, believe me, i've been asked.) Feel absolutely free to tear this apart, because i want to get it published and i can use all the nitpicks i can get.
(PS, sorry for sounding so grumpy---- just crashed from a sugar-high.)
He found me waiting for the bus one morning. One moment I was alone, the next here he comes walking straight towards me. I would have assumed he was walking to somewhere past me, but he was looking at me and when I met his gaze he smiled.
He was tall with lightly tanned skin and curly black hair that reminded me of my best friend‘s labradoodle. He was well built, muscular, and walked with a spring in his step as though the world were his, and everyone else had better move aside.
When he reached me, he grinned and extended his hand. “Hi, I’m Andre.” His tone was as casual as though we had already met a few times before.
I was a bit surprised by his abruptness. Why was he talking to me? It‘s not like I knew him. “Umm, hi. I’m Tay-D.” I replied awkwardly. He might have felt like the ice was broken, but I didn’t.
“Tay-D, huh?” He raised a quizzical brow. “What does that stand for?”
“Taysarla Derek.” I pushed my blond hair behind my ear, hesitating because I have an unusual name. A lot of
people pick on me for it.
“I like that better. Can I call you Taysarla? Or maybe just Tay?”
I shifted uncomfortably, I‘m a bit skittish around strangers. “I guess. . . Who are you?”
He laughed. “Oh, I’m a neighbor of sorts, if you can claim to have neighbors way out here.”
I laughed nervously, part because it was funny, and part because it was the sad truth, and I knew it. “I guess not.”
Andre glanced at my back pack. “Catching the bus?”
“Oh, um, yeah.”
“What grade?”
“Eleventh.” I ventured a question of my own. “Are you in school?”
He shook his head. “No, I dropped out.” He said it like it was totally normal and acceptable.
“Why?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Tired of it I guess.”
The distant rumble of the bus hit my ears as it chugged into view.
He laughed. “Well, it looks as though your ride is here. See you later, Taysarla.” When I turned to look at him, he was gone. Just like that.
I didn’t see Andre for a while, but I made a new friend, or, I should say, a pack of new friends.
See, I’m really into nature photography, and the best thing about living so far out into the woods is the nature. The birds, the trees, the little animals. And bigger ones, including a pack of wolves.
They were an unusually large pack, twenty or thirty strong, maybe more, if the ones who weren’t hunting stayed at the den. They were all unique, the chestnut one had dark brown eyes, the light gray had yellow, and I learned to tell them apart. Kitty and Jon-O, my parents, knew about them, and thought it was wonderful that I was “taking the artistic path they had set out for me in a new and unique way,” as Kitty, an artist, liked to say it. Jon-O, a rock star, just sat down, and wrote a song titled, “My Baby Loves a Wolf.” I kinda like it.
School had let out by then, so I decided to take a walk through the woods until I came to the bus stop, then walk up my driveway to get back. Just in case, I took my camera with me.
I didn’t see the wolves, and that was disappointing, for really I had hoped to get more pictures of them. But by the time I got to the bus stop, they were still nowhere to be seen. And who should be waiting there but Andre.
I considered turning around and creeping away unnoticed, avoiding an awkward conversation and an unpleasantly weird meeting. Unfortunately, he turned around and waved to me. I had no choice; I walked up beside him. “Hi.”
He turned towards me, and smiled. “Hi.”
“So where have you been these days, Andre? I meet you once, then I don’t see you for a while, then you’re back again.”
He laughed, a little forced, I noticed. “Yeah, I had family business. But I’ve seen you.”
That was weird, and I was suddenly suspiciously wary. “You have?”
“Yes, taking pictures of the wolves.”
I dropped my voice to a whisper. “You know about them too?” It came out a bit like a secret, and the awkwardness between us seemed to crumble at the intimacy of an actual secret.
“Yeah. I keep a sharp eye on them too, you know. They stay on your land; They’ve learned well that hunters don’t look for them there.”
“My parents love my fascination with them. They’d never let anything happen to them.”
Andre took a deep breath, and glanced at the woods. “That’s not a good idea.”
“What do you mean?” Why was he so tense all of a sudden?
“Oh, there’s been talk of wolf attacks.” He got a far off look in his eyes that I couldn’t understand. “They’ve already killed so many. . .”
“How do you know this? I haven’t heard anything about¬ it.”
“Oh, it’s been going around. Don’t be surprised if you find that you have a lot more wolves than usual in this
forest; the ones being hunted will likely migrate here to escape death.”
“That’ll be great!” I almost shouted, excited at the prospect of even more wolves.
Andre eyed me curiously. “Most people would hate that so many wolves were going to be on their property. You. . . you seem different.”
“That’s because I’m not like everyone else, and I don’t mind wolves; it’s not like they’ve hurt me yet. Doesn’t mean they won’t, but they haven’t.”
“Don’t take that for granted, Taysarla. They’ll turn on you just as fast as anyone else.”
I paused. I didn’t even want to try to fathom what deeper meaning he was getting at. “Oh. Well, what are you up to?”
“Honestly? Waiting for you.” He glanced sideways at me to see my reaction. I kept my face expressionless.
“Oh. Why?”
“I don’t know. Check in on you I guess.”
“Well that’s very nice of you for thinking of me. I hadn’t known I made such a good impression.”
He smiled. “it’s my job to think of you. Why? Because the wolves are here. I wouldn’t be talking to you if I didn’t have to.”
I was a bit curious about what the wolves had to do with me and him, but my curiosity was overruled by my indignation. He wouldn’t be talking to me? Who did he think he was, and why did that make him so much better than me? “Well, I hope my company isn’t as displeasing as it used to be. Good-bye, Andre.” I sniffed, and turned to walk up my driveway.
He reached out and grabbed my arm. He was impossibly strong, and I couldn’t shake free. “Come one, Taysarla. You know I didn’t mean it like that--”
I shook free of his grip. “Let go of me! I don’t even know you!”
He let go. “You‘re right, Taysarla. You don’t know me. But I know you more than you can ever know.” He turned and walked away. I had a feeling I’d be seeing him again.
I was right. The next day, he was standing out in my driveway. I was alone; Jon-O and Kitty had already left for work. Sighing in annoyance, I pulled on my bathrobe, and walked out to meet him.
“What do you want?”
He smiled, shoving his hands in his jean pockets. “Just wake up?”
“Maybe.” I raised an eyebrow and twitched the corner of my lips in a sarcastic smirk.
“You don’t like me that much, do you?” His tone was as sarcastic as my smile.
“Gee, excellent observation.”
“Now, what did I say to make you so mad at me?” He looked genuinely concerned, and I couldn’t believe how naïve
he was. He must have known that his comment had more than just kinda hurt my feelings.
“Oh, I don’t know. I just don’t like you.”
Andre laughed a little. “Right. Well, it appears as though my very appearance here annoys you. Should I leave, or
can I stay and try to make amends?”
I considered this. Okay, so he had been a little rude, and I didn’t like him very much, he scared me out of my mind, but he was trying to apologize. “Okay, I guess you can stay for a little while.”
“Can I come in, or are we gonna talk out here?”
I crossed my arms. “Well, I’ll think about that. For now, we can stay out here.”
“Alright, fine.” He scuffed his feet nervously. “Look, I’m sorry about yesterday. Believe me, it’s hard for me to say
that, but here I am.”
“Right. Okay, so I kinda forgive you. But I don’t like you, or trust you. So I want to know what you meant by that you know more than I can ever know.”
I thought for a moment that he was going to tell me. He opened his mouth promptly, like he was ready to confess all if I would only listen. But just as quickly as the openness appeared, it vanished. “I can’t explain that.”
“Why not?”
“Because there are too many risks.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “That’s another thing I can’t explain. Look Tay, I really want to tell you, but I just can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because it’d. . . oh, there’s nothing I can say without making you wonder even more.”
“That’s not possible. I already wonder a lot.” He should have realized that already, I thought.
“Fine. I can’t tell you because it’d put both of our lives in danger.” He looked around at the forest. “I should be going. I’m sorry for being rude, and that I can’t tell you anything more. Don’t go into the woods. See ya.” He turned and left.
I didn’t tell Kitty or Jon-O about my meeting with Andre. I didn’t want to remember it. It scared me.
What had he meant that he couldn’t tell me anything else, or our lives would be in danger? It sent shivers up and down my spine.
At the dinner table, I told my parents, who were both there, about the wolf hunting. They reacted as I knew they would.
“Oh, that’s awful!” Kitty looked up from her food, first at me, then at Jon-O.
Jon-O shrugged. “What do you want me to say?”
Kitty threw her hands in the air. “Jon! Obviously this is an important matter to our daughter, you should at least assure her that her wolves won’t be harmed!”
It seemed to dawn on Jon-O. “Oh! Right, sorry, I wasn’t thinking about your wolves, Tay. Don’t worry, if any bast-- ”
“Jon! Language.” Kitty reprimanded.
“Oh, right. Sorry, day with the guys. Don’t worry, Tay, if any man steps onto my property with a gun, or even sends a bullet into my property, I’ll send the hounds on him! I’ll have the courts strip him bare. He’ll wish he never learned to fire a gun! He--”
Kitty put a hand on his arm. “Easy, love. I think we get the idea.”
I stood up. “Well, I’m done, you guys?”
Kitty handed me their plates. Jon-O rubbed his stomach, and leaned back in his chair. “Yep. Done-er than a non-rare burger. Lolo seems to be getting better and better at this cooking thing.”
“Jon, we fired Lolo three months ago, remember? Something to do with a dead mouse in the fridge.” Kitty reminded him politely.
“You didn’t hire her back?!?!” Jon-O looked at Kitty alarmed. “Then who’s been making our food for us?”
I raised my hand slowly. My parents both turned to look at me. “Guilty.”
They were silent for a minute, but then Jon-O started laughing. “W-w-w-wait. . . you. . . you’ve been cooking? Kitty’s girl, cooking?”
Kitty sniffed. “Don’t look so surprised. I am quite the professional in domestic matters. After all, I did raise Taysarla.”
“With much help.” Jon-O added. Kitty shot him an annoyed glance. He stood up, and took her hand. “Come on, Kit, take a joke.” He looked at me. “Your mom and I are gonna turn in early, we have a party to go to early tomorrow morning. . .”
“Around two in the morning. . .”
“Yes, and we won’t be back for a few days, okay?”
Great, they were leaving me again. “Sure. I can go shopping if I need to.”
The two of them turned around, and went up the stairs into their room, leaving me to clean up. Maybe I would make a point of re-hiring Lolo. She did okay.
True to their word, I woke up the next day, and my parents were gone. That’s about when I realized that I had nothing to do. I couldn’t call any of my friends, they spent their summers in exotic tropical climates. I didn’t have a boyfriend to call. All I had was this huge, empty house, where all the servants had taken the week off, knowing that my parents would be gone. Great.
I tried watching TV, but nothing good seemed to be on. Then I spotted my camera. My super, enormously expensive, photographer’s camera. I wondered if the wolves were out today.
Determined to find out, I picked it up, and left the house, locking the doors and windows, as if anyone would find this house all the way out here. It’s a two mile driveway, for gosh’ sakes. They’d probably give up after the first half-mile.
But that’s what I did. I set out to the west, where I knew they liked to hunt, and snapped pictures of other lovely summer scenes as I went. A mother bear and her two cubs, a butterfly sitting on a leaf, a fox carrying her young into her den. All this and more, but no wolves. I finally came to a large clearing, where I found a huge herd of caribou. I snapped pictures of them too, a mother nursing her baby, two calves play fighting. Then, suddenly, the caribou all began to call frantically to one another. I realized too late what was happening, when I saw the wolves.
They sprung out of the woods from all around the caribou, snapping, and gnashing their sharp teeth. The caribou were startled, and began to run, towards me.
Now, I know what you’re thinking, what about that super nifty tactic of theirs, the one where they stand in a circle around their young. I’m telling you now that that’s not the only way a wolf attack can play out. Unfortunately, instead of getting the unique opportunity of photographing their defense strategy, I was stampeded.
Too shocked to scream, too terrified to move, I sat where I was, and watched my inevitable death approach me at an extraordinary pace. My finger pressed the button that you press to take a picture. I held it. If someone found my body and my camera, they would know how I died. My camera repeatedly took pictures of every moment, every second that went by. My heart pounded like a bass drum in my ears.
The first caribou to reach me swerved away from me, and missed me altogether. Then the rest of the herd followed, and I was lost in a tangle of hooves and fur, and snow and my own blood, but after the first few long moments I was numbed and felt no pain. All I felt was my finger pressed against the button, and my heart thundering in my chest.
When at last the final caribou stepped over my carcass, I was still alive, but not for long, I knew. I still had my finger on the button. What a great moment to capture. My death. Wonderful. It was still taking pictures, hundreds at this point. It could hold more. With my last bit of energy, I turned my head to face where I could faintly hear the wolves eating their prey, and I saw one, a black male with blood smeared across his noble face, look at me. He turned from the pack’s catch, and walked towards me. The last thing I saw before fading into oblivion was the wolf growing bigger and bigger, as he walked towards me snarling, his second catch of the day.
So yeah this is the edited version of the first draft.
