Let’s start with this week’s prompt from last week’s Thursday Threads flash fiction challenge: *”Were you, your first time?”*

I’mma just gonna let that sit for a minute while y’all ponder the question. Then I’m going to ask, where did your mind go? I know where mine went before I pondered the question some more. Because where my mind went, “first time” would be something of a requirement to meet the definition of the word that came to mind. Instead of going there completely, I handed a pair of scissors to Iffy and let her have some craft time. She “cut out a picture” of Micah Lightfoot and Liam McIntire that I was not expecting. I have no clue if this scene will ever appear in a full story but who knows? It’s a nice peek into the “Private Lives of Young Wolves.” I hope you enjoy. (Luckily, the judge for last week’s challenge did–it garnered an Honorable Mention. 😁 )

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Micah stabbed at the ground with the stick in his hand then drew some lines. He wanted to ask but figured he wouldn’t like the answer. Still, they were best friends despite Liam being several years older. He scribbled more lines in the dirt.

“What’cha drawin’?” Liam tilted his head this way and that as he studied the scratchings.

Shrugging, Micah mumbled, “Nuthin’.”

“Looks like somethin’ to me.”

He didn’t want to be embarrassed by his drawing—or the fact that he liked to draw. His dad was an Army hero. A sniper. A deputy sheriff. His mom was a scientist, a wildlife biologist. Micah drew pictures. And he knew exactly what he was drawing—a sketch in the dirt of Grace as Little Red Riding Hood. He started to rub it out but Liam stopped him

“Wanna know something?”

Micah shrugged again, the gesture a mainstay of pre-teen boy language.

“I wish I could draw like you.”

He looked up at that, shocked. “Seriously?”

“Yeah. Dude, you have real talent. And it’s nothing to be afraid of.”

They were back on topic. “Were you, your first time?”

“Naw.”

Micah gave Liam the side-eye. They both knew he was lying. Liam had been terrified the first time but a stranger stepped it and saved him. Then there was that whole hormone thing. It was bad enough his voice kept cracking and going up and down a couple of octaves when he tried to talk.

“Did it hurt?”

Liam nodded, knowing not to lie now. “Yeah. But that wasn’t the scary part.”

“What was?”

“I was terrified I couldn’t find my way back. Your dad and mine won’t let that happen.”

“My wolf wants out.”

“You’ll be fine.”

“Promise?” Hope shone in Micah’s eyes.

“Promise.” Liam fervently wished he’d be able to keep that promise.
****

There you have it–a short snapshot of life in Blaidd’s Gap and the 2nd generation starts coming of age. Micah surprised me. There’s a scene in CHRISTMAS MOON where he’s coloring and his mom mentions that he “colors outside the box.” Evidently, that image stuck in my brain and it turns out that Micah truly is an artist. Of course, the Little Red Riding Hood mention is in reference to a Halloween when Nate played the Big, Bad Wolf to little Grace’s Riding Hood. I have the photo to prove it. 😉 Writers, have fun with this one if you take the challenge. Readers, are you sometimes surprised by characters when you turn a page?