Hidden Spirit

Chapter 1: Canada-2

Morgan and Nate were on a summer long, pat-on-the-back, 2,700 mile, circle tour of the Lake Superior shoreline to celebrate their graduation from college with shiny new degrees: Morgan’s in criminal justice, Nate’s in computer science. They were now on the last leg of the journey, heading to Sault Ste. Marie, Canada. From there they would cross back into the USA, where they’d started nearly three months before, and then home.

The trip had been Nate’s idea. The trip had been a dream of Nate’s since childhood. He’d told Morgan he’d always wanted to take this trip, and this would be the ideal time: before they got jobs and made other decisions about their futures. Morgan knew Nate was referring to decisions about them: Nate and him.

Morgan welcomed the plan. They’d met their freshman year at the university. He and Nate had been roommates for three years. As their friendship had grown and developed, they decided to move from their dorm room into a semi-furnished apartment off campus in their sophomore year and had been together ever since.

Morgan cared deeply for Nate. He knew Nate was in love with him. However, whenever Nate began talking about their lives after college and how their relationship might fit into those plans, Morgan had a reaction that he didn’t understand.

Objectively, Nate was perfect for Morgan: tall, handsome, athletic, intelligent, tender, and caring. Nate was all that anyone could want in a partner. But when Morgan thought about their future together something inside of him wavered. He rebuked himself for having such thoughts, telling himself that any man, or woman for that matter, would count themselves among the luckiest in the world to have a man such as Nate Spenser in their lives. Nevertheless, every time the subject of what lay ahead for them came up, along with it came the feelings Morgan couldn’t explain.

So, when Nate had suggested this trip, Morgan jumped at the idea as it put up a barrier of time. And time he needed to sort out his feelings before they made any plans for a future together.

At the end of the school year they packed up their apartment, moved their belongings to a storage shed, and took off for their summer adventure, leaving behind the decision as to what the future held. The only decision which had been made was that after their trip around “The Big Lake”, each would return to their parents’ homes for a time before deciding what to do. Nate’s home was nearly two hundred miles from where Morgan had grown up.

They’d traveled west from the Mackinac Bridge across Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, stopping at bed and breakfasts or camping, as they explored from the American side the wonders of Lake Superior, or Gitche Gumee, as the native peoples called it. That part of the journey was peaceful and idyllic. Morgan was relaxed and was enjoying his time with his boyfriend. It was shortly after they had crossed into Canada that the strange dreams had begun.

They camped on a beach on Thunder Bay. Nate and Morgan with a group of fellow travelers, were gathered around a campfire. The full moon hung low on the horizon. The sound of waves lapping the shore blended with the crackling of the fire. Morgan was sitting on the sand leaning against Nate’s legs, Nate was sat on a log behind him.

The late summer air held a hint of fall and most were wearing heavier jackets, sweatshirts, or sweaters. The mood of the group was friendly and jovial. Stories of the area were being exchanged and jokes told. Suddenly from a distance a howl could be heard.

“What was that?” one young woman asked, sounding more than a bit anxious.

“A wolf,” an older man answered.

This single howl was joined by a chorus of others as other members of the pack joined in.

Several in the group sat up and looked around apprehensively.

“No worries,” the older man said. “A grey wolf’s howl can carry for miles on a night like this. They’re a long way from here. Not likely to come anywhere near us with this large a group and the fire.”

The howling lasted a good ten minutes. When it ended, the group went back to talking. Morgan, however, was silent, hardly paying attention, letting the sound of the pack replay in his memory.

That night, Nate awakened him that first time, asking him if he were okay.