Aurora’s POV

1 shivered in the cold as I threw the fishing rod into the pond, watching the water rippling and hoping with all my heart that bI /bwould be able to find something here today.

It was five thirty in the morning and the sun had yet to rise, but there was still light in the horizon and if was enough to help me see my way aniond the broken pieces of wood and other debris lying on the muddy area.

The pond was located in the middle of the woods right behind my house, and usually, it wasn’t safe to came out here for fishing since this was a risk–prone zone and recently, there had been an increase in wild animals in the area.

However, when I had woken up this morning at five, after a fitful night’s sleep, I knew I wouldn’t be able to go to school today and face everyone, I needed some time off to process what had happened to me.

Usually, I wasn’t one to skip school, but today, I wanted to spend the whole day with Riley, just so I could get my mind off of things. That’s why I had even called in sick at the Diner, and hopefully, Jeremy will forgive me this once, because I never took a day off before.

Now, as I watched the bob dip below the water surface, feeling the tug on the string, I quickly began retracting the string, hoping that I had managed to catch something. I fully nned on putting a fish on the te for lunch today, and maybe cooking with Riley will be a new experience for both of us.

With a victorious cry, I pulled the string hard and as expected, out came a nice little fish, struggling as the hook embedded itself in its mouth. Watching it struggle made me feel sad, but we still had to eat, so I put the little guy in the bucket and began making my way back to the house, without wasting any more time than necessary in these woods.

However, just as bI /bwas about to leave the muddy area around the pond, something peculiar made me pause. Paw prints. They were all over thend. At first nce, they would look like regr paws, puppy paws…unless you take into ount the fact that we were in a rundown neighborhood that didn’t even have dogs to begin with. But I knew what these were very well…wolf paws.

It was no secret that wolves lived in the woods next to our house and in the other forest areas of Maine. And even the shady neighborhood I lived in were all afraid of the wolves, bso /bmuch so that no one ventured out of their homes after ten o’clock. But the wolves never scared bme/bb. /bAfter all, what was the most they could do? Kill me? Wouldn’t that be sweet, sweet relief?

But I loved how I often saw two kinds of paw prints. Big ones and smaller onesb, /bparents with their children, venturing out into the night to y.

Sometimes the bigger paws would be missing and it gave me this vague idea that the pups hade out on their own to cause mischief, while their parents rested at home. I envied those pups. I envied those wolves. They were free and wild…something bI /bcould never be.

The first rays of the sun hit my face then, making me look up in wonder as the circle of life appeared in the horizon, slowly bing full. I took a deep breath, taking in the cool morning air. It gave me strength to continue on for another day.

So I hoisted up the bucked and held the fishing rod close as I headed back to my house to prepare breakfast.

Riley was sulking big time, that much I knew for sure.

He was one of those kids that absolutely loved school, and I couldn’t me him. He was still young, and his friends group was so far non–btoxic/b. So who wouldn’t want to go to school every day?

But even though I knew I was being selfish for him skip school with me, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to step out of the house today. So I decided to bribe him instead.

Turning off the mes to the kettle, I brought out the two packs of instant noodles that I had bought a few days ago at the market, and began pouring in the water to the fill–line inside the cups before cing the seal back onb, /bbso /bthat the noodles could be chewy and bouncy.

There had been one single egg lying inside the fridge this morning and usually I would’ve given him the whole egg, but I decided against it. V what my mother would’ve done? Given him the whole egg? Or would she have done what I was doing now, cutting the par–boiled begg /binto half. both share?

bat /b

could