Travelers Book 1: Finding Spirits

Chapter 3

Ghilislane

One more hour. Then school would be over. Ghilislane thought to herself. She absolutely despised school; she was so out of place, sometimes Ghilislane felt like she was invisible to the other students. She could feel her flat human teeth start to sharpen. Almost there... she kept thinking to herself. Ghilislane sat down in Science class and looked around. Seated next to her was the sporty guy that everyone loved, David. On her other side was the so called, most beautiful girl in school, Addison. In front was the new girl, Natalie. She hated her seat so much. One more hour...

Then Miss Shellsburg walked into the room. "Welcome class." She said trying to be cheerful; it was so easy to tell when the teachers were faking their mood. "Today we will learn more about igneous rocks!" Ghilislane sighed, why did 7th grade science have to be so easy? Ghilislane took out a piece of paper and started drawing. After all, why did she have to listen to something she already knew, it wouldn't even matter soon anyway.

Ghilislane started to draw her favorite animal, a bear. She drew them so well her teacher accidentally mistaken one of her drawings for a picture. She had made it to honors art this year, it was boring. Everything in school was boring to Ghilislane. She finished drawing her favorite bear, the black bear, when she heard David answer something about rocks.

"What about you Gabby?" asked Miss Shellsburg. Gabby was what Ghilislane said her name was, she thought Ghilislane was an embarrassing name.

"I'm sorry, could you repeat the question?" asked Ghilislane. As Miss Shellsburg sighed she could swear she hear Addison giggling with her best friend Michelle. I hate school! Thought Ghilislane.

"Never mind let's move to sedimentary rocks, Gabby please pay attention."

"Yes, Ma'am." said Ghilislane. Ghilislane didn't really pay attention, she figured if she looked like she was paying attention Miss Shellsburg wouldn't call on her.

Ghilislane was so relieved when school was over. She loved to walk out of the building and feeling the wind on her face. She loved to be outside. Ghilislane walked over to an empty bench and sat while everyone else loaded onto the buses. She reached into her backpack and took out her lunch bag. She unzipped it and grabbed her ham and cheese sandwich left over for lunch. She ate it as the buses passed.

After all the busses were far beyond the school Ghilislane jogged to the back of the school to the greenhouse. She opened the door wide and went in to the area she found where no one could see her. Ghilislane tossed her backpack into a bush where I couldn't be seen. Ghilislane had made perfect timing; she could already feel herself shrinking.

Run, run, that's all she could think. Ghilislane ran through the door across the street and into the forest as her favorite animal, a black bear. Through the trees she ran. Ghilislane felt so alive. I was like a dream being a bear, out in the wild, it was the life. She had to stop, even though she didn't want to. She was panting. Ghilislane started walking on the little dirt path that she had laid out through all the times she had come here. Ghilislane stopped dead in her tracks. Something smelt different, some... bear. Her immediate reaction was to climb a tree. Up she shot up like a rocket. After she reached the first branch she looked down and saw a large grizzly at the bottom of the tree snarling at her. Thank God for her bear nose, if she were Gabby she would've been grizzly food. The grizzly snarled something that she couldn't quite make out but then he left. Ghilislane hopped branches until she was sure she was out of his territory. She was so lucky...

Her fur blew in the wind as she sat upon a large rock overlooking the sea. Smells of fish filled her snout. Ghilislane jumped off the rock and waded down to the water. She laid down feeling the tadpoles swimming around her paws. She opened her mouth in the water letting some of the swim in. They tasted great as they crunched in her mouth.

"It's so relaxing," she said out loud, "being a bear. I wish I would never change back."She looked up into the sky. The Sun was quickly setting. It was time to go home. She reluctantly stood up and padded back on land. A rabbit bolted past her as she shook her pelt dry. Ghilislane ran after it. She took it down in one quick pounce. It was delicious. She'd never hunted a rabbit before! The flavor was flowing in her mouth.

Now she had to hurry home. She ran as quickly as she could back through the forest, carefully avoiding the grizzly, across the street, past the school, across another street, and through some backyards of her small neighborhood until she reached her house. She padded up the back porch and scratched at the door. Ghilislane's mother opened the door. She looked up. Her mom had her arms crossed and was glaring down at her, which was never a good sign.