Just One Smile [A Werewolf Tale]

Chapter 1 > Snow

   I sat on an old and squeaky couch inside of an abandoned, cold, and dusty house. I gazed out the small square window of the living room. I wrapped the fluffy light brown blanket around my body, as I looked at the view outside. I watched as the tiny snowflakes fell from the sky, and gently landed on the green grass surrounding the house. This is the first snow indicating that winter has come. For some, winter might seem like an exciting and fun time of year, but for others I assume it would be a cold and terrible time of year. Personally, I hate this time of year. The snow always resurfaces the terrible memories of my childhood. Memories that I so badly, want to lock up at the back of my mind and never remember again. But, somehow my mind always goes back to that time eight years ago. That time, when my own mother abandoned me in the forest.

***

It was a cold evening and it was heavily snowing outside. I looked out the small window of my mother's car as she drove while keeping her eyes on the road. I stopped staring out the window and turned my head to face her. "Mommy, where are we going?" I asked. "You'll see when we get there" was all she said, as she drove not even sparing a glance in my direction.

I didn't know why, but I wasn't getting a good feeling from all this. As my mother continued to drive, I focused my attention on the trees that we passed by outside, not bothering to ask any more questions as she was not in a good mood. I didn't want her to lash out again. About ten minutes later we came to a stop in front of a large forest. A thick blanket of crystal clear snow was laid on the ground, with many large trees sprouting out of the snow covering the land for as far as I could see. It was endless. Not minding the cold and the heavy snowfall, I thought of how fun it might be to go out and play in the snow. While I was still staring out the window in amusement my mother let out a nervous chuckle, leading me out of the trance I was in. As I looked over to her she said, "Why don't we go and play in the forest, you would like that right?" My eyes lit up at her suggestion, and I frantically nodded my head, to say yes and put up a huge smile out of happiness. My mother also smiled, but for some reason her smile didn't seem real to me. Her eyes held so many emotions, but there were none of happiness. Then she turned around opened the door of the old red car and got out. She shut the door and quickly opened my door and got me out, as I was struggling with my old jacket and large mittens, along with the boots that I wore. She closed the door with a loud thump and began to walk in the direction of the large forest.

I started to follow her only a few paces behind as the huge jacket and boots made movement impossible. The deep layer of ice cold snow beneath me seemed to swallow my feet, as I struggled to walk. My mother was walking at an awfully fast pace and as I tried to run towards her I tripped and fell. The ice cold snow harshly came into contact with my face. The freezing, cold sensation on my face, and the clumps of snow now stuck on my short black hair started to irritate me. More snow started to climb up the insides of my sleeves, as I started to stand up. I called out to my mother once but she didn't turn around. I called to her again, as I finally managed to get myself up, and out of the snow. As I started to walk towards her again I fell back into the snow. It just seemed to swallow up my small feet. My knees started throbbing and tears started to pool in my eyes. I called my mother three more times as loud as I could, while trying not to sound afraid. On my third call she finally stopped and turned around to face me. Her face held differing emotions of anger and annoyance as she now started to walk towards me. She grabbed my small arm, and roughly pulled me to my feel while clenching her teeth. "Useless girl, you can't even walk properly, you're just good for nothing". Her words made me sad, but not terribly sad. I was already used to her rude comments and angry fits. We started walking again, but this time she was walking beside me at a slower pace. The sky had turned a dark shade of blue, and snow had started to gently fall from the sky.

"Were here", said my mother in a happy voice, as she suddenly stopped walking. "Mommy, what are we doing?" I asked her. She turned and looked at me, "Skylar, honey do you want to play a game?" "What game?" I asked. I started to feel a little happier and relieved, after she said that. "Okay, you will go and hide, while I count to ten, then I will come and find you", she said with a smile. "Okay! Go hide and I will find you. Then it will be your turn and you will find me". Then she started counting, "One...two....three". Once she started counting I began to run as fast as I could, being careful to not fall into the snow again. I ran past many trees until I found a large pile of rocks.

The pile was huge and snow covered the entirety of the bodies of large rocks and boulders that seemed to be carefully stacked on top of each other, creating a cave like structure. The remaining light from the setting sun shined down on the area I was in. This seemed to create a sparkling effect on the still sitting snow in the area. As I walked closer to the pile of rocks I spotted a small crevice or space at the bottom of the pile. The small space did not look to be dangerous, so I tried to fit myself in. As I tried to settle myself inside the small burrow, I realized that there was not a large amount of snow inside the burrow as there was outside and I thought to myself, "wow, I found a great hiding place". The sky had now turned a dark shade of red and, and the sun was almost gone. The differing shadows made by the snow covered trees could be seen. I continued to wait for my mother to come and find me.

Now it was completely dark, and the quiet of the forest seemed unsettling to me. I waited some more, maybe regretting the idea of running away and hiding. I called out to my mom and listened, no footsteps, no voice, not even a single sound could be herd. So, I decided to come out of my hiding spot and look around. I started to walk back, in the direction that I came from, but there was no luck. I couldn't find her. My heart started to race as I realized that I would never go back home. I would be stuck in this cold, dark, and endless forest forever. I loudly called out to my mom once more, but all I got in return was a startling hoot from an owl. I continued walking and, hoping that I would soon bump into my mother, or find an exit maybe, but every path in this huge forest seemed to look the same. I kept walking, and pushing my small feet to move ahead. The feeling of dread and fear started to build up inside of me. My hands, feet, and everything, just felt cold and numb. Tears started to run down my face. I felt so empty and uncomfortable. I can't even describe how badly I want to leave this place, and never come back. As, I kept walking I noticed my surroundings getting darker. The deep snow only got deeper, and the many webs of branches, loosely sown together, scratched my face as I tried to pass through. As I made my way through the blocked area, I notice a light in the distance. I spotted the light glowing through the maze of snow covered trees. It seemed to be coming from an area in the distance. I felt noxious, and extremely tired, but I tried to force myself to move towards the light. "It might be my only way out, maybe there are others here as well", I thought to myself. I started to run, thinking that I could find help, but what I witnessed was a sight I would have never imagined.

There were no houses, or light bulbs producing this light. The area that I had stumbled upon was a small clearing, in the middle of nowhere. There were no trees in the centre of this clearing. I could imagine an invisible rectangle on the floor, based on how the trees were situated. Trees lined the sides of this clearing. I was currently standing on the shorter side of the rectangular area, and to my right I saw a huge web, so similar to a spider web. Instead of the web being white and made out of a sticky substance, this web was glowing and it was made out of a purplish white light wrapped around a row of trees. In the centre of this web I saw a man. The web was holding him in place above the ground and in the centre. His arms and legs were bound with ropes of purplish white light. He looked like he was in a lot of pain. Half of his face was covered in crimson red blood. The blood was flowing slowly from his head, and down to the white snow covered floor. His clothes were all torn up. More blood could be seen, along with various cuts and brises all over his arms, stomach, and torso. In front of him I saw a young woman, with extremely long, dark purple hair and pail skin. She was wearing a long white simple dress which reached the snowy ground beneath. As I continued to stare, I could see a thin aura of purplish white light surrounding her, and snaking up her arms. My vision started to blur, and I began to feel sicker than before. A violent shiver ran through me and the last thing I saw before passing out, was the pair of glowing orange eyes, of the tied up man, staring back at me.

***

I was brought back into reality by the feeling of someone's hand on my shoulder. The touch felt comforting and it gave me a feeling of reassurance. "Dwelling on the past will only bring back sadness". The women from the past, who saved my life and stayed with me until this day I, owe her everything. An old legend she told me she was.