Imagine

11. Moonlight

After dinner, I had about thirty minutes before the last prayer for that day and I decided to spend it outside gazing at the sky. I stepped out, scanned the area and picked the first spot that called out to me- a large heap of gravel close to a small deposit of water in front of a thick mass of grasses.  It had seen rain and sun and was still there waiting for it's owner to come make use of it. I approached it and sat down facing the entrance to the breakroom without bothering to check for the threats of potential animals that could end my life at the spot because nothing was going to stop me from sitting there either way.

When I was as comfortable as one could be, I noticed the night was brighter than the picture the word "night" was supposed to put in the average person's head so I looked up expecting to see numerous stars and kill time by mentally drawing a perfect circle and counting the number of stars I had "captured". I was not prepared for the sight that greeted me.

The sky was not what I would call starry since I was fairly certain that if I counted the number of actual visible stars about three times and took an average, it would most likely be the exact number of stars in the sky. That was how scanty the sky was. Instead, right above my head was a perfect combination of white and ash beaming down at me in all its glory.

'It's a full moon', I thought to myself and couldn't help but laugh at how excited I had sounded. There was something about it's brightness and fullness that totally lifted my spirits. I felt completely happy. I stared at it for a while trying to find some kind of flaw, a crooked side or a pointed angle that would make it less perfect but I found nothing.

Beautiful was the only word that kept bouncing in my head. It was like the splash of ash colour inside it kept changing configuration as if there was some kind of creature changing poses at intervals for a photoshoot.

'That's probably just in your head', I told myself and sighed at the feeling of contentment I got from just staring at it.

'What if werewolves were actually real and a full moon really does have an effect on them', I mused 'I'm sure they'd be having a blast in whatever woods they were inhabiting at the moment cos I'm pretty sure I'm human and the full moon got me feeling excited already'.

I wonder what it would be like to be a werewolf this particular night, and as it crossed my mind, I let the thought linger and build up to something.

I found myself standing in front of a full length mirror, fully dressed, just staring.

'Ok weirdo. You're supposed to be a werewolf, not the mirror-lady, I thought to myself still staring and then I saw something flicker in my eyes, literally in my eyes, not some background movement that could have made my eye twitch.

'Ugh, whats with the suspense and what the hell was that in my eyes?', i huffed at myself in annoyance.

'That was me, silly', I heard the silent chuckle of a silvery voice in my head and stopped in shock. You'd be surprised at how much I got startled in my own head.

'Huh?', I squeaked

'It's me, Scar. You know, your wolf since you're a werewolf' the voice replied and I could've sworn I heard her eyes rolling. I grinned and let out a loud laugh.

'Of course, it's you. My wolf'.

"Alright, cray-cray. C'mon let's go for a run". This was another voice from outside my head so I looked passed the mirror towards it to final a female replica of me standing at the door, beckoning me to follow. I guess I brought twin sister to this fantasy too.

"Uh... Where are we going exactly?",

"Nowhere in particular. Just let our wolves out and let them do whatever. I mean it's a full moon and half the pack is already out running wild", she replied with evident excitement in her voice. She was literally bouncing on her heels.

"Half of the pack, huh?. Let's join the party then". She whooped and skipped all the way to the front door with me following at reasonable distance so she doesn't hit me accidentally, though that might not happen due to fast reflexes that was expected for a werewolf. I shook my head to to discard that thought and focus on the actual moment.

The moon was the exact same beauty it was in reality and I thanked my brain for keeping that image. There was a thick forest a few kilometers ahead and I could see the trees sway and tremble with the sharp and quick movements of the crazy wolves. There were about twenty other faceless people (their backs turned to me) already in the process of letting their wolves out. I was rooted to the spot watching the transformation occur and the whole thing was disgusting and appealing at the same time. I mean hearing bones crack and rearrange wasn't exactly pleasing but the end result was worth it. I heard a crunch very close to me and turned to see my sister already in the process, I blinked and the sight before me was amazing. She was covered with white fur and ash patches on her muzzle, belly and the end of her tail and she was about four feet tall. I looked closely and saw that her eyes were grey with specks of green and blue.

'She is beautiful', I thought to myself.

'So am I. Just let me out already', Scar replied. I smiled and decided to skip the whole painful bone rearrangement thing and just become a wolf. Call me scared, whatever.

'How do I look?', I asked my sister in my head. She looked at me like I had asked a ridiculous question but answered anyway, 'Exactly like me. Only, your eyes are golden brown'. She scratched the earth with her paws and gave me a challenging look, 'Race ya' and she was gone. I had no idea where we were supposed to be racing to but I got into the spirit and followed at full speed.

After what seemed like hours of running and avoiding each other's claws and paws, we finally stopped at the bank of a river reflecting the brightness of the moon. We howled very loudly looking up at the moon. It was exhilarating. We laid there just staring at each other, except her eyes had turned golden brown instead of grey.

Then I heard the call to prayer and figured it was time to return to reality.

'This was fun. Let's do it again', I said in my head to no one in particular, maybe my subconscious, and I was back to the heap of gravel.

"Ugh, real life is boooring". I said quietly as I stood up to join the others prepping to pray.

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Favourite werewolf movie or book?