The Beast I Am

Chapter 19

The fabric in my palms creaked as I bunched it to step into the cool river. A fading Summer sun warming my neck, radiating my skin in its remembrance. My Father had drilled folk tales into my skull about the beasts who lurked the woods in the New World, yet it did little to haunt me. I felt his worries drift with the sun's gaze down my spine, combatting the climbing chill that pillared my legs. The purples in the sky reflected against the clear water, rippling violently as I plunged my pail into the color.

A snap-a crack-ahead of me, just beyond the creeping yawn of darkness, deep within the forest. The constant trickle of water made my feet numb with chill as the trees continued to loom taller and taller.

I held my breath as the moan of creaking wood echoed through the branches- so loud I thought the forest would eat me up whole.

Numb.

Numb were my feet as the sun abandoned me for scrap, abandoned me for slaughter.

Two green eyes-

Two enormous green eyes-

Burning me with their hatred, singeing the hair off my skin into a dusty ruin. Smoke pooled from its mouth, hidden behind the shadows, my front wet from how I held the bucket to my chest.

So green, I thought they might be gems held by some trickster God to lead me astray.

Round black paws domineering as they swept the brush aside, emerging from the shadows as the sun disappeared from the treetops. Standing against the water's edge, his jaws huffing in a rhythmic beat.

I screamed with all my might, throwing the bucket at the wolf's head, spinning before I could see if my target had landed. My skirts suddenly weighed a thousand pounds as they threatened to drag me downstream, my foot catching painfully on a stone as I fell, bracing myself for the hurt.

I reached into the rocky shore, desperate for a root, as I pulled myself up and out of the current, pink water dribbling down my forearms. The sudden snarl and snap caused me to turn to face the wolf, who seemed to stagger. Thick strings of drool bannered his jowls.

My heart beat desperately in my chest, urging my body to move, to run. My very being buzzing in danger at two black eyes I was familiar with- and what terror they could cause.

Her words were like a beckoning call for Home- just make it Home.

I spun, running back towards the town, fumbling as I carried my skirts, branches stinging my face and neck as I barreled through the underbrush. The golden spots on the forest floor blew out with my passing steps, sharp, stabbing pains shooting up my calves in angry streaks, matching the splitting in my chest from my ragged breaths. The wolf's howl chasing after me, nipping at my heels in mocking anguish.

The crunching of his paws were getting closer now, the falling leaves bombs of pursuit behind me.

So close.

So-

Close-

I could see the bridge, its silver stones glowing in the moonlight.

I gasped as I fell; the wolf's paws caught my trailing apron- hot, burning me- I was screaming, his talons sinking deep into my back, my words choking on leaves and dirt.