DARK CRESCENT

Things given and things forgotten

           I’d lost track of months, days, time, since I’d become a wolf. The longer I was one, the more accustomed to it I became. The hunting, the foraging, the smell of the wild brush in my ruff. It was freeing most days, but most nights…all I could think about was Maggi. I found myself some nights wandering close to town, rifling through trash bins and big dumpsters. Moses said it was fine, as long as we were stealthy about it. No noise to draw attention and be gone as fast as you came.

          So, some nights Liam and I got together and went on a smorgasbord. In the passing months we’d gotten close, he was like a big, little brother now. Older by a year, but I was clearly more mature. Liam was more of a free spirit than I was. If YOLO was a person, it was Liam. Chill bit at our fur as we traipsed from house to house looking for morsels of food, until I came across Maggi’s house.

            I sat quietly in the hedges beside the fence in Maggi’s back yard. The brisk weather showed signs of change, the cold biting at my coat. August, September maybe? When I wasn’t in the mood to chase down defenseless doe and eat their hearts, I dug through the trash. I tore through bags, eating old burgers, leftovers, whatever I could find. Trying to find and hold on to that tiny bit of humanity inside of me.

            I went by my house every now, and then; checking on my parents, seeing how they were managing without me. To their recollection I was in New York just ignoring their calls, but I was wrong. They were looking for me. Dad always stayed on the phone and there were missing person posters of me strewn all over the house.

            Mom looked worried of course, drinking had become her pass time. Dad just looked stressed as he paced the living room on his phone. It was heart breaking to see my parents like this, knowing I couldn’t just walk in the door, so my visits with them became few. Knowing my dad, had I walked through the door now he’d probably shoot me.

            The loud sound of Maggi’s back screen door slamming pulled me from my thoughts. Maggi was coming down the step of her back porch, dragging a humongous black bag of trash. She turned and started around the side of her house to the dumpster. I followed close, keeping low in the hedges as I watched her. I could smell all the weekly leftovers in the bag she was carrying.

       Out of all the people in my life, I missed Maggi the most. I couldn’t wait until I change back to my human form; I had to find a way to talk to her. Maggi hoisted the huge bag into the dumpster and closed the lid. As she turned to walk away, I smelled something. In her right hand she was holding a huge piece of raw Boston butt.

            I could feel my mouth fill with saliva and drip from my muzzle. Wait…did she know about me, about the wolves? With all the pictures she’s taken I wouldn’t be surprised. She made her way back around to the back steps. I followed, still hidden in the shadows of the hedges. I ducked lower, near a hole in the wooden fence, hidden by the brush. My escape route if necessary. Maggi stepped up on the first step, and then turned around to face the hedges. Was she looking at me? No, there’s no way she could see me. Could she? She squatted down, rocking on the balls of her feet. In her right hand she held the Boston butt; letting it dangle in her fingertips. She looked as if she was surveying the area. Looking for something. Looking for…me.

“I know you’re out here, and I know it was you that went through our garbage the other day” she said softly, looking around.

Silence.

“I don’t want to hurt you like everyone else, like the hunters. I just want to be your friend” Maggi explained. “I kind of need a friend right now.”