Janice was quite excited to see someone out at Moon Lake after the return visit. They had stopped to get a quick look during the initial driving tour, but didn't stay long enough to really see much more than that the snack bar and canoe rental building was closed for the season. Of course being early November in a northern state, that sort of thing made sense and thus Janice had accepted that as they drove on. However, after lunch ended with nothing else better to do, Janice had managed to talk Harry and Jenny into coming back to the lake. Even if it was closed and she had no swimsuit at the moment, there was the chance of maybe running into a weremer, which was really what she looked forward to. And now seeing someone swimming out in the lake caught her attention.
Barely paying attention to Harry and Jenny calling out after her, she made her way out the wooden pier that ran out from behind the snack and canoe rental shop. The boards were firm and smooth and for the moment there was no water on them, which let her head out safely and getting a look at the swimmer and hoping he was a weremer. That would make her day. She made her way out onto the end of the pier and then hopped up and down, hoping to attract attention from the swimmer.
"Hello!" Janice called out as she hopped up and down.
"Janice be careful!" Jenny called after her, "we didn't bring a swimsuit and it's pretty cool this time of year anyway!"
"Not to mention that much of the ground around the lake is relatively firm in some places," Harry added.
Janice ignored her guardians for the moment as she did hear their footsteps getting closer. Primarily because the figure saw her and heard her. There followed a series of splashes as the figure moved in a straight line along the surface toward the shore, and actually toward the pier. As the figure got closer, Janice picked out a few things. One the figure was male and was only wearing a pair of red swim trunks, and they were more easily seen as he got closer, doing the breast stroke as he got closer. As he got more into the shallows closer to the pier he stopped swimming and let himself float a little way in before managing to walk toward the pier just as Harry and Jenny arrived, wanting to make sure that Janice didn't decide to jump in.
"Hello there," the young male asked as he approached the pier, water dripping from him, "it's a bit late for the swimming season..."
"You're out here," Janice pointed out.
"Yeah... but my family lives out here," the male answered he then gestured to the modest cabins that were along the lake's southeastern shore.
Janice looked to them, and remembered seeing them before on the first visit. The short manicured lawns with some small bushes were still there. It left them more to be seen than some of the cabins on the western side of the lake which seemed to be more covered by trees. From what Janice remembered, Jenny and Harry had said that those were reserved either for tourists during the summer or special occasions for weres, depending on how much they paid for the cabin.
"So what brings you out this far?" the male asked, "miss..."
"Janice Harper...Jenkins?" Janice asked as she looked up to Harry and Jenny, "my older sister became a werefox and married Harry and then she saved me and my brother and we get to live here now."
The male guessed there might be some confusion on the name over custody issues, but shrugged that off. He'd heard something about the family "Harper," though. From what he recalled a female got clawed by the rogue and then fell in love with someone at the college and that lead to a big mess over the following wedding. He'd even remembered the Middle School going into lockdown because of an armed man fleeing Moon Lake Police in the general area. He looked over to see the voluptuous blonde haired woman coming out onto the pier and assumed that that woman was "Jenny."
"And anyway... I've really wanted to meet a weremer since hearing they were real," Janice spoke, "I'd imagine they all sing like Ariel and can talk to fish and stuff like that. Are you a weremer?"
"If they can talk to fish... I wish I was one," the male answered, "My name is Moses Mittleburg."
"You're not a weremer?" Janice asked looking down.
"I'm something better," Moses said with a smile, "I'm a wereotter... well... technically. I haven't had my first transformation, yet."
"Yet?" Janice wondered.
"A born were will live out their lives like they're normal human beings until they're fourteen," Moses answered, "puberty may still "start" earlier for girls than boys... but we'd all still look like kids until about fourteen. Then everything begins to kick into overdrive. It may still take until I'm eighteen to look fully mature, but once I turn fourteen... I'll have my first transformation and will become one of the cutest mustelids ever."
"Mustelid?" Janice said slowly.
"Weasels, Skunks, Otters, Wolverines, Badgers, and Honey-Badgers," Harry answered.
"But otters are the cute ones," Moses added, " we love to swim and play. It'll be fun when I'm old enough to transform. And will make the fishing seasons fun too."
"You fish in the lake?" Janice looked out over the lake and noting the calm otherwise.
"During the fishing season," Moses shrugged, "I have to use a pole because I can't transform yet... and since we haven't figured out how to farm fish here, we have to abide by state fishing laws, seasons, and licenses… but it's still fun, and my folks will even do it as catch and release with no intent of hurting the fish."
"Do you know any weremers?" Janice asked.
"Don't know," Moses gave a frown, "my senses won't enhance in human form until after I've had my first transformation. So I know most of my class mates at Moon Lake Middle School are weres, I can't be certain what kind of were they are. I think only two have had their first transformation, and they're both werewolves and happy to be werewolves. Said something about their neighbor helping them."
"What do you think of the water?" Janice asked.
"A bit cool right now... and getting colder, but on a day with no school... why not go swimming, it's fun right?" Moses gave a smile that was rather playful. "You're new here right? When will you start school?"
"That all depends on a lot of other stuff at the moment," Jenny spoke as she rested one hand on Janice's shoulder, "Hopefully soon she'll be able to go to the Middle School... maybe you and Janice could be friends."
"That'd be great," Janice managed weakly and offered her hand to shake Moses's.
Moses returned the handshake with some enthusiasm and ended up shaking a bit of water onto Jenny, Harry, and Janice, but it wasn't much and thankfully no one fell in.
"What do you do when it snows?" Janice wondered, knowing that it was November and that winter couldn't be that far off.
"Sledding," Moses smiled, "there are some spots that are pretty good, even in town. We have no great ski slopes... but some of the hills are good for sledding. It'll be fun. I even got an extra snowsuit I could loan you."
Janice couldn't help but giggle a little.