Shifted #Wattys2016

XV

Maxine

When I woke up the next morning, I pulled on my shoes and grabbed my jacket, the room still dark. I wrote a note to Julie and slid it under her door. I hurried downstairs and walked outside in the early morning light. The sun hadn't even really started to rise yet, and everything was peaceful, everything was welcoming.

Everything, but the forest.

I continued anyway.

Inside the woods everything was much darker. Leaves crunched under my shoes but other than that everything was silent.

I stood still for a minute, letting the peaceful silence sink in.

Something nudged me in the back.

I turned around. A wolf stood in front of me, a curious look in its eyes. Its coat was a light brown color, its eyes sky blue. If I didn't know better, I'd say it was smiling at me.

I took a step back and it sniffed the air around me. A confused expression passed across its face. Its eyes widened and it started to step back, slowly. Then in a second, it turned around and darted off.

I shrugged it off and turned to head back to the house.

Out of the trees, the sky was painted with gold and pink. It was amazing.

Julie was calling my name.

What was he, if not human?

What did he mean that I might already know?

This is confusing.

I grabbed a piece of paper and made a T-chart. A list of things I know, and things I don't.

Things I Know:

· Felix is(n't) human

· Felix has a twin brother

· Felix loves me?

· Felix randomly knew my name

· Felix's eyes look exactly like a wolf's

·

"You know," Julie began, one night a few days ago. "There are some things in this world that we are told are fiction, when really they are reality."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that sometimes what we believe is false is really true. That not everything in this world is as black and white as we wish it to be."

"Gran, are you saying that boogiemen exist?"

She laughed. "No, that's ridiculous."

"So what? Other legends are true?"

She nodded. "See? I knew you were a smart girl."

Werewolf?