Fire

The sky above was blackened by its dark grey clouds, which completely stretched out for miles around. The rain slowly began to subside however the sky remain very much gloomy. The cold and chilling night had turned into early hours of the morning, it was still dark out but it wouldn’t be long now until the sun rolled around.

For most who slept soundly asleep in their warm inviting beds, the town was the peaceful and friendly town they have always known. But for a chosen few, the heartless sky overheard only reflected the evil that took place below. There were bodies that lay lifeless upon the ground, and there sat sadness within the survivor’s eyes. Tonight was a night that no one in town had witnessed, accept one. Joshua’s life changed almost three months ago and not for the better as far as he was concerned. Sure he had fun with it at first and he might have even met a few friends along the way, but that all took a turn for the worse. Joshua kept falling deeper and deeper into more trouble until finally he hit the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

It was now the morning in late July. Only hours ago Joshua was in the middle of a battle between werewolves, and not the kind you see on TV but the real kind. No one who isn’t a werewolf themselves could possibly understand. The whole night was full of events that shocked and astounded Joshua to his core, he had constantly fought off a pack of werewolves from harming both himself and the girl he loved. He had killed one of them without truly meaning too, and with this had tried throughout to keep his humanity.

But the pack outnumbered him, soon he joined forces with an old friend of his dead father named Kumai and men from his tribe. They killed the remaining members of the pack accept one. That same one was one Joshua let go, he didn’t have the heart to take another life. So instead he watched the one named Hugo scurry off into the forest and hopefully never to be heard from again.

Joshua considered this night to be a tragedy. Although he feared the pack of werewolves he befriended in beginning, because they were evil people doing evil deeds, the way he saw it was that no one deserved to die. Upon this awful fate there was another whose life was taken, one who wasn’t evil or did bad things. He was a tribe member and a close friend to Kumai, someone who was an innocent in all this. He had also become a friend to Joshua for a short time. Joshua couldn’t help but wonder that his terrible death was because of him. After all wasn’t it his fault they were there trying to protect him? Wasn’t it because of him that they were fighting in the first place? This was a guilt many would say he shouldn’t be feeling but it didn’t stop Joshua from feeling it nonetheless.

Joshua was heading back towards his home, walking through the town centre. It was another fifteen to twenty minutes and he would be back in his room. But when he makes it home he would not be staying long, he was simply returning home to grab his black suit from the back of his wardrobe. The reason for this was because he had been invited to the funeral of Kumai’s friend. Kumai explained that it seemed fitting he be there since he fought by his side, Joshua had a slight disagreement because he felt guilty, though he kept this opinion to himself. Whatever the case may be Joshua wanted to attend the funeral to pay his respects, the least he could do after he helped defend his life he thought.

Joshua was home now. He snuck into his own bedroom, something he needn’t do since his grandmother slept heavy, Joshua chuckled at the thought. It had taken Joshua a long time because he had to travel from the very far end of town, which is where the old abandoned hotel stood rotting away. However it didn’t feel very long to Joshua because he was deep in thought the entire trip home. Joshua located his suit which he only used once in a blue moon for occasions like this; he no sooner got dressed and found himself looking in the mirror on his wardrobe. What a strange sight he thought, a young man of seventeen dressed in a black suit in the early hours of the morning while the outside world was still dark.

As Joshua stood there he noticed that the rain was beginning to dim down, only slow tapping noises remained on the window, lightly hitting against the glass until soon it stopped all together. At that moment, as the last rain drops hit against the window, an idea popped into Joshua’s head. Joshua thought about what he was going to do next in his life.

After everything that has gone down lately was he to continue his life like nothing had happened, like every detail from him finding out he was a werewolf to this very night hadn’t existed. Was he going to let the news die down and then live out his life as a secret werewolf, or pretend he wasn’t one at all? Somehow Joshua knew it wouldn’t work. He had found out so much about himself in recent times, he had even feared himself more than once. He didn’t know how bad being a werewolf would affect him or those he loved. And what of Charlie, if he ever lost control and harmed her he would never live it down. So in this very moment Joshua decided on a plan, one he was absolutely sure was the right thing to do. This would be the best thing for him, as he knew he needed to find out more about his new life.

Joshua crept back outside. He began to make his way back to the forest on the other side of town. This time Joshua felt just how long the journey was walking through the town. He didn’t realise for such a small town just how big it could be, what was worse was that his journey didn’t end when he had reached the forest. Joshua would have to travel into to the forest where he would meet Kumai and then he would follow Kumai to where the funeral was being held.

Kumai took him in complete silence through the forest; they crossed a river that softly flowed freely but they could not appreciate it at this time. It was difficult to cross as the only thing that provided them a path was small stepping stones. Finally they reached a cliff, Joshua’s first reaction was that Kumai had led him in the wrong direction and that it was a dead end, but then he quickly remembered that Kumai had great sense of direction. This then left him with the idea that they would have to climb the very high and steep cliff, Joshua was half right. Kumai lead him around the cliff which wasn’t as steep but still hand a lot of climbing involved.

Joshua found most part of the climbing difficult, especially when wearing a suit, but soon enough and after a great deal of effort they made it to the top. Here Joshua was stunned beyond believe, all that walking, trekking through the woods and the frustrating climb had all been worth it to witness this view. It was spectacular Joshua thought, he could see from the top of the cliff the entire forest around him. In front he could see his town, and now behind it he could see the beginnings of the awaking sun. The sunrise had just begun poking its head and even though it was not yet in full view Joshua could see the remarkable colours starting to form.

This sight Joshua was absorbing would have almost been perfect if the reason for being there wasn’t such a sad one, he had completely forgotten that he was attending a funeral. Kumai spoke to Joshua for the first time since he met him, only to explain what he was about to see, Kumai had told him that they were there for many reasons. One being that they were too far away from their home to try and carry their friend back, even though they had enough men to do so. The second was he explained why they were in that particular area of the forest, he said that their beliefs and tradition are to burn the dead body. So being up this high the smell wouldn’t attract any unwanted guest. They had wrapped up the dead body that lay on a wooden platform, which Joshua could only guess they made while he was gone. And finally he told Joshua that this way they would catch the sunrise, he wanted to give his friend a proper send off.

As Kumai finished talking the body was already set on fire, Joshua stood in the middle of Kumai and the tribal men. As he looked around he noticed that they all still wore they tribal clothes, not that they had anything to change into he thought. The flame was at its highest now, roaring like a dragon. Joshua watched on as the fire danced in the air, twisting and turning. He felt the need to bow his head slightly so that he was looking at the ground, as he did he thanked the friendly man he once met while he stayed with them. He thanked him for all he had done and sacrificed when it wasn’t his battle to fight in the first place. He was, Joshua thought, a true kind-hearted friend to have had.

Joshua looked back up and took in a deep breath; he could see the sun rising even higher behind the burning fire, its beautiful mix of colours displayed out before them. Joshua could imagine that as the sun rose with its blanket of light, so did Kumai’s friend’s spirit rise, high into the unknown. He couldn’t help but think that there was so much beauty in such an unpleasant situation, yet he thought he could only hope for the same amorous and heart-warming send off for himself one day.

Joshua felt it time to leave, his respect had been given and now it was time to say his thanks and goodbyes to the others. Before he left no one had thought he was being disrespectful or bad-mannered, he just locked arms with each and said his farewells. After a far hike home Joshua knew he had two very important stops to make. First he needed to see Charlie, to tell her of his tale and to make sure that she didn’t need to worry any longer. But the most important reason for seeing Charlie was to say goodbye to her. Afterwards Joshua didn’t know if he would be seeing her ever again, or at least for a very long time.

It was very hard for Joshua to say goodbye when all he wanted to do was stay with her, but he felt like he was doing the right thing for the both of them. And so his visit to see Charlie had come and gone, and now he had returned home for the last time before his departure. He wasn’t staying in this town any more, his decision earlier was to leave. He had a lot more to discover about being a werewolf and he was certain that he wouldn’t find the answers here. It was an important time that he go away to discover who he truly was and where he belonged. After the events that took place in the last few months he knew that he wasn’t even close to having a handle on his situation or an understanding of who he was, and what he was. He had just scratched the surface and knew there was far more to discover, something he thought was inedible, no matter how hard he tried to keep it hidden.

It did take him a while to find the strength to leave. But with a bag packed and a goodbye note left for his grandmother Joshua now stood on the edge of his home town. He was leaning on his truck, a couple of bags and all the money he owned safely inside the vehicle. Joshua wanted to take one final look at what he was leaving behind. It was almost hard to leave but he knew it was something he had to do, so Joshua finally got back in his truck and began driving down the road.

Joshua didn’t dare to look back, it wasn’t long before he passed a sign that bid goodbye to anyone leaving town. He thought to himself that this was it, there was no turning back now, not that he planned to. And so Joshua kept on driving far away from his home town.