The Pyle Inside

“The Girl Who Howled Wolf”
by Jacqueline Roman

Yup, it was that time. The time I turned into a wolf. Yes, you heard me, wolf. It all started in middle school—this year in fact. Let’s start with the beginning… I was walking down the…
I was walking down the trail in the woods when it hit me, “Prepare to change. I continued walking down the trail, which I have done when I come to think. Then, I saw my brother running up to me, and I ran to him, asking him, “What’s wrong, Koda?” He replied back, “Nothing, Khari, I was just worrying about you… where were you?” I inquired, “What do you mean?” My ears turned back, looking at him confused.
“Just forget about it, the important thing is that you’re here,” he said. So, then he left the woods and I stayed by myself, hearing the trees whispering and moving along with the breeze air. It felt something like if the trees with the wind was calling me, trying to tell me something that will happen, something bad. Suddenly, the clouds started to turn blacker and darker, the trees were blowing back and forth with the ferocity of hurricane winds, as there was a big, nasty storm coming towards me. Then, I heard thunder, lighting, and the worst part the ground started to move. Crack, Rumble, Boom! I was so afraid and brave at the same time, but I didn’t know what to too. Till then, while I was looking all around, shaking, and breathing hard, a black wolf randomly appeared in front of me. It started to walk closer and closer up to me, until when it licked my arm and looked at me straight in the eyes. I looked straight back at his eyes, but, he turned his head away and started to growl at something behind me. I looked back, and I saw a light red fire crystal floating with fire around it. I had no idea what it was, so then, I slowly walked up to it and the wolf started to push my arm with his head, like if he was trying to tell me to grab it. Then, after few minutes watching it floating, I said in my mind, “Whatever this is, it’s calling me, and if it is . . . than here I go.” I grabbed it. I was expecting something to happen, but nothing did. So, I gazed at the wolf and he pulled my shirt, attempting to get me to follow him. The wolf began to run through the woods, but his pace was so rapid, that I tripped on my back in the midst of my feeble attempts to keep up. He stopped and looked back at me, but he kept running.
After minutes of running, he stopped. I was breathless, and I needed to catch my breath; I looked up slowly. And when I did, I saw a cave, but not just a cave. I beheld his entire wolf family, all staring at me, like if I was a threat! When, the wolf saw that his family members were all staring at me, he growled at them and gave them a signal, saying something like, “Back off everyone, leave her alone, she is one of us now, go back inside and stay there until I say you can come out.” I didn’t understand anything he was saying to them, so I slowly crouched down, and sat there quietly. But while I was sitting down, I felt like something was happening to me. The wolf realized what was happening and looked at me, saying in my mind, “It’s time, my child, prepare to be one of us.” I heard him saying that, while I was crouching down and moving, in much pain on the ground. Til then, after an hour of feeling pain and transforming, it finally happened. Yup, read that sentence one more time. It finally happened. I finally turned into what the wolf was telling me all this time, a wolf. I felt different, powerful, and faster. That’s when the wolf gave a signal to his family to come out. When they came out, they saw me as one of them, and they all ran to a rock cliff and started to howl at the full moon. I felt my body, mind, and blood, telling me to go and howl with them and guide them as a leader. Until this day and furthermore, I will always remember this special day, the day I turned into a wolf.

“ HOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWLLLLLLL”