The leaves crunch under the wolf’s feet as it moves slowly towards me, it feels like my shoulders are as high as my ears. I take a breath trying not to totally freak out. I take a look around trying to get a better sense of where I’m at. Maybe I’m hallucinating, or just plain crazy. Its eyes are strangely familiar, yet I know I’ve never been this close to a wolf before. Everything is so quiet, there aren’t any birds chirping or wind blowing. I wonder if this is what it feels like to be deaf, because the only thing I can hear is my breathing. Out of nowhere, a gush of wind like a mini-tornado, what is it the weatherman calls it? A gustnado or something like that. A warm, no actually, hot breeze whips around me and right there in front of me stands a woman. Not just a woman, a very naked woman. I turn my head away, embarrassed and….well uncomfortable. “Pru? What in the hell do you have me into?” I ask. How is this happening? It is like one of those dreams where really strange things happen, yet they seem normal. I know it isn’t technically a normal thing to happen, but it feels acceptable to me. I close my eyes hoping it will all go away, but the smell of flowers and spices are still in the air. I didn’t smell them before the wolf turned into a woman so I know she is still there. I open one eye just to make sure. Yup. Now what?
“Mom, this is Abel. Abel, this is my mom Dolly.”
I hear what she is saying; I just can’t wrap my head around it. Did she just say that it is her mom?
“You’re her mom?” I wish I can see Pru at that moment, I want to see her face. “Your mom is a wolf? What is going on?” My adrenalin is off the charts. I feel like I do right before I get on a roller coaster, the moment the gate opens and for a split second, I want to turn and run out of line. Yup, running right about now, would be a good option.
My underestimation on what open minded in her book means, something I won’t take lightly again. At first I assumed she was going to tell me she was some type of fetish freak that thinks they’re a vampire. I wasn’t even remotely prepared for what happened next.
Looking around, I see the piercing eyes of wolves all around me. The glow of their amber eyes mimicking the color of liquid gold, glaring at me, giving me no choice but to listen to them. She tells me this big story about werewolves and what it means to me. There is a wolf that is destined to lead werewolves as they battle to keep the secrets of the werewolf from humans, and that wolf is me. Me! Ha. My gorgeous friend is a werewolf and some type of magician person that can make me hallucinate. This is not good.
“Abel? Are you there?” Dolly asked.
“I’m sorry; yeah I just zoned out for a second. You’re really a werewolf?”
“Yes love, I am. You’re one too. Before you worry too much about it, I want you to come to the farm in person and we’ll explain all of it to you. I know this is hard to comprehend, but it’s true,” Dolly says as she stands in nothing but a robe.
“This is all so much to absorb. So Pru, you’re only friends with me because you think I’m a werewolf?” I ask.
“Abel! No! It isn’t like that. Yes, in the beginning I was there just because of what you are. I came to protect you and in the process you’ve become my friend. Please don’t think I’m not here as your friend,” Pru pleas.
“I may be stupid for saying this, but yeah I get it. I do. Wow, it isn’t every day someone tells you that you’re a mythical creature and then prove it to you. This is just crazy.”
Ha!
Ha!
Ha!
Call me crazy but something inside of me is screaming that I finally know why I always feel different than everyone else. How on earth can I wrap my head around this? I am crazy! That’s it! I’ve lost my mind…. I’m nuts, call the funny farm. I wanted to disbelieve….. like when you go to a magic show and you know what they are doing is sleight of hand, and they are only creating an illusion. She’s the one telling me she’s a werewolf, she’s crazy. I knew she was too good to be true. There was the other part of me that believes her, only because I have always felt different, like something was off. I have dreams of running. I’ve never seen what I am in those dreams. Oh God! I’m having dreams of being a werewolf! Maybe I fell asleep during the movie and I’m really dreaming all of this. I pinch myself, nope not asleep.
Werewolves are real. Real! My mom is going to freak out that I’m hanging out with wolves. Pru is really great, her and Dolly explain that they are werewolves not in the ohmigod there’s a wolf and it’s going to attack and kill me kind of wolf. It is a little hard to accept since there are at least ten wolves lingering around us and they look like they’d kill me if I move. I don’t. I start to relax again and can feel the other wolves relaxing too. I guess they don’t find me an immediate threat, but they haven’t revealed themselves to me either. Trust is something earned by a wolf; never underestimate their shyness. They don’t say that to me they just let me know it.
I can hear Pru, her voice is foggy, it sounds muffled, and she tells me we are going back to the park.