True Luna

Chapter 2

The next morning, my entire body felt was sore. On top of that, sleep had eluded me entirely; the searing pain from the bite gnawed at me, refusing to let up. Every time I drifted toward unconsciousness, a jolt of agony would yank me back into wakefulness. My thoughts were consumed by the wolves that had invaded the woods that were now off-limits to me. I kept replaying the evening over and over again trying to figure out where we went wrong. I spent all night searching theories. We were on a path, no where near a wolves den. Actually there were no wolves in the area. The only theory I couldn't fully debunk was rabies. Which I'm assuming is why my parents were taking me to the doctor but the wolves showed no signs of rabies.

They found the dead wolf late last night to be tested for diseases but there was no trace of the other wolf.

I couldn't wrap my mind around what went wrong.

When I finally stumbled out of bed, the house was already alive with activity. My siblings had left for school, their backpacks swinging as they hurried out the door. My father was buried in work in his home office, and my mom was in the kitchen, her movements brisk and purposeful. I made my way to the kitchen island, a large, cold expanse of granite that seemed to reflect the heaviness of the morning.

Mom had set up a makeshift first-aid station on the island. As she carefully tended to my wound, her voice was a steady stream of information, trying to fill the silence between us. She spoke of the town's shock and speculation about the wolves. It was an odd juxtaposition; while she was researching every scrap of information she could find about local wildlife. According to her research, wolves were supposed to be extinct in Texas, especially in our city. The only similar creatures were coyotes or bobcats, but neither matched our injuries. Something I had already well researched last night.

The mere size of the wolves was the most frightening. Something that was only read about in fictional books.

She went on about how my father and the others were going to investigate further. The police were organizing a hunting expedition to capture the wolf, and the greenbelt would be shut off at all access points until the creature was found. Each word she spoke felt like a nail in the coffin of my once cherished woods. The place where I could explore, where I could be alone with my thoughts, was now off-limits, and I felt trapped within my own life.

I barely responded as she continued, my answers limited to nods or monosyllabic replies. I was exhausted and just wanted to wake up from this nightmare. Although it did not end, my mother insisted on taking me to the doctor to check for infections or if the wolf had broken my arm from the bite. The last thing I wanted to do was be poked and ran through machinery. I knew it would calm her nerves so I complied.

My dad had disappeared the rest of the day hopefully to work rather than think about the creatures behind his home. He ran his own small business partly from home and partly from his office downtown which gave him too much flexiblity with this scenario. I knew it would consume him. My parents worry was not a bad thing, it just seemed to take my freedom away. I knew it was all in good intentions I just could not help but start to feel suffocated. I would have to play along until things blew over then I could start to gain my freedom back.

My mother forced me to eat something before the appoint which just made me internally groan at all the tests this meant she was going to have them run. The doctor had me undergo a battery of blood tests to check for diseases or any residual effects from the wolf bite. He meticulously examined the bite, making sure it hadn't fractured any bones. I tuned out the doctor and my mothers medical talk as they went through every single possible issue that could arise. We had been at the center for hours, bouncing between the lab and different xrays. Going to school today would have been better than this.