Abandoned

She was a werewolf. It wasn't her fault. But her own father threw her away.

A wolf was sitting alone on the streets of the town called Sparrow Peak.

There was a full moon lighting up the night sky, but in the shadows of the building behind her, the little wolf could barely be seen. She was just sitting there, wide awake and looking up at the stars in the middle of the night. Invisible to the sleeping town.

When morning came, in the place of the wolf was a girl of about age nine, curled up and asleep in front of the store. She writhed and whimpered in her sleep. And then the girl stilled and just lay there, her breathing heavy.

The door creaked open, and the owner of the building stepped outside. He took one look at the girl, and his face melted into an expression of pure disgust. "You!" he hissed.

The girl's head shot up, startled. "F-father?"

"Get away from my house, you-- you thing! You're going to make us look bad." The man said, glaring at the little girl. "We didn't kick you out so that you could sleep on our front yard, Harper."

Harper's body trembled as she stood up. She tried to say something, but her mouth wouldn't open. 

Taking one last look at her father's disapproving scowl, she stood up and walked away, but only to the side of the house. And then she let the tears fall. They fell and fell until she her mind drifted into darkness.

Harper saw her parents' log cabin by the forest-- their vacation getaway. They had never taken Harper here before; this was the first time. It was a beautiful area, surrounded by flowers and singing birds and rays of sunlight. 

Harper stepped out of the log cabin and whistled cheerfully. She ran into the forest, her dark brown hair flying behind her. 

As Harper walked into the forest silently, she felt like she was in a magical world next to the towering trees and all the nature. She went on a very long hike, happier than she'd ever remembered being before.

It was approaching sunset now. Harper was heading back when she heard barks and growls in the distance. She looked around nervously, and out of nowhere she saw the wolves. 

A flash of terror and panic hit Harper. She turned to run, and then a giant furry body knocked her over. She heard a scream that never ended. She felt knives sink into her skin, slowly and painfully. They burned her arm, and then her leg, and then her entire body. She tasted blood and saw only blackness; her eyes were closed. 

And then the excruciating pain became fainter and fainter. She saw a beautiful ring of light. She couldn't move, however much she wanted to go to it. She pulled harder and harder against her binds... and the world lapsed into nothing.

When Harper drifted awake, she was shaking. She had rolled over onto the flowerbed under the window on the side of the house. Harper hugged her knees to her chest and sat there. Her tears from before the dream were drying and they made her face feel flaky. 

Something stirred inside Harper. Oh, not now, please! Not now. She closed her eyes and her entire body convulsed. A piercing pain stabbed her head. Stop, she prayed. Please not now, please not now! It was torture. She gasped and screamed as her stomach and muscles were struck my a series of spasms, and then she finally passed out.

Harper woke to something kicking her head. She sat up in wolf form, her eyes wide with fear as she looked up at her father.

"Get away from my property, or I'm calling Animal Control!" her father roared.

Harper picked up her clothes in her mouth and ran.

She escaped into the streets. She saw fingers point at her and pedestrians screaming, and people were chasing after her and running away from her. She didn't care. She just wanted safety, she wanted a place that could give her food and water and love. She wanted a home.

And Harper knew she wasn't going to get one from a human family. Everyone would think she was a monster if they found out she could turn into a wolf, which was a pretty hard thing to hide considering she didn't know how to control it yet. Her own father had kicked her out of her own house, and her once-loving mother had avoided Harper ever since her first transformation. It was like they thought she was some horrible beast, just because she got bitten by a werewolf on their stupid yearly vacation. How was it her fault?

Harper escaped into the woods. It was safer than the city, where there were big men with guns that wouldn't hesitate to shoot her. The woods had its own set of scary things, but it also gave privacy. And Harper needed to calm down so that she could find a way to turn back into a human.

She hid next to a tree and dropped her clothes on the ground next to her. Taking deep breaths, she eventually slowed her heartbeat to normal. But then the memories of everything that had happened in the past day hit her and her eyes welled with tears again. 

No, stop crying. You can get through this, Harper comforted herself. Go find food for yourself, and then find shelter for the night. Even if that means sleeping in someone's back porch. You can do this, Harper.

Harper took in a long breath, and then let it out slowly.

You can do this.