Heron Lake Plateau I transformed into the closure that I lost

"Get up," the wolf growled from the dark corner she had taken residence in, golden eyes gleaming. "You are a wolf."

Zombie forced herself to stand, shaking the image from her mind, though the words continued to echo and rattle her; they had haunted her entire life and drove her survival. She had been alone, always, and wasn't sure she knew how to be a wolf— or if she ever would. It was in these moments of lucidity that she understood, in her bones, that she wasn't normal. That her instincts were irreparably broken. That she was, and always had been, other.

She exhaled slowly in an effort to loosen the knot in her throat, stepping slowly along the shore of an island-ridden lake. Its tranquility calmed her anxiety, and in the daylight, her fears of being alone in the Wild seemed silly. She was a wolf and nothing could harm her.