Full Moon

The first and only time I ever thought I'd see a werewolf was at age twelve watching Twilight...until tonight. My boyfriend Tim and I had been planning a camping trip since the beginning of March and with the weather finally warm and dry enough to make a decent fire, we set off for the forest campgrounds a few hours away from home. After mentioning our plans to the waitress at a small diner we stopped at for dinner, we made it to the campgrounds with directions she had written on a napkin for us. The GPS, as our waitress had predicted, proved useless once we reached the edge of the grounds so that napkin was a god send. We had a great couple of nights camping but eventually decided it was time to rejoin society and enjoy the miracle of cell service. Unfortunately, Tim had managed to lose the napkin with all the directions and swore that we didn’t need it because he remembered the path well enough. After driving in circles for what felt like hours, it became abundantly clear that Tim’s sense of direction was lacking. We passed a particularly mangled looking tree for the third time in the past hour, both of us equally frustrated as my tires protested the dusty soil on the dirt path with a rumble. We were lost in a sea of trees that obscured our vision from everything except the full moon peaking above us. The wind began rustling the tree tops and soon the moon disappeared behind a large branch as I inched the car forward trying to determine where to go next. A loud snap echoed through the quiet forest and the car lurched.

“Shoot! I think I hit a branch or something.”

I put the car in reverse and backed up without a second thought. A much louder thud and a jolt from behind us startled me as we hit something much larger than a fallen branch. Before I could open my door to inspect the damage, a low growl emanated from behind us. I froze, grateful for Tim’s fast reflexes as he reached over me and hit the button to lock the car doors. Movement caught my attention in the rearview mirror and all I could do was allow my eyes to follow the massive shape emerging from behind the car. Turning in his seat, Tim gasped and screamed at me to floor it as I sat watching the creature steady itself on two long furry legs. Its posture was grotesque, possibly due to the injury it must have sustained when I backed over it mere moments ago. Two bright yellow eyes met my gaze through the rearview mirror and before I knew it the creature began creeping closer to me with paws outstretched in a gesture I couldn’t begin to comprehend. I should have felt horror in that moment, and from the muffled screams coming from my boyfriend as he fought to be heard over the ringing in my ears, I was vaguely aware that the pity I was feeling wasn't normal. 

“I’m sorry,” I uttered before I realized I was speaking to the creature directly, “It was an accident.” 

An eerie sense of calm rushed over me as the werewolf reached for my window with one gnarled claw and began carving something into the glass. Tim had given up on screaming and had begun hyperventilating beside me, his gasps for air rhythmically matching the panting of the creature inches away from us. After what felt like forever, the creature finished its carving and gazed into my soul before turning on its heel and bounding away unharmed. 

“Penny,” Tim finally squeaked, “Let’s get out of here.”

I nodded and slowly shifted the car into drive. We rode in silence for a while until I finally spotted a paved road instead of the dirt one we’d been lost on all night. After noting a few road signs, I determined we were headed north back towards civilization. My boyfriend only uttered a few words to me as we both sat contemplating what we had seen.

“We need to find a gas station.”

“Okay.”

The ride was silent once again until we found a local garage with a few gas pumps out front. The second we pulled over, Tim hopped out and puked in the grass beside the road. In a daze, I ignored him and wondered aloud what the creature had carved on the window. It had been too dark to see clearly in the forest but the bright lights beaming down from the rafters of the tiny garage was enough to see what was on my window. I leaned closer to inspect it and blinked once, then twice. I felt like a cartoon character as I rubbed my eyes and traced my finger along the carving in disbelief. Tim eventually stumbled over to me and leaned over my shoulder to see what I was looking at.

“What is it?”

I removed my finger from the carving and we both stared at it for a long time in silence as the reality of our night set in.

“Are you kidding me,” Tim blustered, “This can’t be real.”

“He must have heard me apologize,” I muttered practically to myself as Tim began pacing behind me.

“We have to tell someone about this. I mean…don’t we?”

I shrugged.

“Maybe not. It can be a special memory for just the two of us. The three of us if you want to get technical.”

Tim shook his head, “I still can’t believe it.”

I let out a stifled giggle and he looked at me like I'd lost my mind. After everything that happened tonight I might just be a little crazy because somehow I found the carving oddly endearing.

“I kinda like it,” I joked.

Tim gave me a dizzy smile as he glanced from me to the carving.

“You know we could sell that window for a million dollars considering a cryptid touched it, right?”

I shrugged. 

“Probably. But it’s ours. It feels private somehow, like it’s just for us.”

“So you think we should keep it,” Tim asked.

I nodded.

“Why not? It’s a cute smiley face.”