The SUV made it's way along the wooded mountain roads of Washington State. Inside was a family of four, father William, wife Martha, and their two sons Nate and Eric. Nate was going on sixteen, a bit on the quiet and geeky side whereas Eric, a couple years younger at fourteen, was more athletic but also had a bit of an ego that had a tendency to alienate some people. Their father, William, had just gotten a new job teaching Literature at the local college and they were all moving to Moon Lake to start fresh. There had been some trouble in William and Martha's marriage, but they were committed to each other and hoped this new start might be good for all of them.
The SUV pulled up to their new house and all four family members got out and took in where they would now be living. The house was a lovely and large two story home that sat on several wooded acres of land just outside of town. The rest of the family followed William as he walked up to the front door and unlocked it. They were all taken in by how homey and spacious it was, with an open floor plan on the main floor with the living room flowing into the dining room and the kitchen.
"Alright, you two, go pick out your rooms and no fighting," said William to his two sons.
Nate and Eric tore upstairs, both quickly deciding on their two rooms. Eric picked the one towards the front of the house with the bay window while Nate picked the one in the rear, with a large window overlooking the four season porch in the rear. Both had their attention pulled when they heard a large truck stop in front of the house.
"Hey kids, the movers are here!" exclaimed their Dad from downstairs.
William and Martha stood on the front porch watching as the movers paraded their belongings past them into their new house.
"Do you think we made the right choice?" asked Martha.
"Honey, we didn't have a choice. I was let go from my last teaching job. This is where I got hired on." William gave his wife a reassuring smile. "This is going to be great. We have a beautiful house and are living in a fantastic small town."
"You're right, this is going to be great," replied Martha.
* * *
Nate settled down on his recently made bed after a lovely dinner of pizza and soda and started playing on his phone. He scrolled through Facebook to see what his friends back in Minnesota, where he and his family moved from, were up to. He was starting to feel homesick when he started to hear some loud howls from outside. Welcoming the distraction, he walked over to the window and looked outside. He couldn't see anything though. There was a knock on his bedroom door and he turned as he saw his mom walk in.
"You getting settled in okay?" asked Martha.
"Yeah." Nate turned back to the window.
"Did you hear that howling? I guess we're in the wilderness now, huh?" said Martha.
"Not quite Mom, town is only a couple miles away." Nate walked over and laid down on his bed again.
"Look, I'm sorry we had to move and you had to leave all your friends. But your Dad couldn't get a job in Minnesota so we had to move where he could. I would expect you to be mature enough to understand that." Martha sat down on the bed next to Nate, facing him. "This will turn out to be for the best, I promise."
"Okay, Mom." Nate and Martha hugged for a moment and then she left him be. Nate sat his phone aside and wondered thought to himself. He and Eric were starting school tomorrow. He couldn't help but feel nervous about it. But before he could get two wrapped up in a full blown anxiety attack, he heard another howl from outside. It was a lone howl and almost sounded lonely to Nate somehow. "That makes two of us, buddy."
Nate returned to flipping through his phone, hoping the school day went well at least.