Microsoft Word - The_Howling_Heart_AB_forPDF (2 page)

stopped and turned its attention to the puppy; not in an aggressive way, but almost like it was

listening. Other wolves approached me but their demeanor was non-threatening. They seemed to

be curious now. I stood frozen in fear and started to plan my futile escape.

Luckily, I didn’t need a plan because I was about to be rescued. In the distance, I heard

my parents and other people calling my name.

I yelled in relief, “Mom, Dad, I’m here! Help me!”

At the same time, most of the wolves retreated…but not the puppy. I grabbed my suitcase,

and as I turned to run toward my parents, I felt another tug on my pant leg. I looked down and

spoke soothingly.

“No, I have to leave.”

He released me and sat on his hind legs. Then he scooted toward me and laid his head on

my foot. His whimper actually broke my heart.

“I’m sorry, I can’t stay with you.” My eyes welled with tears.

My mother’s voice called out to me, desperate and anxious. “Paige, where are you?”

“I’m here, Mommy!”

My friend backed away, but never took his gaze off me. I heard a deep bark from one of

the wolves. I looked up to see the big gray one standing by a tree. It was calling to the puppy.

The puppy turned its head quickly before he looked back at me…one last time. Sadness is an

unmistakable expression in any animal, and I know that’s what I saw in his face. I was surprised

when he ran toward the wolf. A second later, they were both gone…swallowed by the darkness.

My father reached me first and pulled me into his arms. I looked at the spot where my

friend disappeared, shocked by the revelation he wasn’t a dog…he was a wolf.

My dream fast-forwarded because too many years have passed for me to remember the

rest of that night. The following morning I woke up surprised to find a dead rabbit at the foot of

my bed.

Copyright © 2011 April Bostic

T H E H O W L I N G H E A R T

A p r i l B o s t i c P a g e |
9

When my mother entered my room, she immediately noticed the rabbit…and the blood.

“Paige! What is that?” She shrieked.

My father yelled from the hallway. “What’s going on now, Maggie?”

“David, get in here!” My mother looked disgusted and clapped a hand over her mouth.

I sat on my bed and stared at the gray lifeless body of the rabbit. Its dead black eyes

looked at a spot on my quilt and it had a ring of blood around its neck. I had no idea where it

came from.

“Mom, I'm sorry.” I scrambled off the bed to pick up the rabbit, but my mother grabbed

my arms.

“Don’t you dare! It could have diseases!”

My father finally entered the room. He looked confused for a moment before he set his

gaze on what my mother was having a fit over. He pointed at the rabbit.

“What is that and where’d it come from?”

My mother sighed heavily. “What does it look like? It’s a dead rabbit. Get rid of it

because I want it out of this house!”

He ignored her demand and approached me. He knelt in front of me and I saw concern

behind his eyes. “Paige, did you bring the rabbit into your room? Tell me the truth, sweetheart.”

“No, I didn’t. Dad, I swear I don’t know how it got here. I woke up and it was there.”

My mother glanced at one of the windows. “Why is your window wide open?”

I shrugged and cast my gaze toward the floor. “It was hot in here last night, so I opened

it.”

She slammed the window shut and locked it. When she turned to me, suspicion filled her

eyes. “Did you go out last night and bring that dead thing into the house?”

I shook my head vehemently. “No!”

My father started walking out of the room. “I’ll get a trash bag. I need some rubber

gloves too.”

I looked after him, but once he was out of sight, I set my gaze back on my mother. She

stood a few feet from my bed, hands on her hips and lips pursed tight.

“We’re washing
everything
on your bed.” She made a gagging sound in her throat when

she looked at the rabbit. "Ugh! That’s disgusting! I can’t believe---"

"It wasn’t me," I said in a small, quiet voice.

Copyright © 2011 April Bostic

T H E H O W L I N G H E A R T

A p r i l B o s t i c P a g e |
10

She sighed again. “Then who did it? Who came into your room and put a dead rabbit on

your bed?”

All I could do was shrug.

My father returned minutes later and disposed the rabbit. My mother kept to her promise

too, and removed everything on my bed and washed them thoroughly. She flipped my mattress

over after she sprayed it with Lysol.

The scene in my bedroom dissolved until I was playing in the backyard of the cabin.

Since I was an only child, and hadn’t met any children on the mountain, I had to entertain myself.

That afternoon, I decided to play a soccer game with a giant Evergreen tree as the goalie. I

kicked my rainbow-glittered ball toward the tree, but missed my mark and it rolled a few yards

toward the forest. I was about to run after it, but someone grabbed it first. I gaped in shock

because I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

When the stranger picked up my ball, my eyes nearly bulged. I’d never seen a naked boy

before, but this boy wasn’t wearing a stitch of clothing. He was taller than I was, but looked

around my age. He had a suntan and sandy blond hair, longer than my mother would’ve

preferred. She didn’t like boys with long hair. He was in serious need of a bath because his hands

and feet were filthy. He held the ball against his stomach as he slowly walked toward me.

This young naked stranger entranced me and I couldn’t move. He walked toward me and

slowly closed the distance between us until I could see every feature of his face. The color of his

eyes reminded me of green apples. When he cocked his head and grinned, I noticed a brown

mole on the upper left corner of his mouth.

I still couldn’t move and struggled to find my voice. He frowned, and his eyes darted

around our surroundings.

That’s when I finally found my voice. “Who are you?” I felt highly intrigued by him. His

gaze met mine but he didn’t answer me. “Where are your clothes?”

He grinned again and held out my ball. I took it from him in thanks. He took another step

forward and reached out his hand. I flinched when he made contact with my skin. His hand softly

caressed my cheek, and a wide smile broke free on my face. The boy smiled back, and in that

moment, I was happy to see another kid. It didn’t matter anymore that he was naked. We could

still play together as long as my parents didn’t see him.

“What’s your name?” I asked quietly.

Copyright © 2011 April Bostic

T H E H O W L I N G H E A R T

A p r i l B o s t i c P a g e |
11

His expression was calm and his eyes casually scanned my face. He seemed intrigued by

me as well.

I didn’t understand why he wouldn’t answer my questions, so my brows furrowed in

confusion. “Can you talk?”

Finally, his lips parted. I thought he was about to speak, but his gaze darted toward the

cabin. He looked back at me and a pained expression crossed his features. He grabbed my hand

and pulled me, and my feet slid across the grass toward him.

Everything happened so fast, I cried out in surprise. “Hey! What are you doing?”

He released me and stepped away, but hesitated before he turned around and ran toward

the forest.

I reached out for him. “Wait!” But he disappeared among the trees.

“Paige! What did I tell you about washing your glass after you have a drink?” I turned

toward the cabin to see my mother standing behind the screen door, hands planted sternly on her

hips. “Get in here right now!”

A loud beeping sound snatched me out of my dream and tossed me into reality. My eyes

snapped open and I stared at the ceiling. I was back in my Manhattan apartment, lying in bed

while the grating noise from my alarm clock blared in my ears. I reached over and slammed my

palm on the snooze button. The beeping ceased, giving way to the bustling sounds of the noisy

city outside. The morning sun barely peeked through the blinds. In my dimly lit bedroom, I

exhaled a wistful breath and recalled my childhood memory for one brief moment.

I didn’t see the dirty naked boy again, but the next morning I found a dead squirrel on my

bed. My mother almost had a conniption and she wouldn’t let me sleep in my room after that.

She also cut our vacation short.

The following summer I had asked my father to take me back to our cabin. I wanted to

see the white wolf pup again or the young boy. To my disappointment, something came up at the

last minute and he couldn’t take me. I never asked my mother to take me because she was never

fond of the place to begin with. The mountain was too remote and our last experience turned her

off from being around wildlife. My family never returned to the cabin.

Before the year was over, my parents went through a nasty divorce. I missed the wolf pup,

and maybe he missed me too because I could’ve sworn I heard a wolf’s howl on the day we left

Black River.

Copyright © 2011 April Bostic

T H E H O W L I N G H E A R T

A p r i l B o s t i c P a g e |
12

My dream lingered in my mind when I arrived for work. I sat at my desk and

immediately booted my laptop. I should’ve been reading company email, but I went on the

Internet instead. After a quick Google search, I found a photo of a white wolf and saved it as my

screen saver. I immediately closed the browser, my eyes darting around the office. I had to be

cautious when browsing the Web. My boss could walk by any minute and she didn’t tolerate a

moment of company time spent indulging in personal online pleasures. If she caught you, you

had better have a convincing reason or else she’d fire you on the spot.

I took my position seriously and enjoyed my dream job at
Elle
, a prestigious fashion

magazine. I started as an intern five years ago while I was a freshman at New York University.

When I graduated last year, they offered me a position as the Assistant to the Creative Editor.

Nina Fuentes is my boss and one of the most respected Creative Editors in the magazine

industry. She’s also the first Latina to hold the position at
Elle
. I’ve always been ambitious and hoped to sit
in
her office one day instead of
outside
of it.

My phone rang and I heard our receptionist Lacy’s voice on the other end. “Nina is on

her way up and wants you to meet her in her office.” Her voice sounded serious.

“Sure, but let me ask you something. How did Nina sound when she called you? Did she

sound pissed off?” I worried my bottom lip between my teeth.

“Uh, I don’t know. She sounded normal, I guess.”

I released a breath. Although I’m ambitious, I tend to be a little absentminded at the

wrong times. It’s never intentional and I hope I hadn’t exhausted Nina’s patience. I couldn’t

count the number of instances where I thought she’d fire me. I guess she realized I had potential

if I could organize myself better. The BlackBerry she gave me really helped and I’d gone five

months without forgetting anything important. That was a record for me. She was the one who

hired me as an intern. I thought that perhaps she saw me as her protégé. Any opportunity she

presented to me, I always tried to give one hundred ten percent.

After I hung up with Lacy, I walked swiftly toward Nina’s office. I should be sitting in

her office when she arrives, not the other way around.

The door to Nina’s office was open, so I walked in and took a seat on the other side of

her massive, white wooden desk. She’s meticulous about her belongings, and everyone in the

Copyright © 2011 April Bostic

T H E H O W L I N G H E A R T

A p r i l B o s t i c P a g e |
13

office knows
never
to touch anything unless she gives you permission. I sat patiently with my

hands folded in my lap and watched the second-hand tick on the fourteen karat gold Tiffany

clock sitting on her desk. I heard her voice within close distance, so I quickly retrieved my

BlackBerry from my pocket. In addition to working on my absentmindedness, I worked hard on

my preparation skills.

I heard Nina’s voice behind me, her Spanish accent prominent. “Ah, Paige, I needed to

see you.”

I turned my neck to look at her, but she quickly walked to her desk. My gaze followed

her every move intently. “Yes, is everything all right?”

Her black tresses were styled bone-straight with a part in the middle. She put her
Coach

purse on the desk before she took a seat in her cream leather office chair. She didn’t answer me

right away, and I just looked into her almond-shaped brown eyes in anticipation.

She smirked and lifted a manicured brow. “Don’t worry, you’re not in trouble.”

I sighed in relief before I let out a nervous laugh. “Oh good.”