Fifty-Three

I look up at Ava as I continue,

"When I got back to my grandmother's hut as the sun started to rise, I decided as I climbed back in my window that I would never tell anyone as the Elders saw all wolves as threats as they were too close to the beasts that would raid our village once every five years. I never saw the bully again. I heard he and the rest of his family left the village. After that night, I would sneak out of the house every full moon, attend the bonfire with my friends, and then go for a walk. Just after the moon would reach its peak, the wolf would join me. Sometimes I would walk around the woods, others we would find a nice spot and I would lie down with him and run my hand in his fur while telling him everything that had happened over the month... When I was with him, I never felt as alone as I did when he wasn't near me. It was good as he could never judge me for being different, the only time he ever seemed to complain was when I would remove my hand from his fur...