After some feedback, I've also tried writing this without the complexity of wordplay I was using in previous stories, in that I'm not making things needlessly difficult to read and trying to get more at the root of what's going on. Tell me what you think! The goal here is to improve in all fields of interest, and second-party review would go a long way towards helping me with that. Whether you do or don't, hope you enjoy it.
Also, looking back, it looks like the first post I made here was Jan 16, and yesterday was April 16, so it would seem I've reached three months of doing this without missing a day. I wonder if I've gotten any better. Only one way to find out, but the agony of re-reading old writings might be difficult. Anyways, I've kept up my end of things, now for your part! Enjoy this story, and see you tomorrow at eight AM for, inevitably, more of something. Have a lovely day.
Lupine Valley by Mackinley Clevinger, April 17, 2016
Samuel was not like the other boys. While they wandered about the town in roving packs after school, he walked by his lonesome back to his home. While they had fun and played games together, he stood apart and watched. He knew he was different; he was from far away, and nobody knew him, so it felt almost wrong for him to join them. He’d tried it before, and they weren’t mean to him; he just knew he was different.
His parents didn’t know any of the other kids’ parents, or spend any time getting to know each other, or join the town in their nightly revels; except for his mom, some nights. They quietly went to work and came back home every day, just like Samuel; his mom going to the hospital while his dad went to the daycare. Samuel’s family had come to the valley less than a year ago, but he didn’t know why.
He’d been sad to leave his old home and his old friends, but his parents had said they had to move, so he tried not to feel too lonely. It worked, sometimes. Most of the time Samuel was lonely, and worried about his parents. After his mom had been hurt, they stopped being as happy, and had moved away. Their old friends had stopped visiting them after she got back from the hospital, too.
Samuel was nine, and wanted to be a train conductor when he grew up. Or a fireman. Ever since coming to the valley, he’d started to want to be a vet sometimes, too, but he didn’t quite know why. The town always smelled like the pound where they’d left his dog, Buster, before they moved away, but he got used to it. He got used to a lot of things.
His teachers were nice to him, but they treated him differently. Everyone in the valley had been born there, and he couldn’t stop looking over and seeing people staring at him. Especially the teachers. The few times he’d thrown a tantrum, they always got between him and the other kids, leaving him alone at his desk while he cried until they were sure the class was far away from him before making him feel better. He didn’t know why they always separated him from the other kids.
The walk from school to his home was long, but Samuel didn’t always have to make it alone. On days when his mom and dad were too busy working all day, Mr. Jeffrey would look after him. Mr. Jeffrey was from out of town, too; he told Samuel that he was in the valley to look after the town for some nice people that had told his parents about it, too; people that wanted to make sure the town was alright. He asked Samuel if he thought the town was alright or not, and Samuel just shrugged his little shoulders.
Mr. Jeffrey was always with Samuel when the moon was full. All day long, he’d be talking on his phone and meeting with the mayor, but when it got dark he and Samuel’s dad would watch his mom go for a walk. His parents always cried, but he didn’t know why; she was just going for a walk, right? It was always a long walk, too; she only got home the next day, and was in new clothes.
Samuel asked his dad if she was going camping, and Mr. Jeffrey told him that she was. He asked why he and his dad couldn’t go camping too, which made his dad look at Mr. Jeffrey in a weird way before explaining to Samuel that it was mommy’s ‘special’ camping trip, and that they’d take him out some day if he really wanted to. He didn’t, though; he just wanted to know where his mom went.
Sometimes other people would come to town every month. People with signs who yelled at everyone, even Samuel, and called them dogs and told them they were going to a bad place that he was told was a word he couldn’t say. Mr. Jeffrey spoke to these people, and for a while they left after that, but lately there have been more of them. Men wearing vests and carrying sticks had to show up last month after Mr. Jeffrey couldn’t make them leave, and there was a lot of shouting.
These people scared Samuel more than the town ever did, but they said they were protecting people. He didn’t understand it, and whenever his mom or dad found him there they took him away from the loud people. They said some people are just born hateful, but Mr. Jeffrey said they didn’t understand. Samuel asked him what they didn’t understand, and he said that people are people. Samuel didn’t know what he meant, but knew not to keep asking questions.
Samuel’s dad took him to work one day, and he got to play with puppies. It was the first time Samuel had gotten to play with anyone that had wanted to play with him, and he had fun while his dad taught some younger kids. It was fun until parents arrived at the daycare and told Samuel to stop playing with the puppies. His dad looked nervous after that, and Samuel didn’t understand anything.
Samuel didn’t understand why no one wanted to play with him, or why people treated him weirdly, or where his mom went every month, or why his parents were always sad, or why he couldn’t play with the puppies, or why people were always shouting, or why Mr. Jeffry was the only babysitter, or why they had had to move to Lupine Valley at all and leave all his friends behind. He didn’t understand why he was always sad all the time.
His dad said he would understand one day, and his mom got teary-eyed before hugging him and saying that everything was going to be okay. Samuel didn’t know why things couldn’t be okay right now instead of one day in the future, but he knew his mom was sad, so he didn’t say anything. He did that a lot to his parents, and it seemed to make them cry less when he didn’t ask questions.
Samuel never went to the hospital; he was told it wasn’t allowed, even though he used to go with his mom all the time before they moved. They said a boy his age didn’t need to be around sick people, but Samuel had never gotten sick from going to the hospital. He thought that maybe they were trying to keep him away from someone who had lost an arm or something, but he actually wanted to see someone become a cyborg. His mom laughed at this, and it made him feel better to see her happy.
Samuel could go to the daycare, but the puppies were kept somewhere else, now. His dad wasn’t in the same room as them anymore, and just taught boring old stuff to kids too young for Samuel to play with them. The daycare was boring, but he tried not to tell his dad that. There was always another man in the room now, too, and dad was more nervous than he had been.
One night, Samuel’s mom went camping, and Mr. Jeffrey wasn’t there. The people had been yelling a lot that day, and there were a lot of them. His dad had been waiting for him outside of school where Mr. Jeffrey usually was, and he hurried Samuel past the people with their signs. They were saying a lot of mean things, and yelling at everyone. Mr. Jeffrey was talking to them, but they weren’t listening.
They watched his mom leave for the night without Mr. Jeffrey. Samuel’s dad told him that Mr. Jeffrey was busy trying to calm people down and make things safe for everyone, that Mr. Jeffrey wanted to help and was doing the best he could. They didn’t usually watch T.V, but his dad turned it on that night and didn’t talk to Samuel very much. He told him not to leave his sight, but kept watching the T.V as a man talked about something that didn’t interest Samuel very much.
For hours they sat there, Samuel doing his homework and reading while his dad circled the room, watching the T.V for a bit before looking out the window. Samuel didn’t know why his father was doing this, and asked him, but all his dad said was that he was worrying too much and needed to stop being a spoilsport. They played some games, and Samuel was happy for a while.
Then Mr. Jeffrey opened their door, and Samuel gasped. Mr. Jeffrey always wore a nice, gray suit and a fancy hat. He always wore a tie and glasses, and was clean. Tonight, Mr. Jeffrey’s hat and glasses were gone, and his suit was dirty and ripped. He leaned against the door, breathing heavily, and Samuel’s dad ran up to him, scared.
Samuel couldn’t hear what they said, but his dad looked at him and said something to Mr. Jeffrey, and he ran away into the night when Mr. Jeffrey nodded his head. Samuel asked Mr. Jeffrey what was going on, and Mr. Jeffrey sat down where his dad had sat and told him that people were misunderstanding, but it would be okay, and that he didn’t have to be scared. Samuel wasn’t scared, just confused. He asked where his dad went, and Mr. Jeffrey said to go do something foolish that he had to do.
Someone knocked on the door after that, but it wasn’t a nice knock. It sounded like someone wanted to break the door, and it scared Samuel with its loud booming that hurt his ears. Mr. Jeffrey got up and looked out a window, and said a very bad word. He ran over to Samuel and picked him up out of his seat, putting him down and holding his hand as he ran for the house’s back door. Samuel was confused, but was paying too much attention to running to ask any questions.
Behind Samuel, he heard the door bang against the wall as they left the house and ran across their grassy backyard towards the trees. The forest was always nearby in the valley, and after only a short run being led by Mr. Jeffrey they passed their first tree. Samuel looked behind him, and saw people in their house. He tried to stop and point it out to Mr. Jeffrey, but he didn’t let go as they kept running. Samuel could see a lot of light coming from the town, which was weird; it was night time.
Samuel didn’t want to be a firefighter anymore. Mr. Jeffrey pulled him deeper into the forest as fire roared in the town, Samuel’s own house joining in the blaze as people followed them waving sticks with fire around. Samuel was scared of the fire, and ran as fast as he could while Mr. Jeffrey pulled him through the woods. The people with the sticks shouted and laughed as his house disappeared beneath the blaze, tears wetting Samuel’s face as they ran. He tried not to cry, but he couldn’t stop it.
Mr. Jeffrey suddenly stopped in a little empty patch of trees, putting a hand on Samuel’s chest as he kept on moving over the rocky ground. He took Samuel by the shoulder and led him to a hollow tree with a small opening in the bottom, telling him to hide inside. Samuel opened his mouth to argue, fearful tears falling, but the bobbing torches in the forest and the people’s shouting sent him into hiding.
Mr. Jeffrey stepped away from the tree, smiling at the boy’s hiding place, and turned towards the people coming out of the short tree-line, waving their torches around and lighting up the cold dark of night with red light that scared Samuel. He ducked further back into his hiding place as they surrounded Mr. Jeffrey, saying mean things to him and calling him a dog. Samuel didn’t know why they kept calling people dogs, or why anything was happening.
Samuel put a hand over his mouth and tried to stop crying as Mr. Jeffrey said things back to the people. He was telling them to stop, but not in a scared way. Samuel thought Mr. Jeffrey was really brave… but then they started hitting Mr. Jeffrey, and they wouldn’t stop. They kept shouting mean things while Mr. Jeffrey was on the ground, and after a while they stopped and left, laughing as they ran away into the forest with their torches.
Samuel took his hand off of his mouth and wiped at his nose, fear making him shake as sobs tried to escape his lips. He crawled out of his hiding place and walked over to where Mr. Jeffrey was, scared to get close and look but the dark of night making Mr. Jeffrey blurry from far away. Samuel walked slowly, the crunch of leaves and sticks beneath his feet as loud as the door slamming open before his home was burnt down to his ears.
He reached Mr. Jeffrey’s side and fell to his knees, the sobs he had kept back pouring out at the sight of Mr. Jeffrey’s beaten face. Samuel fell over Mr. Jeffrey’s chest, body shaking as his young voice shrieked in fear and grief, the sound bouncing through the dark forest and reaching ears that angled themselves to hone in on Samuel’s location.
Something crunched behind Samuel, catching him mid-sob and sending a chill through his body as he slowly turned from where he lay by Mr. Jeffrey and saw two dots of yellow-light behind him, dots that grew in number and began to move around the tree line all around Samuel. He screamed, begging for help as one set of eyes, gentler than the rest, stepped forward slowly on padded feet.
Behind Samuel, a furious red light appeared, shining itself on a wolf that bared its teeth and turned away from Samuel to disappear, the other sets of eyes gone as dozens of pairs of feet crashed through the woods to reach where Samuel sat, Mr. Jeffrey lying still beside him. Samuel was glad to see the light, fear chased away as the wolf left him and Mr. Jeffrey. He stood as the people came closer, tears on his face as he walked towards them.
They asked him if he was okay, and he said Mr. Jeffrey was hurt worse than him. They asked him if Mr. Jeffrey had abducted him or hurt him, and he said no. The people looked at Samuel for a moment before asking him if he was from the town. He said he was. They asked him where his parents were, and he said they had run off into the night. The people surrounded Samuel, harsh light of the torches shining on his face as their voices changed from worried to uncertain.
Samuel stepped towards the line they had formed, but the man there lowered his torch to block him from moving. He said it didn’t matter that he was a kid, if he was one of them, then they had made a decision. That they had seen him in the town before, and was one of them. The other people agreed with him. Samuel was scared again, aching throat in pain as sobs rose again and tears fell down his face.
The man who had blocked Samuel started talking, saying horrible things to him about… Cleansing. Abominations. Evil. He called Samuel horrible things that he didn’t understand, and Samuel recognized the man’s voice from the people with signs he had listened to after school months ago. Samuel’s crying got louder, and the man told him to shut up, shouting words that Samuel knew he shouldn’t ever say, which only made him cry harder.
The man stepped forward from the line, face ugly in its hate. The rest of the people were chanting at Samuel as the man raised an arm above himself and brought it down across Samuel’s face, the pain and force dropping Samuel to the ground roughly besides Mr. Jeffrey. Samuel didn’t know why any of this could be happening. How anyone could do this to him, or to Mr. Jeffrey.
The man turned from Samuel and started yelling, the rest of the people shouting back when he paused. Samuel didn’t know what he was saying, but he didn’t mind not knowing. He hurt too much to want to know what was happening around him. Samuel crawled over to Mr. Jeffrey and lay on his chest, crying while the man kept yelling and waving his torch around, finally pointing it at Samuel as he walked over to him.
Samuel could hear him now as he said that there was only one way to kill them. The man swung the torch at Samuel, the heat hurting him as he cried out between sobs and turned away from the man to press his face into Mr. Jeffrey’s chest. One of his arms reached up around Samuel protectively, an agonized sigh escaping his lungs. The man reached an arm back to swing again, shouting “They fear us!”
Samuel only heard the wolf with the gentle eyes as it leaped from the darkness beyond the crowd of people to catch the man’s arms in its jaws and break it as she landed, sending the man and the torch rolling across the floor as she growled at the crowd while the man screamed. The people with torches were scared, but yelled at the wolf, closing around it and jabbing at it with their torches.
More wolves leapt from the darkness into the light, knocking people over and sending torches flying through the air as the crowd screamed in fear and broke away from their circle around Samuel, Mr. Jeffrey, and the gentle-eyed wolf. They scattered into the woods, lights bobbing and dying out as groans of pain and screams of fear rose around Samuel, stuck to Mr. Jeffrey by a protective arm.
The wolves took ahold of the disabled men and women by their feet and dragged them away as the gentle-eyed wolf approached Samuel and Mr. Jeffrey, walking around them to face Samuel from the front and nuzzle Mr. Jeffrey gently. He stiffened, briefly, before letting out a breath and dropping his arm from around Samuel, dropping into a deep sleep.
Samuel looked up from Mr. Jeffrey’s chest into the eyes of the wolf, flinching away at first before leaning towards her slightly, eyes glazed over in tears. The wolf stepped forward gently, watching Samuel for any signs of alarm before taking another step towards him. Samuel reached a hand out, body shaking as the wolf nuzzled his hand and licked him, bringing a soft laugh out of him.
Samuel fell forward, wrapping his arms around his mother’s neck, and hugged her close.