Born Wild

Gone

She felt completely wide awake. She tossed her blankets on the couch and walked silently over the cold wood floor to the bathroom. She turned on the dim white light, splashed water on her face, and patted it off with her towel. She stood for a moment, anxious in the bathroom. 

Suddenly her arms spasmed and her legs began to shake. Her heart was pounding and she winced as her bones hurt and her whole body felt like it was being shocked. She looked frantically at her arms and hands and panicked, pacing around the bathroom wondering what to do. Should she wake up Koda? Should she wait it out? The shocking subsided but she felt a stabbing in her gums. She slowly looked up at the mirror in the dim light.

Her eyes were bright yellow and glowing.

She panicked and quickly backed up from the mirror, slipping on the wet tile floor and knocking products off of the sink. The front side of her head hit the towel bar and she collapsed on the hard tile. She touched the side of her pounding head. It felt damp and warm. Her fingers were covered in blood.

She heard Koda shuffling around and turning on the light in his room. She fled. As fast as she could she ran to the door to grab her boots and coat and fly outside into the woods. She ran past tree after tree, running as fast as the breeze. She stopped in an open area in the forest, when she could no longer hear Koda distantly calling for her. Her heart was beating out of her chest as she stood in the light of a glade. Looking up into the sky she saw.... A full moon.

Her whole body wretched in pain as it transformed into a beast. The cold sharp wind blew over her whole body and the dark night surrounded her. She groaned in pain as her bones quickly molded and changed shape. Her backbone curving and her tailbone lengthening. Her arms and legs bending backward. Hair sprouting over every inch of her body. Her mind rapidly became fuzzy until she fell asleep under the light of the moon.

She woke terrified and anxious. She was shaking uncontrollably and gasping for air. She felt so hollow and cold. She was hoping she finally woke up from her nightmare, but she looked down at her hand and saw a wolf's paw. Her paw. She howled sharply into the sky out of fear and anger. She didn't know what to do. Right now she would ask Koda, but she was a wolf. She tried to ignore her pounding head and think of a solution.

All she could think to do next was to go to the house. She had no idea what she would end up doing, but she needed a start. She picked herself up shaking from the small pool of blood and pine needles, walking slowly in the direction of the house. She trotted through branches and mud until she heard a twig snap. She stopped, raised her ears, and looked, cowering. She saw Koda walking some distance away, waving his flashlight around, looking for her. He stopped in the light misty moonlight and held his hand over his mouth, overflowing with fear and sadness. Seeing him made Tala crumble. The pain ate her alive.

She walked along in the forest with him to make sure he was safe, it killed her to see him outside freezing and not be able to tell him to go inside. She eventually realized that he was not going inside without her. He didn't give up so easily. She meant everything to him. After a few exhausting hours in the forest, her whole body became tingly and her mind dizzy. She collapsed in the mud and fell asleep.

Shivering she woke and looked at herself. She was human again. She sighed in relief and started crying as she held her hands over her eyes. She trudged back to the house in her dirty pajamas, her head still hurting. She came across Koda and he sighed in relief when he finally saw her. He ran to her and squeezed her in his arms, asking if she was okay. He rushed her inside before saying much and got her warm before he even thought about caring for himself. As he went back to get a blanket for her she knelt by the fireplace and started a fire. Swiftly he came back into the room.

"Why were you out in the forest Tala?" He gasped when he saw her bloody head. She looked away to hide her head.

"I'm okay." she stated coldly. 

He just stared blankly wondering why she was pushing him away. 

She had to convince him she was alright. "I think I just had another sleepwalking episode...I'm sorry"

"You did that to your head while sleepwalking? Now I'm really worried."

 She brushed it off and told him it was gonna be okay. He wet down a rag with warm water and soap and cared for her head. She looked at him with complete sadness, guilt, and fondness. She just wanted to tell him everything. She was almost overflowing but she had to hold it all inside.

She remembered what she was: a beast. She could no longer look him in the eye. She couldn't stay with him. She kissed him and let him hold her tightly one last time.

When he finally drifted off next to her on the couch, she quietly got up and tiptoed around the house, picking up the things she needed. She grabbed her bag, a few snacks, clothes, all of the money she earned, and other random things she needed. However, she forgot the book that was underneath the couch. After she was heading out the door, she wrote a note and left it on the counter.

I can't do this anymore. Trust me, it's better this way. I'm sorry for everything. -Tala

As the sun started to slowly fill the sky with light, she started her journey into the cold damp forest to start over again. She was back in the same exact place as she was. No home, no family, no one. Just trying to survive. All she felt was pain and loneliness. She knew inside her heart she couldn't go anywhere and be content. She felt cold and hollow as she walked in the rain, past the tall pine trees. The chilly breeze felt like it blew right through her skin. She felt too much pain to even cry, she was too empty.

Koda was curled up on the kitchen floor holding the note, feeling the exact same brokenness. He couldn't look for her, or save her because she didn't want to be found. He was debilitated.