Beautiful Souls (6 page)

    
              I pulled the curtains aside in order to get a clear view of the noisome intruder in my yard that had distracted my dedicated attention. I drew my face nearer to the windowpane and let out a silent gasp as I watched a dark swooshing blur speed off across the lawn and disappear around the corner of my house.

    
             
What the hell was that?

    
              At least,
I think
I saw something running away. I barely caught a glimpse of the thing ---
the thing
--- and it all happened so quickly. I wondered if it could have just been the sun shining through my window, causing shadows and playing tricks on my eyes. It happened so fast. I couldn’t make out if the darkness I spied was even animal or human ---
animal or human?

    
              I stood stiff. I continued to peer through my window, another minute or so, searching and waiting for something, anything, to reappear.

    
              Nothing happened. I saw nothing and heard nothing. I reluctantly turned, after several minutes of searching, and sat back down along side all my papers that were still strewn across my bed from the previous hours of study.

    
              I reached over to my nightstand and grabbed my pop, took the last sip, then tossed it into the small trashcan at the end of my bed.

    
              I contemplated what the dark blur could have been. Surely what I saw --- or thought I saw --- was just a dog, or maybe a coyote, that had ventured out of the woods for an afternoon stroll. Possibly it had been lead to my yard by a fresh scent of whatever animal it had been stalking. Perhaps the scent of a squirrel, rat, even a rabbit or raccoon.
Sure that made sense
, I told myself. A wild dog, or at the worst a coyote which we did see on regular occasions around our house. These were both definite and plausible possibilities.

    
              The proximity of the woods to our home was so close that it was not unheard of to have wild animals appear in our yard quite often. My parents, for as long as I could remember, have always warned me to be on the lookout for such things during my frequent walks through the back woods.

    
              A coyote.
I’m sure that’s what I saw
, I tried to convince myself.                    Relinquishing to the fact that my concentration had been fully broken --- and I knew it would be too much of a task trying to get it back --- I decided to take a snack break. I stood from the bed, leaving the scattered papers and opened textbooks scattered haphazardly across my comforter, then headed downstairs toward the kitchen.

    
              “Hmm, what to eat, what to eat?” I whispered out loud to myself.

    
              I sifted through the pantry shelves and found nothing appealing, so I made my way across the kitchen to the refrigerator. I opened the door and felt the frigid air hit my cheeks as I searched its contents.

    
              “Some grapes, maybe?” I considered out loud again, taking a bit of joy in the fact that I was actually talking to myself.

    
              I pulled out the bottom drawer and removed the plastic grocery bag of green seedless grapes that my mother had just bought at the store the previous day. I shut the refrigerator door and walked a few steps over to the sink, placed just under the kitchen window.

    
              I looked out across the cornfield toward the back woods as I washed the grapes in the sink, then found a clean bowl from the overhead cabinet. I plucked the firm wet grapes from their stems, one by one, and dropped them into the bowl. When I had removed enough to fill my bowl to the rim, I grabbed the bag from the counter, chancing a quick glance out the window toward the forest as I was on my way back to the refrigerator.

    
              I gasped, dropping the bag of grapes to the floor, frozen with the shock of the figure that had just caught my glance --- again. The grapes fell from their bag, spilling out onto the floor and rolling freely under every single nook and cranny they could fit into. I felt a couple of them squish beneath my feet as I took a hesitant step back, startled and stunned.

    
              I saw it. Skin and dark fur --- maybe fur. It was still hard to tell with the blur of motion from the speed of the creature. A blurred swoosh, from a dark figure that I just caught a half second glimpse, made its escape into the front row of trees at the edge of the woods, then disappeared.

    
              I did see something this time, I was sure of that. The figure was human-like almost, but then again, it was unlike any human I had ever seen. The figure was definitely not a coyote like I had previously assumed from the noises I’d heard. It was too fast, too dark, and it just didn’t move with the same characteristics as coyotes do --- or humans, for that matter. It almost appeared to be a mixture of the two, although that was completely crazy, right?

             
My shock remained as intrigue and addicting thoughts of mystery also set in. I was still attempting to catch my breath and bring my breathing back to a normal rhythm, as I allowed my mind a moment to process what my eyes had just seen. I continued to stare from the kitchen window, longing to catch another glimpse.

    
              I finally conceded that it was not coming back, and I broke my gaze to close my eyes for a minute so that I could replay the split-second scene over again in my mind. I hoped that I could slow it down and receive a clearer view inside my head for a logical explanation of what this figure really was.

    
              No luck. No matter how many times I searched every corner of my mind and memories, the figure was unlike anything I had ever seen; therefore, there was no explanation that could be found regardless of how many times I racked my brain trying to find one.

     
              The grapes were still strewn all over the floor, so I eventually kneeled to clean up my mess. They were everywhere, and the sticky juice had already begun to congeal from the two that I previously stepped on and smashed onto the floor.

    
              “What a day,” I mumbled, still talking to myself.

    
              I think, perhaps, I was more disturbed by the fact that it took me the next fifteen minutes to finish picking up the grapes and then mopping up the sticky juices from the kitchen floor, than I was by my visions from earlier today and by the mysterious dark figure I had just spied darting into the forest just moments ago. A little excitement, and even some danger, in my life is exactly what I needed and longed for.                   Things rarely spooked me or caught me by surprise, but there was something different about that figure. Today’s events didn’t feel as if they were just random happenings or things that could simply be chalked up to as a strange day. Even though I wasn’t scared off by my visions and the strange figure, I couldn’t shake the feeling that more was out there; more than I ever dreamed to believe was actually here on this earth and not just parts of storybooks and fairy tales.

    
              I had always hoped, more recently than ever, that something different would happen in this small town --- but this? Something other than tomorrow’s everyday routine to get me out of bed in the morning was all I had ever wished for. Now, I think I was on the verge of all my hopes and wishes coming true. The phrase ‘
Be careful what you wish for’
resonated in my mind once more. I was scared, but more
so, I felt intrigued and excited. I felt a sudden purpose to my life. I had a mission now in searching out the truth to that strange figure and my visions of Zoey.

    
              I picked myself up off the floor, put the mop and bucket back in the laundry room, and walked back to the counter where my bowl of grapes sat, still waiting for me. I took one last look through the kitchen window toward the woods, even scanned the field all the way across to the neighbor’s houses, before finally giving in to the fact that there was nothing else to be seen. I reluctantly headed back upstairs to my room, snack in hand.

    
              I felt more anxious than ever. I had to find something to occupy myself, other than mundane homework, in order to keep my thoughts from running wild and getting the best of me. I decided to text Emmy and tell her the news about Leo asking me to Homecoming. I picked up my phone from the nightstand and began texting. I decided to add a couple question for Emmy in my text as well, to take the focus off myself and get her chatting. The more chatting the better, anything to distract my brain and take the focus off the craziness of today’s events.

   
             
what r u wearing 2 the dance?

 
              has Will asked u yet?

    
              Will’s a junior, like us, and Emmy has had the biggest crush on him since just this past summer when we ran in to him at the Fairview Town Street Fair. He had been there with Leo and a couple of the other football players. While Leo and I talked, Will and Emmy chatted for a little while as well. Emmy has been “
in love”
ever since.

    
              I couldn’t figure out what page Will was on though. He’s hard to read, and he keeps to himself for the most part. Will usually lets Emmy do all of the talking when we all meet up, but that’s probably a good thing since the girl never stops.

    
              My phone buzzed with a return text from Emmy, and I was a little wary with anxious anticipation to read her response to my news. Of course, just like my mom, Emmy said she had a feeling that this was coming. Had everyone else already seen what I was just now catching on to? I wondered if I was the only one around here who believed friends could remain “
just friends”.
Oh, who was I kidding? I didn’t even think I believed that anymore.

    
              Emmy also texted that Will still hadn’t asked her to Homecoming yet, but she added that she hadn’t heard that he’d asked anyone else either. So, that was a good thing. Knowing Emmy the way I do, she had probably been asking around school to see if Will had been bringing her up in conversations, but since Will’s the quiet type, I doubted he’d ever talk to anyone about Emmy.

    
              “Damn it,” I whispered to myself.

    
              I was hoping Will would’ve brought up the subject of Homecoming with Emmy while they were at school today. I might need to intervene, saving myself from many evenings of having my ear chattered off. How many more days could I keep up my friendly smile while Emmy rambled incessantly over Will and the ever approaching Homecoming dance? I made up my mind to ask Leo if he would mention the subject

to Will first thing tomorrow morning.

                   I texted Emmy again, reassuring her.

   
             
I’m sure he’ll ask soon

   
             
he’s probably just nervous

    
              I tossed my phone on the bed, along with all my strewn homework, as I heard the sounds of my mom coming in through the back door.
Thank God
, I thought. Something else to distract my over-stimulated and confused mind.

    
              “Becca, I’m home. I’m going to start dinner. You hungry?” she called out.

    
              I walked out of my room at the sound of my mom’s voice, then moved to the top of the staircase where I could see my mom standing below.

    
              “Yeah. I had a snack, but other than that I haven’t eaten since breakfast. I’m starving.”

    
              “Good, I’m making spaghetti. Sound good?”

    
              “Yep, sounds delicious. I’ll be down in just a minute,” I called to her.

    
              My dad arrived home, shortly after we had started boiling the noodles, and announced that he’d had a crazy day.
He’s not the only one
, I thought. It’s almost deer season, and this time of year is always busier for him that the rest. Being a Conservation Officer with the DNR always has had its ups and downs, but the craziness of the overly anxious hunters just before deer season had always taken its toll on my dad.

    
              The three of us ate dinner together at the kitchen table while we took turns volunteering bits about each of our days. My mother volunteered some of my day, however; the part that involved Leo asking me to Homecoming, of course, and my dad just rolled his eyes in response.

    
              We all finished eating, and I helped my mom load the dishwasher while my dad made his way to the living room, turned on the TV, and clicked the remote till he found a football game. I could hear the fifty clicks of the remote and the cheering of fans floating down the hall into the kitchen.