Snipet #8

Evelyn woke Sara most nights at 1:00 and 4:00 a.m. for feedings. It was this time that Sara loved the most. She thought of it as her special time, and while many mothers may have balked at having to wake up twice a night to feed a hungry baby, Sara found the time to be peaceful and calming. The world was quiet, the only sounds were the crickets and an occasional train off in the distance. She would take Evelyn to the rocking chair near her bedroom window and while she fed her, she would dream about Evelyn's future.

She pictured her as a toddler, racing about the house knocking things over. She imagined her as a young girl, picking wildflowers in the meadow beside the house. She saw her as a teenager, struggling to find herself, fumbling along with new experiences. She imagined all the possibilities during these late night feedings and even ran through imaginary conversations they might have one day, the confidences they might share, even the arguments that might occur. These late night rambles through what might be were what sustained the tired mother through the first months of her baby's life.

One thing that Sara never imagined during all these quiet moments was that the wind might return. It was as if she had forgotten the wind existed. It was as if her man had never been. It appeared that the wind that came the night of Evelyn's birth had taken Sara's memory with it as it swept out of town, leaving Evelyn in it's place. A strange happening, one might think, but for the residents of Willow Falls, loss of memory was a natural event that had nothing to do with old age. Loss of memory could happen to anyone there, at any time. Forgetting unpleasantries was a way of life there, a skill passed down from mother to daughter and father to son.

Although Sara lived on the fringe of Willow Falls society, she still learned their ways and practiced the fine art of hiding from the truth they had come to be known for. She had honed her skills so well she didn't even realize that she had never even been accepted into Willow Falls society, and neither had any of her ancestors. Yes, they had lived there since time began it seemed, but they were always outsiders to the other townspeople. They were different, of that there was no doubt, and it was this knowledge the people of the town had of the Martins' uniqueness that set them somewhat apart. Sara's ancestors had gone to great lengths to hide this truth from themselves, but the tide was about to turn. Evelyn had a sense of self awareness that was stronger than any tradition, more firmly rooted in her than any other aspect of her being. It was the wind that she arrived on that had made her this way. She had slipped into the world by hanging on to the tail of the wind, much like her ancestral home had done many years before, and just as the home had a solid foundation, so did she.

Evelyn wasn't like the other children. She had the Wolf in her veins.