It was a good day. The sand bar was empty except for a couple of wild horses, and I could run along the water's edge in peace. I was tempted to change forms and race up and down the shore line, but after 'the incident', as Ma called it, I didn't dare. After the altercation with the witch boy at the playground, she had forbid me to change forms during the day, or leave the house when it was a full moon. I could still hear her in my mind, snarling at me when I arrived home that night.
"How dare you jeopardize the bargain I made with the newcomer? Learn to control yourself or else!"
My mind may have been wandering, but my eyes were alert. There was always something to be found washed ashore out here, far from the main beaches. Sometimes I found gems, sometimes rare insects - today it was an unusual flower. I gathered what I could to take back to Ma, who trades them to the witch in exchange for her potions.
As the sun began to fall toward the horizon, I made my way to the Garden Grove. Ma had asked me to harvest steaks for the evening meal, but unfortunately there were only meat patties. I hoped she wouldn't be angry. You just never knew with her.
I was just finishing up when I sensed movement behind me. I immediately tensed up, and slowly turned to face whoever it was - most likely Val or his brother. I didn't want any trouble, but if they were going to challenge me, I wouldn't back down.
I think my jaw dropped right down to my chin when turned and saw the vision of perfection that was Meaghan. She had - err - grown up since the last time I'd seen her - into the most extravagantly beautiful creature I had ever seen. I must have been a sight, standing there mouth agape, hands full of raw meat. Ermm... that didn't sound quite right, did it?
She seemed not to notice, though, and smiled and lifted her hand to wave slightly as she turned to leave.
I returned home, my mind in a whirl. I couldn't get that smile out of my head. Was it an 'I'd like to be friends' smile? And what about the wave? Could the smile plus the wave mean 'I want to be more than friends?' I mentally shook my head at my audacity. Most likely her intent was 'so you're the one who made an idiot of themselves at Val's birthday party.'
I purposefully shoved all thoughts of the magnificent Meg out of my head as I plodded down the steps to our underground abode. According to Ma, the witches think we live in squalor in this tumbledown bungalow, but they don't know that we abandoned the above ground ruins long ago.
We make our home in a complex of what used to be a series of storage rooms, furnished with whatever Ma and Pa were able to scavenge before the agreements with the others. Not everything was washed away or destroyed, and some of what was left had found it's way here. Pa was chopping vegetables in the common area when I reached the bottom of the stairs.
"Did you get the steaks?" He barked without bothering to turn around.
"Uh. no. There were only meat patties, so I got those instead."
"Harumph. Your Ma's not going to be happy when she wakes up. Get yourself downstairs double time and fetch me some water."
'Sure, Pa."
I took the second set of steps double time as ordered. The dampness hit me like a wall as I entered the lower room, a wide area that contained only the well we depended on for water.
As I bent over the water, bucket in hand, I happened to catch a glimpse of my reflection and couldn't help but grimace sadly, thinking of my recent fantasies regarding the Djin girl. Yeah, right. She was totally out of my league. Besides, I knew for a fact she spent every afternoon at the witches' place, hanging out with my nemesis, Val. Again I emphatically pushed all thoughts of her out of my head, and balancing the overflowing buckets one in each hand, hurried back up the steps.
Dinner that night was a silent affair, for the most part. Ma wasn't happy about the steaks, but she didn't blame me, either, for which I was thankful. Rudy kept glancing back and forth from Ma to me, a little smirk on his face. As we were finishing our meal, he determined it to be the optimal time to drop his little bombshell on me.
"Sooooooo, Andrae, how's your girlfriend? I saw you and Meaghan at the Garden Grove! Andrae and Meaghan up in a tree... K-I-S-S...."
"Grrr. Just shut up, Rudy. It wasn't like that and you know it! She waved at me, that's all!"
My little brother could be such a pain sometimes. I half rose from my seat, but he just hooted with laughter and raced off downstairs.
One look at Ma's face and I knew I was in for it.
'If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times. Things are good now, since our pact with the witches. Not that that little she-witch had any power, really. Not like the old days. But still. Best to stay out of their business.
"Besides, you know how important it is to keep the wolf blood pure. Maybe the others on this island might think it necessary to interbreed, but they will not have any wolf blood, not if I have anything to say in the matter."
I knew how useless it was to argue, no matter how I felt. So I closed my eyes, and tried to just shut her out. Like she said, we'd been over this a thousand times before, and there was nothing more to say. I knew exactly what she meant by 'keeping our wolf blood pure', and she could say it all she wanted, but it wasn't going to happen. Not with me, anyway. I'd stay celibate my whole life if I had to, carrying on the family line be damned.
Maybe she'll have better luck with Rudy. He and Uva are almost the same age, at least. Although Uva is a little wildcat, always scratching at the furniture, and Rudy let slip to me that he likes that little witch girl - Aster I think he said her name was. Not sure how he met her, but Ma lets him roam more than she does me. He's never caused a scene by changing into wolf form in the middle of a birthday party, after all.
I was exhausted after that perennial argument with Ma, and there was no way I was going to sleep in the family area that night. Silently I crept up the rickety stairway to the upper floor of the delapitated cottage. Cool air blew threw the gaping holes in the walls as I rolled up in my pile of furs.
It wasn't much, but it was my special place. No one else ever came up here. I even had a bench, and a little shelf with a couple old books I had scavenged. Sometimes I'd page through them, wondering what the little marks on the pages signified. Tonight I didn't even think of looking at them. As soon as my head hit the floor I was asleep.
Meaghan skipped along the beach in the morning sun, singing happily. Suddenly she stopped and turned to me, smiling. Her little dress had disappeared somehow, and she floated slowly toward me. I reached out to her... and suddenly started awake, groggy and disoriented. I stumbled down to the well and splashed myself with cold water, willing the dream to fade.
I was distracted all day as I roamed the sand bars, blindly jogging up and down the strand. Ma would not be pleased if I came back empty handed, but right now that was the least of my worries. I had to force myself to stop obsessing about Meg. If I couldn't, I know it wouldn't end well. By late afternoon my nervous energy had subsided somewhat, and I noticed something strange up ahead.
A large pile of..stuff.. had washed ashore during the night. I quickly began pawing through the mess. Small chunks of metal, little wheels with teeth on them, round metal tubes - it was a jackpot of fascinating treasures. I picked up as much as I could, and headed back home and up the creaky stairs to my hideout.
Looking around for a place to hide my stash, I spotted the old shelf and quickly stuffed them in the corner behind the books. Ma wasn't going to get this stuff. I didn't know what to do with it yet, but I was determined to figure it out.
Hoping to gather more, I went back out, but darkness soon fell, and I gave it up until morning. Switching to wolf form to move more easily through the darkness, I was lost for a time in the pure pleasure of racing up and down the dark deserted beaches. When I finally turned toward home, my path took me past the old library. I was startled to see one of the upstairs windows brightly lit. Who could possibly be there this late at night?
I'm not sure what came over me at that moment, but I decided to sneak in and investigate. Slowly I crept through the weeds and sand drifts that still covered the ground floor. I guess the witches had been too busy with their twins to finish what they started here.
When I reached the top of the steps, I stopped in total shock. Meaghan was there, alone, reading, and seemingly oblivious to my presence. As I stood there just outside the ring of light, staring like an idiot, she glanced up with a slight frown.
"Hello? Who's there? Val? Is that you? Come out here where I can see you!"
Suddenly I realized that I was still in wolf form. No way was I going to let Meaghan see my like that. I'd probably scare her half to death. My heart was pounding and making it hard to concentrate, but after what seemed an interminable time, I was able to force the change.
I held up my hands in relief. Yes! Even with my adrenaline pumping, I'd managed the change. Now, to calm down, just act natural, and step out into the light. That's all there is to it. Right.
"Oh, it's you! I thought you were Val. You didn't have to change, you know."
That was odd. She looked almost relieved.
"Umm.. yes I did..uh.. you saw that?"
"Well duh. You glowed bright blue and made these little growly noises. Kinda hard to miss. Well. As long as you're here, you can keep me company for a while. It's kinda lonely here at night."
She sat back down and patted the bench beside her. I gingerly sat on the edge of the bench.
"Do you like to read?" She asked brightly, giving me that dazzling smile once again. Oh great. What do I say to that? I guess I hesitated too long, because she looked at my quizzically.
"Are you alright?"
I nodded.
"Yes.. I'm fine." I managed to choke out. Great, Andrae. Way to impress her.
"Do you like to read?" I asked. I could have kicked myself as soon as the words left my lips. Of course she like to read, that's why she was here reading. She didn't seem to mind the question at all, though.
"I love to read! My favorites are the fairy tales. I'm reading one right now called 'Beauty and the Beast.'"
"Its about this beautiful girl who's father sends her off to live with a horrible beast. At first she's terribly frightened, for he is a ferocious beast after all. And that's all the farther I've read. I can't wait to see how it ends!"
Before long, I found myself relaxing just a little. She was so easy to talk to, and she didn't seem to mind my lack of knowledge when it came to books.
She was chattering along, and I was listening and nodding, when all of a sudden she stopped and gave me that quizzical smile again.
"Hey Andrae, do you ever smile? Or are you this serious all the time?"
I am a pretty serious guy, I guess. And I guess I don't smile that often. Usually there is nothing to smile about. But at that question, I felt the corners of my mouth begin to turn up.
'It's not hard you know. Like this!" A silly grin spread across her face.
"Like this?" I turned and smiled back, as best I could. She laughed merrily.
"Well, it's a start. Tell you what. I have to go home now, but if you come back here tomorrow, I'll bring a book and show you how to read it. But only if you promise to smile."
The next day seemed to drag on forever. But finally it was dark, and I made my way back to the library. I had already convinced myself that she wouldn't be there, that it was all my imagination. But there she was, waiting with book in hand.
It was slow going at first. The letters all looked the same to me, and it seemed at impossible task. Many times I was ready to give up. But Meg was patient, and if learning to read was the price I had to pay for being allowed in her presence, I would persevere. And it was not long before I was able to decipher a word here and there.
One night, as I was struggling through a particularly difficult passage, Meg following along with me and giving pointers every so often, I heard footsteps approaching down below. We had been so involved in the story we had completely forgotten the time.
"Meg! Meg. It's getting late, dear. Time to come home."
My eyes frantically searched for an escape route.
"Don't be such a worry wart, Andrae. It's just my dad."
"I have to get out of here. Ma will kill me."
"It's okay, really."
"No. I really have to get out of here. See you tomorrow."
There was only one way out that I could see, that didn't involve passing Meg's father on the stairs. I leaped over the banister, and rolled down into the soft sand below.
I pressed my body against the wall in the darkness and listened as Meg and her father gathered up her things, and walked off into the night. Finally daring to move again, I took a step forward, only to find myself sinking further into the sand that was piled up against the wall. Inching forward once more, I felt my feet slide forward suddenly, and with a muffled grunt, I tumbled down into pitch darkness, landing with a thud onto a cold stone floor, the remaining sand from above still raining down around me.
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