The TimberWolf Effect (Book I)

CHAPTER EIGHT - Forest Runaway

Timber woke up feeling unusually fatigued one dull, grey Saturday morning. The house was oddly quiet for ten-fifteen. Emily would usually be making some kind of loud noise in the living room or the backyard. Timber was instantly worried about the lack of noise until she realized her usually sensitive ears couldn't hear properly. Everything around her was muffled. Both of her ears were sore and they felt blocked. She tried to shake them clear but shaking hurt her head, making it feel as if someone was using a jackhammer on her brain. She felt awful.

She couldn't hear and she couldn't smell anything because her nose was severely clogged, her throat was on fire, and her normally powerful voice was gone. All of her usual defenses were down and she didn't like it. She got out of bed and fell over because her head was whirling so much. She got to her feet slowly and stood still for a few minutes. She struggled to get her body to cooperate with her and do what she wanted it to.

After several minutes of frustration, she Turned and walked downstairs the best she could, being that she was out of balance. She was starting to get annoyed with her senses. Her annoyance only increased when she sneezed. It was such a hard sneeze that she lost all stability and fell down the last six stairs. She hit her head on the wall at the landing, causing her headache to get worse and her body to shift back into her wolf form. Grace came rushing over and it was lucky for her that Timber saw her coming.

Timber saw her aunt moving her lips but to her, it sounded like her head was underwater and Grace was speaking above. Timber tried to Turn and say that she couldn't hear but she couldn't Turn. When she tried to bark, all that came out was raspy air. Grace held out her hands, telling Timber to stay and she went upstairs. Timber sat down and waited a few minutes before Grace came back with a white medical kit. Grace took out an otoscope, showed Timber what it was, and pointed to her ear. Timber understood and turned her head so Grace could look inside.

Then Grace took out a thin metal ear pick and showed Timber what she was going to do. Timber held very still while Grace worked. Emily came over to watch as Grace pulled out a large amount of yellowish-brown compacted wax from Timber's ears. Timber looked at the earwax in disgust and scrunched her face. While her ears certainly felt a little better, they still hurt and she couldn't hear very well, but it was better. She motioned to Grace that her ears were still not working right and Grace took another look. She looked slightly concerned, but not enough to worry Timber. She knew Grace had a medical degree so she knew what she was doing. Grace wrote on a sheet of paper.

You have a severe ear infection. I need to run and get herbal eardrops. You stay here. Chad is upstairs. Emily and I will be back shortly.

Timber nodded and Grace took Emily and left. Realizing now that she was hungry, she went to the kitchen, fought with her body to Turn again, and then, once in her human form, she managed to pour herself a bowl of cereal without spilling half of the milk. She didn't like feeling so vulnerable. She kept her back toward the cabinets as much as possible. She was completely defenseless without her nose and ears so she went on high alert, watching for any source of movement as she ate. When her senses were functioning properly, it was impossible to sneak up on her from behind because of her nose. Not being able to smell or hear anything made her feel paranoid.

After finishing, she took her bowl to the sink and rinsed it quickly before going to the living room and turning on the TV. She flipped through the channels and found a documentary about the Challenger Deep in the Mariner Trench. She sat in her original form and watched the moving pictures on the screen without clear sound. Ten minutes later, she saw Grace and Emily come in with a bag from CVS. Timber watched as Grace pulled out three boxes and set them on the table in front of her. She sent Emily upstairs to play and opened the smallest box.