The Coyote's Embrace Ch.2

Gayle

That school day was like any other day; boring, terrible and tiring. I dreaded going to my first block Trigonometry class. Not only did I hate the class, but I could never see how it was going to help me in the future. I still don’t. I was an English major. The class conducted the same as it did every day: bell ringer on the board and the normal lecturing. As the teacher Mr. Fugue was speaking, thoughts of that morning ran through my mind. Then he called on me to answer a question that I didn’t hear.
Crap, what was the question, I thought with embarrassment. I looked around and everyone had their eyes on me. I felt my skin get warm and it was turning red. “I don’t know,” I muttered looking down on my desk top. I felt like I was going to throw up. The teacher, of course, just sighed exasperatingly and asked the same question to another student. Everyone was still staring at me as if I were a moron. Do they have anything better to do than just stare, I thought sinking lower in my chair.
My next class was World Geography, which was a picnic compared to the embarrassment in Trig. There we, the class, watched the Jackie Chan version of “Around the World in Eighty Days.” While the movie played, I wrote a note to my friend April Kells who sat right beside me. In the note, I told her about my weird feelings I had that morning. After I was done, I crumpled it up and dropped it next to her desk. She picked it up, looked over at the teacher, Ms. Wheeler, who was deeply engrossed by the film and tucked her long caramel colored bangs behind her ear: her signal that she got it. Then she flattened the paper and read the message.
“Tell me more about it at lunch,” April whispered loudly after she was finished. Then we heard a Shush. We looked over at the teacher who apparently heard her. “My bad,” she whispered apologetically.
Next was lunch, where April and I caught up with our friend Kandis Danes. Lunch consisted of Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes, green beans, a roll, butter, and ever- refreshing bottle of milk. I could only eat the roll with butter since the steak tasted like rubber, green beans were like wax and the potatoes were a little too starchy. After washing the food down with milk, I looked at my friends who were waiting for me to talk.
“Okay, tell us what happened,” April said opening her milk bottle.
“Well, as I was getting the dogs their food and water, they were growling towards the woods and I was getting a strange feeling that someone was watching me,” I replied.
“Creepy,” Kandis muttered with a shiver.
“Reminds me of that horror movie. You know the one I mean. The one where the trees are alive and they eat people that go into the woods,” April commented.
“Yeah, I remember that one,” I said,” It scared me so much that I couldn’t remember the name of it.”
“Me neither,”Kandis seconded before taking another bite of her steak.
“How was Trig.?” April asked me,” You looked kind of sick when you came into World Geo.”
“Ugh, don’t ask. It was torture. I didn’t hear the question the Fugue asked, he called on me, and I told hi I didn’t know. Everyone was staring at me as if I was a fresh carcass and they were the vultures,” I said with a frown. Kandis dropped her fork on her plate abruptly.
“Gee, Thanks, Gayle. I was really hungry, you know,” she scolded. Kandis was one of those gifted with a trim figure no matter how much she ate. Something to do with high metabolism. Sometimes that made me jealous.
“Sorry, K. that was the only simile that came to mind,” I apologized, “Here have my green beans.” I scraped them off onto her tray.
“Now I forgive you,” she said with a smile,” I hate when teachers do that. They assume we know the answer to every question. Then they call on us just for the fun of it. Whatever happened to democracy?”
“Apparently, it’s a dictatorship in the classroom,” I responded with a sigh.
“You got that right. So are you ready for that test in English,” April asked wiping the milk from her upper lip with a napkin.
“Yeah, chapters six through eight of Jane Eyre. I think I’m ready for it,” I said confidently.
“How many times have you read that book any way,”Kandis asked while putting butter on her roll. Before I could answer, April gave a little squeak, poked me in the arm and pointed for me to look behind. So I turned around and blushed brightly when I saw who it was. There was Kenneth Cleary, the captain of the wrestling team and hottest boy at Parkersburg South High sitting down with his friends.
“Did you have to point him out? Now my face is going to be red all day,” I grumbled and playfully threw a napkin at her. April and Kandis giggled. “Well, I got to go before the traffic in the hallway gets bad,” I said getting up from the table. As I walked to the trash can to dump my tray. I looked over at Kenneth. He looked absolutely edible in those jeans and those dimples were so cute. Then Wham!
“Did the little nightingale forget that food goes in your mouth not elsewhere?” A sickly sweet voice said in front of me. The voice belonged to Brooke Carmody, the queen bee of the school and Kenneth’s on again/off again girlfriend. She flipped her shiny salon-styled red hair over her slender shoulder. I looked down and my shit was covered in mashed potatoes. The cafeteria was in an uproar of laughter. I looked around me. My friends looked as if they were ready to strangle Brooke right then and there. Then my eyes came to Kenneth who was laughing hysterically with his friends who were making piggy faces at me. I felt like a hole was sucking me into the floor. Tears started to form so I ran to the restroom to clean the mess off before they even shed. I didn’t want my friends to see me cry. Then I took a paper towel and damped it with water. As I wiped off the mashed residue, April came into the restroom followed by Kandis who was holding a large green shirt in her hand. She had a bunch in her locker just for those kinds of emergencies.
“Are you okay?” she said handing me the shirt.
“Thanks,” I said taking it and fighting the tears, “I’m fine.”
“We know you and you’re a terrible liar. How do you really feel?” April asked patting my back gently.
“Really, I’m okay,” I chuckled with a small smile.
“I don’t get why you bottle yourself up like that. It’s not normal,” she replied worryingly.
“I’m not exactly a model for normality, besides it’s just a shirt. It will wash,” I commented with a smirk.
“That bitch! One of these days, she is going to end up with a broken nose that even her father cannot get the best plastic surgeon to fix,” Kandis growled angrily making a fist.
“What are you going to do? Swing a door open in her face,” April laughed. I giggled. Out of the three of us, April was the comedian. Always there to brighten people’s day.
“Now that’s not a bad idea,” Kandis snickered mischievously. Our laughter became louder. Then I went to change in one of the stalls. When I was done, we went to our lockers, which were right beside each other, to get ready for our next classes.
The Jane Eyre test went smoothly and it was not long until I was in library for Community Service. There I helped the librarian Ms. Bram, put books back on the shelves and other errands. I loved that library, because it was never crowded and was always quiet. It was just me and my other friends, the books. Just like Kandis and April, they never judged me or laughed at me.
When I was done putting the last book on the shelves, I sat down at one of the tables and began writing. Writing was one of the only activities that ever kept me sane. While I write, I can express the feelings I hold back from the public. The world of words were my sanctuary; my life preserver in the stormy sea of life.
“Gayle, you’ve been a great help this year and even the years before,” Ms. Bram said as she approached my table.
“Thank, Ms. Bram,” I replied with a smile as I finished writing.
“Writing another poem. Do you mind if I read it?” she asked. I nodded and hand her the paper.

Hidden Anger

My mind wanders into lost territory,
Between explosive anger
Or just plain ticked.
I just want to throw something
Or hit anything or scream my lungs out;
But my rage keeps staying behind glass,
Waiting to be broken.
Behind my façade,
My anger is filling to the brim.
I rather not explode,
But the cork just won’t stay on.
Unlike Jekyll with his Hyde,
The evil is within.
My heart has a scratch,
That a band-aid can’t cover.
Maybe this smirk will do,
Before the cork pops,
And Anger run over.

By: Gayle Siegfried


“This is really good. It should be in Wood Whispers. Have you thought about submitting something?” she asked giving my paper back to me. I took it and nodded my head. Wood Whispers was a literary magazine for secondary students in Wood County. I sometimes thought about it, but I was never brave enough to turn one of my best poems in. “Seriously, you have talent and I hate to see you waste it.” Then bell rang.
“See you tomorrow then,” I said as I left.
Later when my siblings and I got home, we heard our parents yelling at each other from outside the door. We looked at each other and we knew we had to wait until the coast was clear. For months, this had been the norm.
“All you ever do is sleep. You never do what you say you are going to do. It’s like this family doesn’t matter anymore to you and you hardly ever look or talk to me,” we heard Mum say.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” our father replied sarcastically.
“Really, Ted, I don’t. You are so full of it,” she retorted.
“Whatever,” he muttered as he came out the door. When he saw us, he smiled as if everything was hunky-dory. “Talk to you kids later.”
“You off to work,” Tobey asked. Dad was the night-shift maintenance man at the Cozy Room Inn in Mineral Wells and usually got home really really late.
“Yep,” he answered with a sigh.
“Well, see ya then,” I said. Alixe nodded as if to say the same thing. We watched him as he started the Chevy truck and drove away. When we came through the door, Mum was dabbing her eyes. She greeted us with a sad smile. We knew she had been crying so we gave her a comforting smile back.
“So how was school?” she asked us. We answered her with the word “boring”, and then she gave me a confused look. “Was that the same shirt you wore this morning?”
“Um, I had a little accident at school and Kandis let me borrow an extra shirt she had in her locker,” I said looking down. I didn’t want her to see the hurt in my eyes.
“What sort of accident?” she asked worryingly.
“It was nothing. I was being a klutz and didn’t watch where I was going,” I assured her. Tobey and Alixe looked at me like I was stupid. Apparently the whole school knew about it.
“Oh, for crying out loud!” Alixe exclaimed with disgust,” Remember that girl that pulled that prank on Gayle at that sleep-over when she was in fourth grade and at her ninth grade prom? Well, she bumped into Gayle on purpose and splattered mashed potatoes all over her.” I glared at her and she walked away along with Tobey. Mum looked at me.
“That Brooke Carmody. I’m going to call her mother and give her a piece of my mind,” she said sternly. I gasped for I didn’t want her to do that. It would have made matters worse.
“No, Mum, don’t. It’s okay. The only casualty was my shirt,” I pleaded with wide eyes.
“Are you sure,” she asked. I nodded. Then I took my jacket and my book bag to my room. Alixe was taking a small nap so I went quietly back to the living room where Mum was sitting on the couch studying. Tobey was probably also in his room because we were alone.
“Don’t you have to go to work tonight?” I asked her. She looked up from her book and smiled.
“Nope, they didn’t need me,” she said happily. I sat down next to her and sighed, then after two minutes, I got up again and started to pace. I guess I was driving her insane, because she groaned and looked at me with annoyed eyes. “Stop that! I can’t concentrate with you being antsy,” she commented.
“Sorry, I’m just a little bored,” I told her.
“Don’t cha have homework,” she asked with her eyes still in the book.
“No, I finished it at school,” I answered, Is it okay if I take a walk?”
“As long as you are back for dinner and are careful,” she replied. I nodded again and went to put on my jacket, then headed out the door.
As I was walking towards the woods, I heard multiple whimpers. I sighed and turned around. Duke, Angel, and Mia looked at me from their kennels with frightened eyes as if the were tell me not to go.
“Guys, I’ll be fine. Don’t worry,” I assured them, and then I went into the woods.
After walking for what seemed like an hour, I decided to sit down on an old hollow log. I felt the breeze on my face and I breathed in the fresh autumn air. I wanted to stay there, but knowing I couldn’t, I grew frustrated. So frustrated that I wanted to throw something, but the only things there were to throw were rocks and sticks. So I picked up the nearest stone beside me and threw it. Then I heard a noise and stood up. There in front of me was a full grown silver coyote looking at me. It looked friendly, but I had to be careful. I had heard of people getting attacked by a pack of coyotes on the local news channel some time before. Of course, this was only one coyote, but I couldn’t take that chance so I started to run.
In the corner of my eye, I saw that it was following me. So I ran faster until I got to a steep slope. While going downhill, I tripped on an above ground tree root and started to roll. As I was going down, I tried to cover my face with my arms, but it didn’t do much good. Then Smack! Everything went black.






Sean

I tried to look for the girl. I didn’t mean to startle her. Then I saw something shimmer. It must be her. She was wearing a leather jacket. Oh, please, let her be alright, I prayed nervously. When I got to her, she was still breathing, but unconscious. I was relieved. Her face was covered in dirt and there a couple of angry bleeding scratches above her right eyebrow. An aroma of lavender and vanilla rolled off her skin then I took her jacket by my teeth and pulled her all the way to the cave I was staying. As I pulled her, I found her glasses. Then I let go of her jacket, retrieved them with my teeth and placed them in her pocket.
When we got there, I placed her somewhere dry. I looked up to the sky to thank God for keeping her alive and saw that the sun was setting. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes as the light mist came rolling in and surrounded me. When I opened them, the mist was gone and I was in my normal human form. The only downside to this was that when I change: clothes don’t magically appear except for the silver cross around my neck. So I went into the cave to put on clean clothes and to get a wash rag and my water canteen before she woke up.
After I was done, I tended to the girl by cleaning her face. Her skin was a light creamy canvas with an upturned petit nose (probably from an Irish heritage), light pink lips, and a small faint scar on the right side of her face that brought character. I brushed the longish bangs of her short stiff honey blond hair away from the scratches to clean them. I didn’t have any bandage to cover them so I ripped a long piece of my shirt to wrap around her head, and then I picked her up and placed her gently on the make-shift sleeping bag Rothella thrust on me. It was getting a little chilly so I started a fire to warm the girl and to cook the rest of my rabbit that I had caught earlier.
As it cooked, she woke up with a wince rubbed her head with her right hand and winced again. Then she gasped and searched her pockets until she found her glasses.
“Ugh, wet,” she said trying to shake the, well, my drool off of them. I chuckled quietly. Then she wiped them off with her shirt and placed them on her face. She gasped again when she saw me.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you,” I said putting more wood on the fire.
“That’s okay. Oooo, I feel like I got hit by a semi,” she moaned.
“Actually, you had a nasty acquaintance with a tree. Hungry?” I asked gesturing to the rabbit. She shook her head no and started to get up, but ended in falling back down again. “Just take your time,” I spoke calmly, “Not very graceful, are you?” She glared at me. “By the way, what’s a girl like you doing in the forest by herself?”
“Well if you must know, I was taking a walk. What about you? What’s a guy like you doing in a place like this?” she asked. What was I going to tell her? If I told her the truth, she wouldn’t believe me so I had to be evasive.
“I’m Sean,” I said abruptly.
“I didn’t ask for your name.” she stated suspiciously.
Be cryptic, Sean, I said mentally to myself. “I sort of live here,” I answered. She looked at me as if she was confused. I smirked a little. Good, that’s what I wanted, I thought.
“Okay………, Sean, you got a last name with that?” she asked.
“Sorry, that’s classified. For right now, we’ll go with just Sean,” I replied as I took the rabbit off the fire.
“I’m Gayle Siegfried,” she said, “How long have I been out?”
“Little over an hour or so,” I answered.
“Holy Crap! I got to go. Mum must be wondering where I am,” she exclaimed as she slowly stood up, “Um, thanks.”
“You’re welcome,” I replied kindly. She started to walk. “Wait!”
“Yes,” she said as she turned to look at me.
“Take this,” I tossed her my only flashlight, “It’s dark. You may need it.”
“I’ll bring it back,” she promised. I looked at her then the ground.
“You don’t have to,” I smiled at the fire then to her.
“See you around, then?” she asked running her fingers through her hair. My pulse raced and I gulped.
“Maybe, though I would advise against it,” I told her with a shrug. She turned and walked away but stopped and turned around.
“I’m not big on following advice,” she smirked.
Twenty minutes after she left, I decided to eat. I knew that eating peaceably would be out of the question when a black raven swooped down and landed by me. I rolled my eyes and continued to eat when the dark fog surrounded it. Then it dissolved to reveal the beautiful dark haired and eyed Rothella in a dark velvet gown. That moment, I lost my appetite so I placed my meal in a bag so I could bury it later that night. Her eyes looked down to me and her full sensuous lips formed a sultry smile.
“Hello, Darling, how was your day,” she said in a husky soprano.
“Swell, as it always has been,” I replied with sarcasm. She knelt down beside me, leaned in toward my ear and gently combed my hair with her long slender fingers.
“I know how to make it even better,” she whispered. Her voice sound angelic and almost tempting yet it gave me a feeling of dread, despair, and nausea. Forcefully, I pushed her away and stood up to walk towards the fire. Then I quickly turned around and looked at her. I had a longing to wrap my hands around her swanlike throat, but I knew despite her delicate from that Rothella was not weak and would certainly kill me with just the snap of her fingers.
“Frankly, the thought of you being here wouldn’t make anything better. You ruin anything that would bring anyone, in this case, joy and pleasure,” I spoke bitterly and turned away again. Then I felt the familiar excruciating pain coming right from the middle of my chest. I turned to look at her again and saw that she was pointing at me. I went down on my knees clutching my chest. I wanted to die. I wanted for the pain to stop. I wanted God to just take me right there. Then she noticed my torn shirt and lowered her arm. The agony ceased.
“Tsk, Tsk, you torn you shirt,” she commented,” Seriously, Dearest, can’t you keep anything I give you in good condition?”
“I must have got it caught on a branch or something,” I growled struggling to stand up. Then she sniffed air as if she were a wolf on the hunt.
“You had a little friend here, did you?” she asked with a cruel smile. I looked down the back to her sternly.
“I was alone,” I declared keeping composure. Her smile widened and she moved towards me as if she were floating.
“You’re lying, Love,” she purred a she stroke my jaw line with a hooked finger. I was frozen with fear. “Don’t worry. I won’t harm her as long as she doesn’t get involved in our little secret.” Then she leaned in to kiss me, but I turned my head so her lips were placed on my cheek, and then she transformed back into a raven and flew into the darkness. I took my bag one hundred feet away from the cave to bury it and I came back. Then I laid down on my sleeping bag which Gale used and which still smelled like lavender and vanilla. The scent was relaxing, but I couldn’t sleep because my mind was crowed with thoughts of her.
“She mustn’t know for her safety and my family’s,” I said to myself.







Gayle

When I got home, I spotted my grandparents’ olive-green Subaru in the driveway.
Mum must really be freaked out, I thought as I opened the door. She hardly ever called them unless something was terribly wrong. There in the living room, I found Mum sitting on the couch with a look of worry on her face and Grandma and Grandpa comforting her. As I shut the door, she looked up and ran to me.
“Don’t you ever do that to me again! Do you know how worried I was?” she cried shaking me by the shoulders then embracing me tightly.
“I’m fine, except for a little clumsy moment,” I said calmly pointing to the bandage. Her face turned white.
“What the heck happened?” Grandma asked with concern. Then Grandpa started to unwrap them gently with his large wrinkled hands.
“Ran into a tree,” I replied. He inspected the wounds carefully.
“You’ll be fine. Just some scratches and a bruise. Nicely done on the first aid. Now why did you run into a tree?” he asked gruffly. I didn’t really want to tell them, but I did.
“I was being chased by a coyote,” I mumbled biting my lower lip. They looked at me with shock so I decided to change the subject. “Tobey and Alixe asleep?”
“Yes and the dogs are fed,” Mum said in a stifled voice,” Now what else happened?” So I told them more about the coyote, my “accident” and about the boy in the wood who found me. Then I told them I was going to bed.
“Don’t go into the woods anymore until it’s safe,” she said. I nodded. “Goodnight.”
As I went to sleep, my thoughts drifted to Sean, my mysterious rescuer. My handsome mysterious rescuer. Some how he seemed familiar to me, but I didn’t know why. Who was this boy and why was he really in the woods?