Moon Called

the Gray Wolf

September 2011

Darkness Falls, Massachusetts

I woke up to the sound of my aunt shouting, it was barely five in the morning, I still have time to squeeze in a little extra shuteye. I tried to close my eyes and drown the noise by pressing my pillow over my face but sadly it did not work so I dragged myself off the bed to prepare for school.

For years my Aunt Rosa and Uncle Payton has travelled all over the country dragging me along because of their profession. My aunt and uncle are curators who work for a wealthy private art collector who resides in a luxurious estate just outside Darkness Falls. The art collector pays for all of our expenses when my aunt and uncle race across the country in search for valuable pieces of. This same collector is one of the reasons why we have resided in at least 12 different states for the past 10 years, the last being my favorite – New York. We seldom spend time in one place for more than a year which explains my lack of social grace and awkwardness around people but from time to time we go back to Darkness Falls unable to leave it altogether.

I was born in this small town where you will learn to be patient because everything moves in a slow pace. And here I am again – back after ten years, patiently hoping that we will settle for good.

 After my parents died my aunt took me in, I never knew what happened to them because they never explained it to me. And I never bothered to find out. I sort of figured that it could be due to an illness or even a car accident nothing too dramatic. I feel bad about not taking time to find out more but I know it would hurt more if I knew what exactly happened.

The Michaels are very nice to me and they treat me as their own daughter and I am grateful for that. They never had a child of their own so I get all the attention. They make sure that I go to school, that I’m in touch with what’s happening around me by giving me everything that I don’t need – the latest of which is a car, a gift for my 16th birthday which I assume will just collect dust in the driveway since I never thought about learning how to drive in the first place.

I was named after one of the many goddesses associated with the moon, my aunt used to tell me stories about my mother’s fascination with the heavenly object. The only other thing that could catch her attention is the wolves and those are the only two connections that I have with my mother.

I turned the radio on and the latest Justin Bieber song came alive, I immediately turned it off as soon as I heard the first verse. I looked at the mirror, my blonde hair is sticking out in every known direction to man. I tried to comb it with my hands but after the fifth try I decided to give up. I could barely lift my eyelids but my body does not want to go back to bed so instead I headed for my bathroom.

10 minutes later I was running past the hall and into the dining room to grab a toast and I was out in record time, I just avoided another crazy-filled morning courtesy of my aunt and her country records.

I looked at my shiny silver Volvo and without a backwards glance I walked away from it. I waited for the school bus at the corner of my street. I’ve been waiting for 10 minutes now and still no sign of the bus obviously because it was still too early. I knew I should have waited a couple more minutes before rushing out of the house into the cold weather but I wanted to get out of the house as soon as possible but not exactly wanting to go to school. I slumped on the pavement waiting for the inevitable.

After a couple more minutes I heard a horn honked a few blocks away but instead of the bus my friend Vanessa pulled down the curve in her new car.

"Hi Selene, need a ride? I came to pick you up. Hop in!" Vanessa said with a grin filling her face, obviously proud about her Mercedes.