Once in a Full Moon Page 0,17

I was going, just as long as it was away from danger.

Then I heard another howl. Closer.

I wasn't sure which direction it was coming from. As I hurried along, I clutched my cell phone. My hands were shaking in the cold and in fear. I checked for a signal, but still nothing.

I heard a howl again. This time it seemed only yards away.

Being lost was one thing. If I could stay calm and possibly ride out the storm, I might be able to figure out the shortest route home. But this was deathly different. There wasn't time. I had to get out now - or not get out at all.

"Please help me!" I screamed again. "I'm lost!"

I only heard the sound of the wind and the tapping of the supersized flakes hitting the trees and ground and my own raspy breathing.

Then I heard a different howl. It couldn't be - another wolf? This time the howl seemed a few feet away and coming from another direction.

My heart accelerated. My teeth began to chatter, not because I was cold, but because I was scared to death. The silence only magnified my intense pangs of isolation. I'd never felt so alone and scared. I didn't want to die.

"Someone - please help me!" I screamed. "Help!"

I was blinded, lost, cold, and alone - only I wasn't as alone as I would have liked. Branches crunched and twigs crackled, and the sound of heavy breathing was near.

Then I heard a deep, maddening, and fiery growl. This time it was coming from behind me. I immediately stopped in my tracks, fear penetrating through me. Hesitantly, I turned.

Between the heavy-falling snow appeared a ghastly sight - four pairs of gray, beastly eyes.

I'd never been so close to wolves as I was now - not even in a zoo with a steel cage between us.

The wolves crept closer. I could see their wet noses and the breath coming from their snouts. They licked their lips.

Terror shot through me like piercing icicles. I quietly positioned my cell phone. Finally. A connection! My fingers shaking, I began to press the number nine. Then I managed to press the number one.

The leader of the pack growled, exposing his white fangs and black gums. Another wolf barked. Startled, I flinched. The phone fell into the snow.

I learned in Health and Safety class that in the unlikely event that a person encountered a wolf, the person should try to make themselves appear bigger. I stood on my tiptoes, which was difficult to do in the piling snow and my bulky, furry boots, and raised my hands in the air.

"Help!" I called. "Please, someone - help!"

I took a few steps backward, making sure I didn't turn my back on them. They paced back and forth, watching.

My arms became heavy; I couldn't keep them up much longer. I hummed a sweet tune to myself, hoping it would relax me and the wolves.

There was a break in the overcast sky. The full moon peeked out. Celestial and glowing, it radiated its magnificent brilliance as if it were trying to comfort me. But I was far from comforted.

The wolves weren't budging, and my circulation was draining out from my fingertips. It would only be moments until I'd have to bring down my arms, and then I knew they'd surely attack.

I felt a presence behind me and my breath stopped. Just like that, I was surrounded. I was frozen with fear, my heart pounding, my fingers still shaking, my lips quivering. I closed my eyes and began to pray. I wondered how my parents would find me - if they'd even find me. I imagined Ivy and Abby spending the next three years shopping without me and Nash finding comfort in someone else's arms. And I realized that in my seventeen years I hadn't experienced the one thing that had always eluded me - true love.

Then whatever that presence was jumped out from behind me. I covered my head and screamed.

I heard a lot of scuffling, growling, and howling. It took a few moments for me to even realize I wasn't in any physical pain. Was I already dead?

I peeked out from my defenses. I saw a figure holding a large tree branch.

The figure swung at the pack with the branch, running and chasing after the wolves. Growling and the horrible sounds of a struggle raged just beyond my