“Look…,” you say to your new companion. “Please don’t take this the wrong way – but I’m going to freak out if I’m stuck like this! Can you kindly help me to find that spell book? Then we could both get back to our human lives.”
The brown-furred she-wolf appraises you with a sad, yet sympathetic look. “I’ve already tried to find it, myself,” she replies. “Please don’t panic. I’ve come to accept my fate – and so have most of the others, if they are honest with you.”
You think again of your parents, friends, and everything else that you are in danger of losing – your school life, playing sports, your favourite meals, your hopes for the future, and so on. Whining, you take off and run for where you found the book. Certain you have the right place (your torn clothes are there), you sniff and scan the ground, noting that you can now only see in black-and-white.
The book is not there! You yelp in panic, and twist around to search further – only to trip over your paws again. Talk about having two left feet…
A snowy owl flies down to land on a nearby tree branch, and calls out to you. “You’re new here, I take it? Looking for the spell book, are you?”
You lift your head, and manage to nod. “Uh, yes… And yes. You were human too, I guess…”
The owl hoots. “Yup. My family and I were taking a picnic on a nearby trail, one day. My wife went to relieve herself after our meal. When she didn’t come back, the kids and I searched for her. Olivia – my daughter – found the spell book, and felt drawn to read aloud from a certain page. Next thing – ‘pufft’ – the children and I were reunited with my darling Chantelle. Ah, here they are…”
Three more snowy owls – two of them juveniles – close in and land on the tree – the mother perches herself next to the adult male. She turns her attention to you, and addresses you warmly.
“Oh, hello! I’m Chantelle. This is Charlie, and my brood – Oliver and Olivia. Are you all right?”
“Not really. I’m looking for the spell book. So that I can be turned back to my human form,” you reply, ears lowered. “It’s not where I found it before…”
“It won’t be, Mr Wolf,” Olivia tells you. “The book vanished, once we all became feathered. We never saw it again, though we searched all over the park and forest for it…”
“You don’t find the book – the book finds you,” Oliver adds wisely. “After it changes you into the animal that is right for you, it vanishes – to reappear in time for the next visiting person who is fed up with their human life…”
“…Or to re-unite loved ones,” Charlie finishes, as he and Chantelle snuggle up and preen each other. “Anyway, it’s not so bad living in this parkland and woods. We former humans all get along – and Erin could do with a good male to keep her company. Anyway, please excuse us – we’re hunting for food. See you around!” And with that, Charlie and his owl family take to the skies.
“Wait!” you whine. “Who’s Erin?”
“That’s me.”
You turn around, to see the friendly she-wolf sitting on her haunches close by. “And your name is…?” she asks.
“Oh! I’m Clyde,” you tell her. “So, Erin… Nice name. I vaguely recall meeting an Erin, but I can’t remember where…”
Erin stiffens to attention. “Do you, now? C’mon. Follow me – whilst there’s still daylight!” You follow her, as she breaks out into a loping run. The light wind feels good across your fur, and your whiskers twitch from all the scents you are picking up – pines, acorns, rabbits… Your mouth starts to drool with the thought of fresh food. You’ll have to get Erin to teach you how to hunt…
Pushing the lupine thought to one side with rising human concern, you halt besides Erin, who has stopped besides a pond in a remote, wooden spot. Panting, you fur bristles as you sense something special about the pool.
“Why have we come here, Erin?” you ask your new friend.
“I wanted you to see this, Clyde. This pool is magical – it must have some connection to whoever wrote that spell book,” she answers you. “Now – look into the water.”
You do so, and give out the lupine equivalent of a human gasp. You see yourself, as a fourteen year-old black boy, dressed as you were when you were transformed. Yet, as you glance down at your paws, you see that you are still a wolf.
Erin slinks up alongside. Her reflection is that of a thin, white girl of your own age, with chocolate-brown hair and soulful-looking grey eyes. She wears a brace over her teeth, and is dressed in a jumper and jeans.
“Oh! You are that Clyde – the polite black boy in my maths class!” Erin exclaims.
“Does the colour of my skin matter?” you turn to her.
Erin grins. “No. What does colour or human social status matter, when you are a wolf? What is important is that we survive and look after each other now! As a pack should do.”
Pack… The human word reassures you – but there are many questions on your mind. So you ask away. “You… You were that lonely girl in my maths class, at school. You vanished about two months ago! But why didn’t I remember that – until now?”
“Because you’ve just seen the snapshot of when I was last human. For you, it’s broken the spell of forgetfulness – the spell that was worked on every human when I turned wolf,” Erin explains. “Somehow, the image of us when we are transformed is captured by that spell book - and it remains as a reflection here, to remind us Changed of what we were.”
“So now that I’ve seen you in that pool, I can now remember you as a human? But nobody reported you missing! Nobody realised you were no longer at school… So, you mean we were all affected by the magical after-effects when you became a wolf…? Then that means…”
Erin locks her kindly eyes onto yours. “I’m afraid so, Clyde…”
You whimper, as you consider the implications. “I want to go home. Now!"