, curious. What was that all about? I hear mumbling in the kitchen and decide to see what they were talking about. I tiptoe up to the doorway and peek inside.
"When are we gonna tell her?" Diego asks.
"Never," Dad says sternly. "She'll freak."
"How do you know that, though?" Diego questions. "She's stronger than you think now. She's not that little girl that needs her daddy to hold her hand anymore. She's gonna find out one way or another either from you or from someone else."
Dad sighs as he turns the stove on. "I know," he agrees. "It's just...I don't know."
It's silent after that, so I decide to leave, sensing that there was no more to be discussed. I pad up the carpeted staircase to my bedroom. I wonder what it was that Diego wanted them to tell me. If Dad disapproves of it then it must be really bad. Usually Dad tells me anything and everything and he refuses to now, so I really don't wanna know. I plop down on my bed and look up out my bay window, seeing nothing but trees. My room just has to be the room to face a woods. I wonder if those same wolves that attacked the man on the news will emerge from there and target me and the others next. I shiver, thinking about it. I quickly untie the curtain that is pushed up from the window and let it fall. I don't wanna see it anymore.