Outsiders
6

Rats! The cookie jar was empty. I replaced the lid. I’d be glad when this solstice was done. Oh, yes and no. It was fun to have everyone here and excited. It was a non-stop party. But things were also out of whack. Like no cookies in the jar. And the fridge was always out of cold pop. Half the time, there wasn’t even any milk. It was like a plague of locusts had descended. I guess that was because most of the incoming were guys with huge appetites. Well, it would all be over by Monday. Only four more days until sanity descended and the hordes left.

“Cassie!” Mama Vera said in frustration, “Get that rabbit out of my garden.”

Vera’s veggie garden was her pride and joy. No child ventured out into it on pain of bitten ears. For a rabbit to have ventured into it was a sin against nature. And who knew? There might be a hidden stash of cookies for the rabbit wrangler. Namely me.

I hit the back door tearing off my t-shirt, heeling off my shoes. Jeans dropped in a flash, and I was a wolf on a mission. That rabbit was toast. I tore across the yard and flopped just shy of the garden’s edge. I dared that fluffy face to show itself. I wouldn’t enter the garden itself, of course. I wasn’t stupid. I liked my ears in one piece. I was almost trembling, ready to give chase. I heard it chewing on something. If I could have entered the sacred garden, it would be dead meat, but I had to wait until it put its little paws on the grass. Then we’d see who was faster. It had been a while since I had dipped my muzzle into a fresh kill. I was salivating.

I saw movement to my right and I let wolf take over. We sprang up and ran, jumping between that rabbit and the garden. It tried to leap back into the safety of the greenery but thought better of it seeing my brown fur. It tore off at full speed across the yard. I was on its tail. It leapt straight up, twisting to change direction. I knew this trick and did the same, not losing a step. I sprang over it to keep it out of the garden, and it went right. I bore down on it and one snap and there was no more little bunny. Just a delicious wolf snack. I settled down and enjoyed the entire thing. It wasn’t a cookie, but wolf was gulping meat and bone and making a mess of herself. I sat back and let her. I laid in the sun and licked my lips. I was going to need a major clean up.

I shifted, standing up and turning. I pulled some rabbit fur out of my teeth. Yuck. Maybe I’d just use the garden hose to wash off the worst of it before regaining my clothes.

O.

M.

G.

Katelyn stood at the back door staring at me. Her face was a mask of absolute horror. Her wide, fear-filled eyes said it all. Then she ran back into the house.

I just stood there. I had done it again. I had scared someone I cared about. At least this time I hadn’t physically hurt her. My stomach twisted and I violently threw up. That was horrible. I walked over to the hose and turned it on full force. I aimed it over my head and just let the icy water pour over me, trying to get rid of the blood, the vomit, the tears.

Then I shifted and ran away into the woods. Just like I did so many years ago.