The Traveling Wendigo

It's my 16th birthday and everyone expects me to transform. I come from a family of wendigo. There aren't many of us around, we're hunted and outcasts from human society. They call us freaks of nature, monster's, murderer's and sometimes they call us devil's of the night. I'm not looking forward to the full moon rising tonight because if I don't succeed I'll be the one hunted. I took a long walk this morning and came across a fruit tree. Father has warned me and my sibling's never to pluck the fruit from this tree, that bad things would happen. I don't believe in that superstitious stuff and I'm really hungry. We aren't allowed to eat until after the ceremony though, but I was so hungry I simply plucked one of those plump, juicy, round pears off of the tree which was forbidden. Moment's later, after eating the fruit, the air became chilled, it was so cold I could see my breath. Balls of light flew at me as if they were trying to hit me or push me back. The trees seemed to darken as if they were dying. My family came running out of the house. They could sense something was off. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?" My father said, He wasn't too happy, he knew exactly what I'd done. "Father, I... I was just so hungry." He looked at me before turning away. "YOU ARE NO LONGER WELCOME HERE! LEAVE THIS FOREST AND NEVER RETURN!" I left before the ceremony, I still changed but when the change happened my skin darkened in gray instead of being pale white. It was painful, my bones cracked, my skin felt as if it were on fire and the dazed feeling hit, as if I were put in a trance. I howled out from the pain in hope's my family would come to my aid, but no one came. After that night I remained as a wendigo, traveling through towns, forests and cities, disguised as animal's or human's. I have been chased out of a few town's. Someone tipped the hunter's off that a wendigo was living among the humans and because I was new, they ran me out with pitchfork and torches. Every wendigo I've run into avoided me, It seems that I'm more of an outcast than the normal one's because of my color. There have only been a few dark gray wendigo's, so everyone knew to avoid them at all cost. I've searched and searched for my place and I fear I may never find it. It's time to look for the dark gray wendigo's, my kind. If I could I'd go back and stop myself from eating that sweet, plump, delicious forbidden fruit. I'll continue to search for the darkest forest, the one in the myths my mother used to tell us as kids. I recite some of that story in my mind. It's been 5 years since I've been cast out. There are still no clues as to where the dark forest is and I've become much thinner than I've ever been. The hunger set in and I've started hunting. At first I tried hunting rabbits, but it's not satisfying enough, so I hunted deer, even though that's not enough to satisfy the hunger growing in the pit of my stomach. My mind wants human flesh, sweet juicy human flesh. My mouth starts to water as I enter a small town. Families are sitting down to eat their dinner. I look for people who wouldn't be missed, people without home's or families, people without children. I tell them to follow me, there is a place where you can eat freely and fill your stomach's until you can't eat anymore. This usually lures them in and I lead them into the forest. Deeper and deeper taking turn after turn so they'd get lost, unable to run back to tell others about me. Once we are deep enough into the forest I lunge at them, ripping them limb from limb, watching the life in their eye's fade. My skin starts turning white again and I've realized, dark grey skin is a sickness, only cured by eating the flesh of human's stupid enough to follow a wendigo into the forest, just to be eaten themselves. The dark forest was around me this whole time. They call a forest dark when a dark gray wendigo lives in it. I ran home back to my family. My father wasn't happy to see me at all. "I TOLD YOU NEVER TO RETURN! YOU ARE-" stopping him from saying those last words and started speaking. "The pear is forbidden because it causes us to become sick. If we eat it before our transformation the pain becomes excruciating. Our skin darkens and we get this hunger that won't be quenched until we have done the worst. The fruit isn't forbidden because of some curse put on the family, it's forbidden because we get sick from it." My family looked shocked. "I have found out the truth about the forbidden fruit so I have returned to take my place in our family. My family welcomed me home with open arms, happy to have their don back. A year later more wendigo families have come from all around to be here in the forbidden forest. That's when I met her, the most beautiful wendigo I've ever laid eye's on. She approached me and started making small conversations. Her name is Lizzy, she is a duchess, among one of the richest wendigo families, as mine was. She was more confident than the other female's in the room. Months later I'm asking for her hand, for her to be mine. I was so nervous she'd say no but knowing how we felt about each other the answer was clear. It's been 8 years now and I've had a family of my own. Today is my daughter June's 16th birthday. She, too, was curious about the forbidden fruit on the tree. We had her ceremony, then sent her on her way to find her cure for eating the forbidden fruit off the forbidden tree. She waved goodbye to us and set off on her own adventure. We await her return to welcome her home with open arms as my family did so long ago.