The light from the parking lot didn’t stretch
far down the path before the darkness swallowed it. Conner stumbled
over an unseen sapling and prayed that it was past poison ivy
season. Outside in the growing night, the pain in his body
subsided. His senses seemed heightened—he could smell the stench
from the dumpster behind Sylvia’s, the earthy odor of the woods and
dirt path, the fresh evening beyond. Now that he was among the
trees, he wanted to race through them like…like a wolf, his
mind whispered. Yes, like a wolf. He wanted to feel the wind
against his face and through his hair. He wanted to feel the earth
beneath his hands and feet, dig into the soft ground and roll in
the grass. He wanted to howl out all his dreams and frustrations at
the moon above, and wait for an answ
