Short Story Collection

Wandering

The marble-colored wolf was exploring her domain when she encountered something new to her. In her track of the Smoky mountains there were many parts that cut off sharply and ended in vertical drops. Every so often humans would ihiolcome and climb these areas. Most of the time they had friends with them and a whole bunch of ropes and harnesses. Today was different. The girl was alone. All she had with her was a backpack. From the way it hung off of her shouldered it appeared to be empty too.

The wolf watched quietly the whole morning while the girl had climbed the back of the mountain so she could access the ridge without climbing up it. She had shown up this morning way before the sun was to rise. The wolf followed her silently, curious by her arrival time and her lack of companionship. The girl climbed the mountain at a steady pace, never faltering in her steps and never looking back to see the wolf following her.

The wolf knew they were getting close to the ridge so she ran ahead and hide amongst the bushes near the edge. The girl finally made it up to the edge and turned to look directly at the wolf's hiding place.

"I know you're in there." Her voice was strong and steady "I was hoping that you would attack me so I wouldn't have to jump off this damn cliff." Her voice cracked on the word jump

The wolf slid out of her hiding space, keeping her belly pressed to the ground so she looked submissive to the girl. She was worried. Only one other human had jumped from the edge. A young boy who cried for hours and screamed at the sky for mercy. The wolf found his body at the bottom, a few days later the park rangers came and collected what was left of him. The wolf didn't want to watch another young human die from some deep sorrow. The girl would not die today.

The girl jumped back a few steps when the wolf came out. She wasn't prepared for the size of her. Even with her belly pressed down the wolf's shoulders still came up to the girl's chest. The wolf's marbled fur glistened in the sunrise as she slid slowly toward the girl.

"Don't." The girl's voice was shaking now. She backed herself up to the edge.

The wolf stopped in place, trying to decide if she should show the girl her own secret. The wolf already knew the girl's.

The girl dropped to the ground in a heap of tears "I'm not scared of you. Ok? I'm just trying to figure this out. I'm not like everyone else and I can't take it anymore. Geeze why am I even talking to you?!" she threw her hands in the air "You're just a damn wolf who's probably just looking for a meal." She glared at the still wolf "I can't believe this is because of my damn lineage. What kind of crap is that? This stuff isn't supposed to even exists!" She screamed, mostly at herself.

The wolf decided it was time. The change was quick and relatively painless for her now. She had been doing it since she was very young.

"Oh I'm just a wolf right? Just like you're just a human." The wolf was no longer there. Instead a tall raven haired girl stood in its place.

The girl froze and just watched and the once wolf walked over to a nearby tree and pulled out a pair of leggings and a hoodie and put them over her bare skin.

"You're like me?" the girl's voice shook much harder now, except now it was tinted with relieve.

"Yes ma'am I am. My name's Kara, my lineage is the same as yours. You came up here because you feel alone right?" Kara spoke softly and sat down facing the girl.

"My parents saw me shift the first time. They think I'm possessed by a demon. They tried to kill me." She motioned to the scars the dotted her neck and wrists. "They've cut me a thousand times but I heal to fast. They finally kicked me out yesterday screaming about how they wish I had never been born. I figured that my grandpa would take me in but all he did was explain how our family is gifted but it can skip entire generations. He was the last one before me. He couldn't take me in, claiming that he didn't have time, money, or energy to deal with a new wolf like me. So I came up here. No one wanted me and I didn't even want myself. I was going to jump." She hung her head and cried to herself.

"I didn't have parents but my aunt watched me change too. She called a psychiatric hospital on both of us. She thought she was going mental because of what she saw and I was just to wild so something must have been wrong with my head." Kara rolled her eyes "I was trapped in a padded room for almost two months before my body forced me to shift again. I escaped from the room and found my aunt. She went into a fit of sorts when she saw me so I broke out of the hospital and ran to the mountains. At the time my thought was that if I was meant to be a wolf then I was going to live like one." Kara smiled reassuringly at the other girl.

The girl stopped crying and just stared at Kara. "You can control when you shift now?"

"Yes but in the winter I tend to stay in wolf form so I can stay warm and eat as much as possible. It's a hard life but it feels more natural than how I lived when I was younger." Kara responded

The girl sat quietly for a minute before looking at Kara. Something had changed in her head.

"Can you teach me what you know? I know I'll be a hassle but I.....I can leave once I know enough to take care of myself." The girl's voice no longer cracked.

Kara held out a hand to the girl. "You really think I'd leave you up on this mountain with no way to fend for yourself? You really don't know how wolves work huh? By the way you never told me your name." Kara helped her up.

"Joy is my birth name." The girl seemed angry at the name

"Well you can change your name to whatever you want." Kara said, watching her closely

"Casey then. I.....I don't want a really girly name." Casey said, looking down at her feet,

Kara lifted up Casey's chin. "Look Casey, it's ok now. You're safe. I promise"