Pack Dynamics: Phases by Julie Frost

Author:Julie Frost [Frost, Julie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-08-04T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Two

Ispent the day restless and itchy. Too-bright colors assaulted my vision. When I opened the fridge to grab a bite to eat, I discovered through my nose that something in there had possibly developed sentience and started walking around. My strictly human sense of smell hadn’t noticed, but the wolf nose was several orders of magnitude more sensitive. I hurriedly slammed it shut and decided to order Chinese instead.

While I waited, I had a sniff around the apartment and went on a cleaning spree, putting Johnny Cash’s “At Folsom Prison” album on the turntable. That visit from the Man in Black the previous year had changed my life—I’d found my faith in Greystone Chapel, afterward—and I sang along while I cleaned.

The lemony disinfectant smelled sharp and unpleasant, but the reek of a dirty toilet was worse. I grabbed the trash can to take it outside and caught sight of an old church bulletin, which made me stop short for a second. I wondered if I could talk to Pastor Jerrel about this. If he’d believe me. If he’d have any advice for the decidedly strange situation I found myself in. It’d knocked me for a loop, after all, and I was plenty wobbly.

I fished the bulletin from among the coffee grounds and carried it over to the phone just as the doorbell rang with my lunch delivery. The cornucopia of appetizing spices and red meat hit my nose like a bouquet in an imperial garden, and I inhaled greedily. I tipped the kid who brought it well, enough that his eyes widened and he stammered out a thanks, fleeing before I could change my mind.

Grabbing a fork on my way, I carried the cartons to the table and sat down. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was until I shoved in a mouthful of Kung Pao Beef, but my stomach made a feed-me noise as the flavor burst across my tongue. Maybe it wouldn’t be all bad, I thought as I devoured the food. I snorted at my fortune: “A thrilling time is in your immediate future.” I could have lived without a thrilling time. That apparently wasn’t in the cards for me anymore.

I took a breath and picked up the phone. My hand shook as I called the church, the clicks of the dial unnaturally loud as it spun through the numbers. Or maybe it was just my nerves. It rang four times before Pastor Jerrel picked it up, with a somewhat breathless “Lakeside Community Church, how may I help you?”

I wilted with relief—it was an open question as to whether he’d actually be there—and took a few seconds to reply. My tongue was stuck to the roof of my mouth.

“Hello?” he said.

“Pastor Jerrel,” I choked out. “It’s Noah.”

Something in my tone must have alerted him. His voice sharpened with concern. “Are you all right?”

I swallowed hard. “No, sir, not really.”

“Do you need me to come to you, or do you wanna come here?”

My hands were still shaking. I glanced around the house, but my whirlwind cleaning job meant it was actually presentable.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.