In The Sight of These Hills (Dolan Twins)

The Bank by the Wood

Yes, this is an author's note. Originally it was called "Author's Note" but than I didn't like how that looked on the Table of Contents so that's why it has that title: The Bank by the Wood

It is a line from Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself"

"Houses and rooms are full of perfumes, the shelves are crowded with perfumes,

I breathe the fragrance myself and know it and like it,

The distillation would intoxicate me also, but I shall not let it.

The atmosphere is not a perfume, it has no taste of the distillation, it is odorless,

It is for my mouth forever, I am in love with it,

I will go to the bank by the wood-"

Author's Note:

Hey, everyone! I wanted to say THANK YOU for all of the love and support that I have been receiving from this book. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

I was surprised that people seem to be enjoying it as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I am relatively new to the Dolan Twins fandom and I was so surprised by many of the kind and supportive comments from people on Wattpad.

It's really a joy to be able to connect with people who have the same interest as you do. 😊

I originally started writing this as a kind of therapy when the stress of college life was bringing me into not such a healthy mental state. This was and is my own personal form of escapism, and I love it so much. 😊

As a request by the amazing @Missreadalotoffanfic, I will answer the question that was given to me by her: 

Questions: Grayson is becoming more wild and wolf like? Does he start to lose himself? Or is he just becoming more accustomed to his situation? Why is Ethan still afraid of him? How much of himself has Grayson lost? Is he going to be in a constant battle with the wolf in him and will they always be enemies? Or will he come to a common ground and connect with "his wolf?"

  Answer(s):

Unlike most stories (and yes, I do like this trope even though I don't write it personally) the wolf isn't the physical representation of a wolf as in the animal. That's why the werewolf of Morrison is called "The Beast." It's part human, part wolf. This is a curse that kind of pulls the victim into the temptation of power. This is a very human thing. There is several physiological standpoints in this book, especially adolescent physiology. This is a coming-of-age story wrapped in werewolf lore. I was inspired heavily, as I said before, by the cult horror classic Ginger Snaps. I will leave the YouTube link in the comment section below.

In the Sight of These Hills "the wolf" represents the exemplification of several things:

Sexuality:

Ex: Grayson (the extra virgin) at the dance grinding with the girls.

From Chapter 8:

"If Grayson hadn't been attractive before, which he had, he was now unquestionably so.

And maybe it was like the way predators could attract their prey by visual stimulation, and maybe it was the curse inside of him, ripping through his veins."

Anger:

I dropped hints throughout the story: Grayson has anger issues. (EX: being the first one to threaten Jake when Ethan was pushed into the dead dog, bashing his knuckles against the restroom stall until they bled, threatening to kill him (Jake) in the library, having a fight with Ethan at the table, and snapping at him several times throughout). The wolf (the animalistic, raw behavior within him) is pushing at the already underlying issue he has. It is physical (claws, eyes, teeth, transformation) but also emotional.