Inspired by Moon Child
by Judith O'Rourke
Moon Children
By. Victoria Steele
Full Moon March 2018
Derek struggles against the ropes that bind his broad chest to a floor-to-ceiling beam in the middle of a dirt-floor basement. He is sitting down with his back against the rough wood and his arms wrapped tightly to his sides. A single exposed bulb on the ceiling flickers a bright yellow glow. Derek’s girlfriend Luna stands hunched over a cluttered workbench in the corner of the damp cold cellar. She holds up a tall skinny vile full of an acid-green colored liquid.
“I’m not who you think I am Derek. I’ve been hunting people like you for a long time.” She looks at Derek and her eyes shine an impossible shade of purple, like two perfectly circular amethyst stones have taken over the whites of her eyes. “When you would beat on me you thought your were in control, but I have more strength than you could ever know. I was only waiting for you to show you true nature. I come from a long line of powerful witches dedicated to keeping the world in balance. I'm here to set things right.”
“What the hell! Let me go RIGHT NOW!” He thrashes his shoulders against the ropes.
She flicks the vile, raining drops of the potion onto his skin and clothes as she chants,
“Projicio te ad unitatem. “Projicio te ad unitatem. “Projicio te ad unitatem”
Full Moon April 2018
Derek snaps awake to the sound of a branch breaking and little feet scurrying. He attempts to stand but his body does not respond to his brain’s command of stacking hips over feet and head on top of shoulders. He can’t seem to get off of his hands and knees. He realizes he is in the woods from the smell of pine trees, the texture of cold dirt, and the sound of crickets loudly chirping. His eyes adjust to the light of the moon filtering in through the trees and he sees fur covered paws on the ground beneath him, and by helplessly spinning in a circle he catches glimpses of his shaggy tail. He tries to call out in distress and breaks into a symphony of full forced wolf-howls that last minutes at a time.
Full Moon June 2018
Derek wakes for the third time, deep in the woods of Portland, Maine. He lies asleep and invisible to the mortal eye, except for once a month on the night of the full moon when he can live for 12 hours in the form of a beastly wolf. At first it was all bodily confusion and emotional turmoil and extreme hunger. Gnawing hunger that made him bite at the flesh and muscles of small animals and devour all the meat, then chew on all the bones, and still want more. But this third time is different. Laying right next to Derek, on a grassy patch of the forest floor bathed in a ghostly white moonlight, was a full-sized deer freshly killed from a powerful bite to the neck. Derek jumped up, scanning the dimly lit forest. He smelled an unfamiliar sweaty scent and heard what sounded like a dozen fast beating hearts. Adrenaline pumping, he realized he might have to fight for the meat on the deer. Quickly he latched his jaw onto the still warm flesh and feasted on the animal until only its bare carcass remained. Satisfied and subdued from his large meal, he had forgotten about the possibility of a threat until a pack of wolves began to descend on him from every direction. One by one they popped out from behind trees and shadows with their heads bowed down in a submissive gesture. With slow, tentative steps they approached. They nudged Derek with their wet noses and let out playful high-pitched whines. Derek looked into each wolf’s eyes and felt like he somehow knew these other animals, an instinctive kinship that made him trust them entirely.
Full Moon March 2025
As Derek blinks his eyes open, from his high perch on a heavily wooded mountain, he can see the whole horizon. In the west the last of the sunset is a low bruise of dark purple. In the east a bright yellow full moon is just beginning to become visible as it creeps upwards in its slow ascent. For seven years Derek has been in the woods of Maine with his pack, living an existence confined to the rising of the full moon. Each one of them had been an animal spirit unknowingly trapped in a human form, and they were bringing violence and chaos into the natural world. Luna used a strong spell to cast them out of their human bodies. But you can’t kill a spirit, and the power of the full moon has a loophole effect that allows them to live temporarily as they were meant to, in an untamed and beastly form. When the full moon lights the sky, each animal spirit is again in sync with the Earth, united with the primal energy of the wild, howling into the night.