Moon's Shadow by Christina Tyson (books like beach read .TXT) 📕

I watch from the shadows as he bends over in pain. Suddenly there is a snap and a long bone is sticking out of his back. He screams as his body is torn apart by some invisible force and reforms in a different shape. I suppress a scream and fight the urge to vomit right there upon the pine needles. Squeezing my eyes shut tight, I try my best to wake up.

But of course it isn't quite time yet: when I open my eyes, the boy is gone, and in his place is a large black wolf that seems to be staring straight through me with his big golden eyes. As he walks forward, towards me, I prepare for the dream to end, but instead I hear a rustle to my right and my head snaps in that direction. With barely enough time to see the large jaws getting ready to close down on my throat, I wake gasping for air in my dark bedroom.

~~~

"Luna! Stop that racket over there. What's wrong? Did you have the dream again?" When I open my eyes, my older sister, Nixie, is sitting on the edge of my bed and staring at me with a little concern and a lot of annoyance. I sit up, nod, and whisper, "This time it was different. It was a little longer," glancing at the clock as I said it. Three-thirty; I had three hours before I was supposed to get up for school. Nixie got up and got a glass of water from the bathroom. "You know, you really should see someone about this. I've noticed your grades have gotten worse since these dreams started. Maybe you just need more sun or something. Tomorrow after school we're going out."

As I drink the water, I think to myself: I don't need more sun! I go outside to my hideout every single day. You just want to control my life. But the words I say to my sister are, "Fine, but I really don't think it'll help.” Pausing, I decide to bring up something to bring her off of her idea of taking me out for the day. “Wait, don't you have cheer leading practice or something? You wouldn't miss that for the Apocalypse, so don't miss it for a couple of silly dreams." Nixie looked thoughtful for a moment before her response came, "Come on, Luna, if something like this were happening to me, you'd want to try and do anything you can to help, right? So let me help you." Knowing she'd never change her mind, I nod again and pull out my late History homework.

~~~

Later that day, I find Nixie waiting for me at the front entrance of Cameronville High School. At first we walk in silence, kicking rocks back and forth in a miniature soccer game. Then Nixie's phone screams a shrill cry, breaking the peace. It startled me into kicking the rock a bit too far, and it went past her foot and into the soft grass. I run after it and stopped when I saw that it had fallen into the snake-infested ditch. I was about to turn back around when I noticed something strange in my peripheral vision: two tiny glowing lights deep somewhere in the pine forest.

I began to shiver because of the slight breeze--or maybe because I was suddenly back in my dream, every bone in that boy's body breaking and reforming. I open my mouth to scream, but nothing came out.

Then everything came back and reality stared me in the face: Nixie was staring at me, almost as if she’s waiting for an answer. I stumble back over to her side. "I'm sorry, Nix, what did you say?" She rolled her eyes. "I said, are you alright on your own for now? I know we had plans and all, but apparently, the girls can't give me one day with my little sister." I nod, staring down at the ground so she couldn't see how relieved I am. There's no telling what she would have thought up to help get rid of my dreams. Not that anything she did was going to help, anyway. In fact, it might have made it worse.

She shoves her phone back in her purse and then shoves the purse in her backpack. Then she embraces me in a hug and walks back the way we'd come.

Walking alone, I found my feet carrying me to my hideout. I try to come here every day after school if I can get away from Nixie. It’s the only place where I can get away from everyone else and feel like there’s actually something left of the Old World. The Old World isn't contaminated with cars, humans, and technology. There're no cellphones, no buildings, no murder, and no clothes. You don't need clothes when you're the only one there.

To tell the truth, I haven't been to the hideout for about a week. Which is about how long the dreams have been going on. I don't know why--maybe because Nixie has been fussing over me--which is really unusual.

The hideout looks just the same--at first. But as I push past the thorns at the entrance, I notice a small bit of fabric stuck on the thorns. I pause in my struggle through the thorns. Is this mine? It can't be--I never get my clothes ripped when I'm going through the entrance, not anymore, anyway. I pry it away and study it. It's kind of dirty, and it's black. I don't believe it--all this time. No one has ever found my hideout--but now--now there's proof that someone's been here. Tucking the piece of fabric in my jeans pocket, I finish entering the hideout.

At first, I look around for more signs of others having been here, but when I don't find any, I drop my backpack on the ground about two feet away from the pool and drop my clothes on top of that. The water is cool when I get in and wade to the middle, where it's deepest. I dip my head under the clear water and look at the tiny fish and tadpoles swimming around me. Maybe it's my imagination, but they always seem happy to see me. I come back up for air and then go back under, all the way to the bottom. Then I go back up again and rest silently in the shallow area.

Coming to my hideout is always something for me to look forward to--especially when I'd had a hard day, or week. By the time I gather my things and begin my walk home, the sun is sinking behind the rolling hills, and I stop my trek for a few minutes--just to enjoy the beauty of the scene.

~~~

"Luna, where's my iPod?" Nixie's voice wakes me up from the most peaceful nothingness that I have had in the week since the dreams started. "I don't know. You know I don't use all that complicated, unnecessary technology of yours," I mumble, wishing I was still asleep. Cracking my eyes open, I find myself staring at my clock, which must be broken, because it says it is almost twelve in the afternoon. My sleep automatically forgotten, I sit bolt upright in my bed, horrified and amazed at the same time. "Oh, my God. Nix, I slept through half of the day! How could you let me sleep that long?"

She looks at me, as if it’s so obvious. "It's not my job to make sure you get up to your alarm. Also not my fault that it only went off once, instead of going off every five minutes." She’s sitting on her bed, writing in her journal. Her blond hair is pulled back in a ponytail. As usual, she looks beautiful, even on a weekend. Maybe she doesn't really try all that hard to look good--or maybe she does--but her beauty sure did fit her name.

I get up, catching a glimpse of myself in the mirror on the way out the door. My hair is a rats nest. You couldn't even tell that it is supposed to be curly, because it's sticking out all over the place. I keep moving, headed to the kitchen. Just as I'm opening the refrigerator, I start to feel strange. The hair on the back of my neck starts to stand on end and my heart skips a beat. My whole body is tingling all over. I find myself glancing around, and when my gaze passes the kitchen window, I catch a glimpse of a lithe black shape disappearing into the small strip of trees in my backyard.

My hunger instantly forgotten, I rush out the back door without even closing the refrigerator door. Whatever I'd seen, I found myself following it by instinct. There had to be signs of where it went, but I didn't need them, so I didn't even look for them. I finally reach the edge of the forest, and can't see anything that even resembles the black thing that I saw. Just the tall, half-dead grass in front of me and the trees around me. The only thing that lets me know that I came the right way are my instincts. Finally I give up, whip around,--and scream. There is a huge black panther not even three feet away from my position. I notice that he has eyes very similar to the wolf in my dreams.

I’m caught by surprise when he sits down in front of me and starts to purr--very loudly. For some reason, it made me feel as though the panther was my friend, and without realizing it, I stuck my hand out to stroke him. He immediately stopped purring. His fur stood up all over his body, and he let out a low growl. My hand reflexively jerked back to my side. We stay exactly like that for a few more minutes before he gets up, takes one last, long look at me, and bounds off into the trees--out of sight.

Text: Christina Tyson
Publication Date: 09-13-2012

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