Jai My name is Jai. I am short, with dark brown hair and I have unusual yellow eyes. I usually find myself funny though my friends, Carson and Kyan, hardly ever laugh at my jokes. Okay I have to admit they are somewhat lame. Oh, anyway this is my story… I am running through a forest terrified, something is behind me growling, slobbering, howling… It grabs me, I fall, and the ground reaches for my face…<\i> Then I am sitting up in bed a scream caught high in my throat and my sheet tangled in my legs. I look around desperately, its three o’clock in the morning. This is the third time this week I have had this dream. This time though it felt real. Oh well, I think to myself, might as well get up. I swing out of bed and go outside into the warm summer’s night. The moon shines bright on my face, only a night or two from its full phase. I whistle three notes, two high and one low. A tired whinny sounds to my right, a low growl to my left. I stand stock still, and then I decide to go for it. Launching myself to the left, my body connects with something large and hairy. I tumble to the left of the creature and growl at him, trying to frighten him. He growls right back at me, his eyes connecting with mine, the same intense yellow. I leap back at him but miss. Then he was on top of me, all 150 pounds of him. I growl at him again but realize it was useless. I give up and start to laugh. Wulf looks down at me as though I’m crazy then yawns and decides to get off me. Sitting up I call Liji to me. Whinnying at me softly he nudges me with his muzzle. Laughing I fall over once again. Standing up I climb onto Liji’s back. We trot towards the woods. With dawn lightening the sky, I decide to go hunting. Slipping off Li’s back, I whistle to Wulf and we slip into the trees and disappear into one of the many shadows. Wulf whines at me and I stop and point for him to lead the way. Eagerly he starts in the direction of a clump of bushes. Sighing I follow thinking to call Wulf back and find another place to hunt, I mean I’m sick of having quail for supper. Anyway, Wulf stands poised and ready to jump in and get the creatures and then glances at me for the signal. Plopping down onto the ground helplessly, I give it to him and he jumps in eager for the kill. I hear some shuffling and three quails flutter and run from the bush. Wulf, ever the smart one, swaggers out of the bush a large cottontail clamped in his jaws. Looking down at him I say, “You never cease to amaze me you big mutt.” Taking the rabbit from him, I decide to get Carson and Kyan to have breakfast with me, Kyan makes the best rabbit soup. Walking back towards the path I whistle to Liji, hoping that he is somewhere close by so I don’t have to walk all the way to the K&C Ranch, Carson and Kyan’s place. Carson and Kyan have been my best friends since my parents disappeared seven years ago. I never found out what happened to them though I looked for them for what seems like forever. I still expect them to yell at me when I get home to late, I guess that’s an after affect of my delusional thoughts. Giggling, I whistle for Liji again, beginning to grow impatient. Hearing Liji neigh I whistle louder and call him. Liji walks into the clearing, I jump onto his back, and we canter down the path towards the K&C Ranch. Pulling up into the yard, Kyan and Carson come out to greet us. Here are some things you should know about these two: first, they are both comedians and will pick on anybody about almost anything. Kyan is tall, with pitch-black hair and dark, thunderstorm cloud black eyes that belied his sense of humor. Carson on the other hand is a blue-eyed blonde whose looks say everything about his sense of humor. Either one of these two a girls dream guy. They come up on opposite sides of Li. I look down at Kyan and say, “Gee, you’re looking kinda short today, are you shrinking in your old age?” Turning back to Carson I see that he has already found the cottontail and was trying to stuff the 20 pound buck into the little bag that he keeps slung around his shoulders and hangs at his waist. He smirks at me cockily and says sarcastically, “How can I help you good sir?” “Well,” I start, trying to hide my own smirk, and signaling to Wulf, I say, “you can start by giving back Wolf’s supper, or maybe he would rather have a piece of you instead.” Wulf then makes his move, jumping into Carson’s back and then rolling around to face him. Anybody would swear that they hate each other mortal enemies, but Kyan and me know that they only fight and pick on one another in play. Kyan picks up the rabbit from where it fell on the ground and says, “Well, let’s get breakfast ready! Guess it’s me and you Jai, by the time those two children are done playing it will be supper in a fortnight.” After sitting down and eating breakfast with Carson and Wulf, who are both walking black holes when it comes to food, we all go to the creek and just hang out for the rest of the day. After eating supper, I climb onto Liji’s back and we all head home. When I get home, I let Li go out to his paddock, go inside to my own bed, and fall asleep before my head hits the pillow.  I am running, I know there is no escape, yet I run, through the forest terrified, the something is behind me growling, slobbering, howling… It grabs me, I fall, and the ground reaches for my face…<\i> Then I am in bed sitting up covered in a cold sweat, glancing at outside I see that it is still dark out and I am not in the least bit tired. Running outside I call Liji, jump on his back and am galloping down the forest path as fast as I can make Li go. I try to forget my dream but it just doesn’t stay gone, I just keep replaying it repeatedly in my mind. I have no objection when Li slows his pace to a walk, because now I am covered in a warm sweat. All of a sudden, Liji bolts; I fall over backwards and watch him go from my vantage point on the ground. I scramble to my feet and tense. Someone or something is watching me. Slowly turning in a circle I search for whatever it is that is giving me chills down my spine. Scanning the trees, I meet a pair of feverishly red tinted eyes staring out at me over a set of ghostly white, slobber covered fangs. Keeping my eyes on the beast, I slowly start backing away: it paces, keeping the same distance between us the entire time. The creature stops in a patch of moonlight. I freeze. The creature looking at me is some kind of wolf that makes Wulf look like a puppy. The things size is not what scares me though; it is the fact that it has not made a single sound since I first saw it. It then sits down, raises its head and howls. I have never heard anything as bloodcurdling as that howl. I felt as though my heart would stop beating in my chest. When it stops, I look around as if I were waking up from a trance, the horrifying noise still echoing in my ears. Then in the distance, I hear the answering calls of the pack. Looking back at the creature, I realize that it was growling. I slowly inch backwards once again looking for an escape. Knowing there wasn’t one. I fight the urge to laugh, realizing that my dream, the one I put off to be a figment of my imagination, was coming true. Deciding I have nothing to lose I turn and run down the forest path hearing all around me the howls, growls and yips of the others in the creature’s pack. Glancing to my right I meet the hungry, insane gaze of one in the pack, its eyes so much like mine own. I stumble on, hoping to wake from this terrible nightmare. Then something heavy hits me hard in the back, I then knew this was no a dream, and I wasn’t going to wake up. Then it bit me in the shoulder, and I blacked out. When I woke, I was shaking. Standing up I stared at the sight that met my eyes. I was in a cave full of werewolves! Somehow, I’m not very surprised. I mean, I always dream of being human…
Copyright © 2005 Casey Lauber |