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Sunday, February 02, 2025

Dante Laurant: A Werewolf's Tale - Chapter 4: Balancing Two Lives

Chapter 4: Balancing Two Lives

Dante never imagined that life as a fourth-grader could get any more complicated. Between math quizzes that twisted his brain into knots and the nerve-wracking chaos of hockey practice, his days were already packed. Now, as a newly turned werewolf, his nights had become just as demanding. Balancing these two worlds was proving to be a challenge he hadn’t signed up for—but one he couldn’t escape.

The full moon was still a week away, but Dante had already started noticing changes. His hearing had sharpened to the point where he could distinguish conversations from across the classroom. While most kids would consider that an amazing superpower, Dante found it exhausting. The overlapping buzz of voices made it nearly impossible to concentrate on Mrs. Brindle’s fractions lesson. To make matters worse, his heightened sense of smell made the cafeteria an unbearable gauntlet of burnt tater tots and spoiled milk.

“Hey, Dante!” called Clara as they walked home from school. She was the only person who knew his secret. After witnessing his first transformation in the woods two weeks ago, Clara had taken it upon herself to be his unofficial werewolf coach. “Did you try the breathing exercises I showed you last night?”

Dante sighed, his backpack dragging behind him. “I tried, but it didn’t help. My brain wouldn’t shut off. It’s like every noise in the neighbourhood was yelling at me. And I think I smelled Mrs. Conway’s lasagna from three blocks away.”

Clara wrinkled her nose. “Gross. But we’ll figure this out. You’re still adjusting.”

Adjusting. That was Clara’s word for everything. Adjusting to his sharpened senses. Adjusting to his inability to sleep. Adjusting to the fact that he now had a terrifying secret to hide from his family and friends. As they turned the corner to Dante’s house, his younger sister Mia burst out the front door, her pigtails bouncing.

“Dante!” she shouted. “You forgot to help me with my spelling homework yesterday! Mom says you have to help me right now.”

Mia was seven, and her natural curiosity made her more of a threat to Dante’s secret than any silver bullet. She had a knack for sneaking into his room uninvited, rifling through his stuff, and asking a million questions.

“I’ll help you after dinner,” Dante replied quickly. He gave Clara a desperate look, silently begging her not to say anything suspicious in front of Mia. Clara gave him a reassuring nod and waved goodbye as she headed to her own house.

Inside, the aroma of spaghetti filled the kitchen. Dante’s mom was stirring a pot of sauce, and his dad was setting the table. It was a picture of normalcy, but Dante’s heart raced. Normal didn’t exist for him anymore.

As they ate, Mia kept sneaking glances at Dante. “You’ve been acting weird lately,” she said, narrowing her eyes. “Like last night, when you were growling in your sleep.”

Dante choked on his water. “I wasn’t growling! That was probably Dad snoring.”

His dad raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment. Mia, however, wasn’t convinced. “I heard it, Dante. And your window was open even though it was freezing outside. Why?”

“I was hot,” Dante lied. He shoved another forkful of spaghetti into his mouth to avoid further interrogation.

After dinner, Dante hurried upstairs, closing his bedroom door firmly behind him. He had made a checklist with Clara to keep track of his werewolf-related tasks. Tonight’s item was practising his breathing exercises again. Clara said they would help him stay calm and control his heightened senses, but so far, the results were disappointing.

He sat cross-legged on his bed, trying to focus on the sound of his own breathing. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. But then he caught the faintest sound of Mia’s footsteps outside his door.

“Go away, Mia!” he called.

“How did you know I was there?” Mia’s muffled voice demanded.

Dante groaned. He was going to have to be more careful. His superhuman hearing had betrayed him again. He waited until her footsteps retreated before getting back to his exercises, but his focus was gone.

The next day at school, Dante’s patience was stretched thinner than ever. During gym class, he accidentally outran everyone during a relay race, drawing the attention of his classmates.

“Whoa, Dante! Since when are you so fast?” asked Kevin, his teammate.

“Uh, I’ve been practising,” Dante lied, trying to downplay it. But he could see the suspicious looks forming on their faces. He made a mental note to slow down next time.

By the time hockey practice rolled around after school, Dante was dreading it. Hockey had always been his favourite sport, but now it felt like a minefield. His enhanced reflexes and strength made him a better player than ever, but he couldn’t afford to stand out.

“Nice goal, Dante!” Coach Miller shouted after Dante scored a perfect shot from the blue line.

Dante nodded, keeping his face neutral, but inside, he was panicking. He couldn’t let himself become the star player. That would draw too much attention.

After practice, Clara found him sitting alone on the bleachers, staring at the ice. “Tough day?” she asked, sitting beside him.

“Tough week,” Dante replied. “I can’t keep this up, Clara. Everyone’s going to figure out something’s different about me. Mia’s already suspicious, and I keep messing up at school and hockey. What if I slip up and someone finds out?”

Clara thought for a moment. “Maybe you need a better plan. Instead of just reacting to everything, we could figure out how to make your werewolf stuff work for you. Like setting limits so you don’t overdo it during hockey or coming up with excuses for when you slip up. And we should definitely work on your cover story for Mia.”

Dante sighed but nodded. Clara was right. He needed to stop being scared of his new abilities and start finding ways to manage them. They spent the rest of the evening brainstorming strategies, from fake “allergies” to explain his sensitivity to smells to practising clumsy mistakes during hockey so he wouldn’t seem too perfect.

By the time Dante got home, he felt a little more in control. He still had a long way to go, but at least he wasn’t completely alone. Clara’s support made all the difference.

That night, as he lay in bed listening to the sounds of the neighbourhood—dogs barking, wind rustling through the trees, a distant car alarm—Dante felt a flicker of hope. Juggling two lives was hard, but he was starting to believe he could do it. After all, he wasn’t just any fourth-grader. He was Dante: student, hockey player, and secret werewolf.

And he was going to make it work.

Source: Some or all of the content was generated using an AI language model

1 comment:

Gail said...

Dante is one precocious little boy. Good thing his friend, Clara, is by his side.