Sharon Barlow's day began quietly as she expected it to. And as she had to a degree expected, she had shifted back into her human form in her sleep when the sun rose. The transformation into wolf form could be painful at first, and for some it was a painful experience all the way until the end, but for some there was a euphoric and potentially even sexual feeling that went through werewolves when they transformed. Transforming back to human form had the potential to be just as painful, but in Sharon's experience, werewolves typically fell asleep sometime during the night and weren't conscious for the return to human form. Mostly because while werewolves did have greater energy than humans and could function easily on much less sleep than humans, that didn't mean that they didn't get tired in wolf form. Sharon awoke, stretched and slid off the bed before moving over her own luggage and getting out some clean and comfortable clothes.
Once that was done she made her way back toward the lobby and settled into the continental breakfast that they provided. It was fairly crowded with people, several of them likely there on business or dealing with some other mission. Though as Sharon set about assembling her breakfast, toast with cream cheese and jelly along with a bowl of cereal and orange juice, she overheard nearly every conversation, but one conversation did sound out to her.
"People's Talk was rather interesting last night," said one man in a business suit, "not as balanced as they normally are... but it was a good show."
"Getting a look at the cause of the incident was interesting," the man's associate answered, "I'd wonder if it would kill all the supposed rumors that it was staged or baited action of some kind... or that the werewolf was dumb."
"It'll probably kill all the rumors on what caused the incident, not much more," the first commented, "regardless, it was interesting to hear."
Sharon quietly took a bite of her toast and continued to listen in.
"So what do you think will happen?" the second man asked.
"After last night's episode?" the first replied, "that'll depend on how much attention the guys in Washington pay... though, honestly, I'd actually think it'd be a good idea to give them equal rights. The guys against them argue against it and insist that werewolves are dangerous... ALL that will do is make them dangerous. If we go around killing them, they'll rightly feel threatened and would have the potential to respond in kind. We'd create our own problem..."
Sharon watched the second nod in agreement before looking to the metal bracelet on her right hand, a silver colored band with a black stencil of a wolf's head on it. It was the standard mark to identify a werewolf while in human form and typically fit in with the registration laws. She was partially surprised at how little people were paying attention to her presence. People could spot the bracelets from quite some distance, usually keying in on the glint of the metal in the light.
"I agree," the second nodded, "we give them rights and that will give them the chance to prove themselves. Hopefully it all works and things get back to normal."
"Define normal," Sharon thought to herself, but did feel fairly good about the conversation. They may not have been werewolf fans, but they were certainly more willing to give them a shot a good life, which was really all anyone could ask for. She quietly ate her breakfast, paid for her room, returned her keys and walked out to begin her long and lonely drive back to San Francisco. The police who escorted her back to the hotel weren't there, though most of those security measures were only for when a werewolf was transformed. After setting her luggage in the trunk of her car she climbed behind the driver's seat and pressed the onStar button on her rear-view mirror to call the San Francisco Police to let them know that she was going home.
"Hello?" came the answer from the other end of the line.
"This is Sharon Barlow, of the Barlow Practice in San Francisco," Sharon spoke, "I was in LA as part of The People's Talk. I'm now on my way home and am letting you know that I'll be on the road."
"Yes," the voice that replied was low, "we saw you on television. You did fairly well.”
“Thank you,” Sharon replied, “but I do have a long drive ahead of me, is there anything else you need from me before I get underway?”
“Just your license plate number,” the voice on the other end of the line answered.
Sharon gave it and was soon on her way home. It was a long and lonely drive, as she had come down by herself. Her work had been reasonably successful as many of her clients had been loyal to her and kept her as their attorney even after she had been forced out of the firm she had been in before and open her own private practice, and that is what encouraged the People's Talk to contact her. They had wanted more than just a werewolf being affected by all the regulatory actions that had been taken against werewolves since the incident. They wanted a werewolf that had some degree of success, which she figured would help demonstrate that werewolves were neither satanic murderers or mindless beasts.
The only thing she regretted was that she had had to come by herself. She had driven on California's State Route One before and she had commonly enjoyed being able to look out at the broad expanse of the Pacific on one side and California's mountains on the other. Her husband had enjoyed these drives as part of an idea to "commune with nature" as he called it. It had also at times provided her with good conversation, but she wouldn't get that on this trip. She had to leave him in San Francisco where he working essentially as her secretary. As she steered around one corner on the highway, she turned on her own car radio, and set it to the station for National Public Radio (NPR) which commonly had some in depth news coverage and updates. It wouldn't be her husband's voice, but it would provide some background to the drive that she had.
A man's voice was heard to say. It generally sounded calm and folksy. It wasn't the twang of someone from Texas or the drawl from the deep south, but its tone wasn't one that was educated for the purpose of being intellectual. "This isn't about human to human relationships. Werewolves AREN'T even human. The human form is but a disguise that they wear. This is about preserving the natural balance, something the werewolves themselves even claim they care about... but the kicker here, is that they DON'T care. By their own admission, they've been POACHING wildlife for years. If we were to poach game, we'd be arrested... and yet this bill does not put the same punishment on werewolves who have all but admitted that they have been poaching for years. They want rights, fine, but they must also be JUST as accountable as we are. We can't have one set of laws for humans and another for werewolves."
Sharon only sighed. The commentary had to have come from some Senator who was in opposition to the bill to granting werewolves equal rights. It wasn't quite the fear driven "they're out to eat us" argument that occurred immediately after "the incident," but it was still being used to further the purpose of keeping werewolves as second class citizens.
"That was South Dakota's Junior Senator voicing his opposition to bill being debated in Washington DC regarding the extension of the 1964 Civil Rights Act to werewolves," the NPR reporter then spoke, "which has made him one of the leading figures in the opposition, though Minnesota's Junior Senator has commented before going into this morning's session with the press..."
Another man's voice then came into play saying, "Can we say that werewolves are guilty of poaching... but then, heart of the issue was their secrecy. Given the murders of werewolves, they've had GOOD reason to hide. And since they were hidden... they couldn't go out and follow what we would consider "legal" means of feeding themselves. They want to protect against poaching? Wonderful. First time the GOP has engaged in ANYTHING that is respectful of the environment. But that doesn't mean we need to deny werewolves rights."
The radio than returned the NPR reporter, "and data from the US Park Service would indicate that the White Tail Deer and Mule Deer populations have been steadily increasing for several years even with werewolves "poaching" them during the full moon nights. These issues have been involved in the debate of late, and is actually a sign that a possible compromise can be reached between those favoring giving werewolves equal rights and those in the opposition."
Sharon listened quietly and continued to drive a long.
"At least we're making progress," she thought to herself, though she wondered on what would be the end result of these debates.