Althena

31. Woods Girl

Tomorrow is not better. I fight with Mike twice and hang up on him once. I don't smell him on me anymore, that makes everything worse. I end up gardening all day. I don't do anything else. Somehow, this garden never goes empty. When I think I'm about to be done, it fills back up with harvest. Monte tries to talk to me around dinner and I throw a pumpkin at him. Then I go to bed mad.

The next day is equally bad. I am falling apart.

I wake up with the phone ringing.

"Good morning."

"Morning, Mike."

"3 weeks and I'll be there, baby."

"Cancel the ticket. I'm coming home then."

"Oh, you don't want me there at all?"

"What are you talking about? I'm going to go home. Granny wanted me to stay 30 days. It'll be over then."

"Fine." He seems mad again.

I rub my face. "I'm tired of fighting. I don't even smell like you anymore."

"You smell like anyone else?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Never mind."

"No. You never mind. I am tired of fighting. I didn't do anything wrong. You accuse me of whatever is going on in your head. You make comments to hurt my feelings. I am done with this. I quit." I hang up and shut my phone off. He is not ruining today too.

I spend the day quiet and stay to myself. My heart hurts, but I can't go on that way. Monte has us do some weird martial arts moves for an hour and a half. Then we walk to the river. There is a training course on part of it.

"Monte, are you trying to drown us?" An older man laughs.

Monte smirks. "It's part of the warriors training program. They're going to be training here tomorrow. I figured some of you might like to try it. And the water isn't deep for the course. It only gets to about 3 feet. Stand up and you won't drown. Any takers?"

One of the younger men nods. "What do we do?"

"Up the monkey bars and over the mud pit. If you fall in, fight through the mud. Then scale the 6-foot wall. Jump off it into the water. Go under and over through the bars. Run over the balance beam. Climb the net wall to the platform. Propel yourself down the other side. I do have warriors up there to make sure you're in the harness correctly. Once you are in the water, there are dummies down there. Grab 1 and drag it to the shore. Then you are done."

He made it sound easy. But the mud pit is huge, and the monkey bars are spaced far apart. Then scale a 6-foot wall that is smooth concrete. The over under and balance stuff sounds easy. I've never done anything with nets or propelling. And how bad can it be to pull a dummy out?

A man runs over like it'll be the easiest thing in the world. He falls in the mud pit within the first 3 feet. Then he gets over the wall and falls in the river on the other side. The warriors get him out. He looks at us. "That mud pit will take all your strength. Do not fall in."

I watch 3 more people try. The furthest someone gets to is the net. Then he sort of lays in it. The warriors are watching everyone close.

"Anyone else?" Almost everyone is gone. I put my hand up, and he points to the start.

"City girls gonna try." A warrior winks at me.

I can do this. Instead of using the monkey bars. I walk up them like a ladder. Then walk across the top of them. He didn't say I couldn't and my balance is amazing. This freaks the warriors out though. They all climb on the tires surrounding the mud pit. The wall is different. I can barely pull myself up. But I make it. Then jump in the river. The over under bars are a challenge I didn't see coming. I lay on the last one for a second then roll back into the river.

Then I climb up to the balance beam platform and stretch. This is hard. I get over that with no problem. The net is horrible. I can see why someone laid in it. It takes everything I have to get to the top. I am covered in sweat and my body hurts.

"MONTE. SHE'S GOING TO PASS OUT."

"She can finish. Make sure she's harnessed well. If she does, I don't want her smacking the water."

"I'm ok."

The guy really tightens me in. "Lean back and walk backwards down the wall. I've got you if you slip. I won't let you fall."

I lean back until he tells me to step. I step backwards until I feel the river touch my back. Then another warrior gets me out of the harness. "WE'RE GOOD."

Monte smirks. "You've got 5 minutes to get the dummy out. He needs air. He's going to drown. GO."

What the hell does a dummy need air for? I dive in the second he says 'go' though. My adrenaline releases and everything. It's like my body is trying to save someone.

"4:30 GET HIM OUT OF THERE."

I find an arm and yank. It doesn't budge.

"HE WILL DIE."

I pull so hard and he starts to slide. If it stops, it's hard to start moving again. But when I keep it sliding, it's not so bad. Little by little I drag this thing.

"1 MINUTE LEFT. HE NEEDS AIR NOW."

I pull so hard and drag him to the edge.

Monte smiles at me. "15 seconds left. He might live."

The warriors crack up laughing.

I lay down beside the dummy. The warriors talk over me.

"I can't believe she got him out. It weighs twice as much as she does."

"I think we'll need to carry her back."

"Yea, get the dummy back out there and move her. I have one more that wants to try."

One of them lifts me up. "Warriors walk."

I shake my head. "I'm a city girl."

They crack up laughing again. Then I get carried to the shade. The next guy can't get over the wall. I reminisce about how hard that was. Then I get guided back to the park. I lay by the trees in the shade. This is fine. Beta brings me water. "Drink some water."

I lay there for a long time. Then I hear someone yelling.

"MONTE. BE EASY WITH MY GRANDDAUGHTER. SHE IS A CITY GIRL. I THINK YOU KNOCKED HER OUT THIS TIME."

After a nap, lunch, and drinking something weird from granny, I'm ok. I shower and go to the garden. But this is not what I want to do.

I shift into my wolf and play in the woods. I stay where it's empty, but don't go as far this time. I bounce and play. I scratch my claws on the trees and scratch with them. I pounce for a bunny and actually get it. I break its neck and it tastes good. I didn't expect it to taste good. Then I smell the rogue smell. It's faint but it's here. I look around and there's a big black wolf looking at me. He's not approaching. He's not hidden. He's watching. He tilts his head, then he takes off.

I hear the warriors coming from the other way. I get out of there. I'm not getting blamed for this.

Granny has me blow up pumpkins. Apparently, I harvested too many of them.

Monte shows up after a half hour. He walks up to me and crosses his arms. "What the hell was that?"

"Pumpkin."

"You can't hide your tracks. You were there. Are you meeting someone out there?"

"No. I was playing. I like being a wolf."

He grabs my arm. "WHO WAS IT?"

My eyes fill with tears. "You've already made up your mind."

"I'm sorry." He rubs his eyes. "What happened?"

I try not to cry. "I was playing. I walked over the downed trees. Then I killed a rabbit. I smelled him but it was faint. He didn't approach or hide. He was watching me. He ran when he heard the warriors. I don't know who it was."

"What color was he?"

"Black."

"You liked that rabbit, didn't you?"

"Yes. It tasted good. I didn't expect it to taste good. I didn't expect to catch it either. I've never caught one before. I want to try again."

"You were in a good spot. He tripped the alarm coming in. Will you stay back from the border a little more? Just until I can run a full search out there. I'll get it tomorrow afternoon."

"Ok."

"You did well in the training today. I was shocked you got the dummy out of there. Might turn you into a woods girl after all." He winks and walks away.

I eat dinner then go straight to bed. Today was hard.