Waindale

twenty-six. ouch

When I was young, I always wanted to climb the clothesline in Grandma's backyard. She had a dryer and never used the thing. The lines strung across drooped and were worn down by the weather, and the two white poles stood like a playground. There was a flat part on top of the poles. I wanted to climb up and sit on top and stare out at the trees. So, one day, when grandma and my mom were busy inside, I went out and dragged a lawn chair to the pole and set it against it. I got up and reached to the horizontal bit. Managing to grasp it, I jumped and struggled to pull my body up. It was a balancing act, but I didn't fall. When I actually did it, when I sat up there like a perched bird, I watched the trees as I hoped to.

The high branches swayed in the wind. The sound of the leaves reminded me of waves. If I wasn't afraid of slipping off, I would have shut my eyes and imagined myself on the beach.

After a good while of watching the world, I saw something in the woods. Maybe a bear. Maybe a wolf. Maybe nothing at all. I saw something and it scared me. It caused me to rush down to safety, but moving so desperately took away the precision I climbed up with. I fell off the clothesline and landed hard on the rocky grass below. Bits of gravel burrowed in my skin. I screamed so loud that my mom and grandma came running out. They cleaned me up, but I couldn't go in the water. The water felt strange against my scrapes.

Knocking sounds freeze my body.

"Wrenley. It's me."

I kick the covers off and run to the doors. Unlocking them as quickly as possible, I yank both open and am relieved to see him standing there unharmed. I look up at him with my red face and puffy eyes. I want to yell at him for leaving me here, for going outside into the unknown, but I don't.

"I'm mad at you," I breath out.

Adam says, "I know. I'm sorry."

"Y-You can't just do that."

"It's gone. It ran far north. Rogues don't come around here. There hasn't been one near Waindale in years. Most know that there's a pack based here, so they stay away. But this one was right outside the house, too close to be oblivious."

I stare at him, no longer scared of the rogue. The rogue was wiped from my mind right when I heard him knock. Upset, I drop my hands from the doors and saunter back into the room. "I don't care about the rogue, Adam. You freaked me out and then left me only to go put yourself in danger."

"I can handle myself," he says, walking in. "You don't understand how serious this situation is."

"Serious enough to have me lock myself in a room? Serious enough to go out after it?"

"Yes. I didn't want to scare you, but you needed to know that you weren't safe. If there's a rogue in the area, you aren't safe. The town isn't safe. I don't know what their purpose is here. I don't know why it came so close to the house."

"Wasn't it just being a rogue wolf? Wandering?"

Adam shakes his head. "It's not very often that a rogue has good intentions. They can attack humans. They steal. They aren't something we want to have around the town. They usually avoid large packs, so I don't know why there was one so close. My family's pack has been here for generations."

I swallow and look up at him. "You said it ran off. So it's gone, right?"

Suddenly, the doorbell rings and I jump. My eyes shoot to Adam, but he isn't spooked. The pizza—right.

We go downstairs to get the food. He got me an entire pizza all for myself, but I can hardly take a bite. I sit and stare at it. My eyes might be on the pizza, but my mind is conjuring ideas of grandma or my mom being attacked by the rogue. They're home alone. What if it wanders their way? What if it gets Vivianne or Imogen or Eli or Elara?