Starless

Hi. I'm Shay and I'm 15 years old. The age of choosing. If you don't know what the choosing is, let me explain. Every child that turns 15 is given a spirit animal to protect them. That's how bad society has gotten. 10 years ago nobody could have guessed things would get this bad. It's the year 2038. But, I'm getting off topic. You go into a room with bowls. These bowls represent different animals. You have to choose from a lion, tiger, bear, panther, and wolf. Everybody always chooses a lion or a tiger. That's the way it always is. But, basically you cut your hand with a knife, flick some blood in the bowl and bam. Animal chosen. Simple huh?

Think again. This is how society weeds out the weak. The least smart. Basically, after the choosing process, you're not done. You go out with a bunch of other kids to the sacred circle. This is where you will meet your animal. But, there's a trick. Say 20 kids choose tiger. 20 spirit tigers will come out of the woods and line up. Those 20 kids have to feel a connection with their animal. They need to choose the right one for them. If they think that they found their animal, they kneel in front of the animal and wait. If the animal bows back, then they form a telepathic connection. If it isn't the right animal, they will be killed. That simple. Oh, and something I forgot. These animals are big. I mean like giant. Three times bigger than a normal animal. Anyway, if someone gets killed, their animal will remove itself from the equation. Fun, fun, fun.

I woke up the morning of my choosing feeling scared. As i was getting ready, I took care in paying attention to everything I did. It might be the last time in my house. I went down the stairs and i saw my mom crying. Her panther trying to comfort her. Yes a panther. She got up and gave me a huge hug. "See you tomorrow. Ok?" she asked. "I love you so much mom. And yes. Tomorrow." I walked out the door feeling empty inside.

I got out my phone and texted Will. Yes, he is my boyfriend. We have been dating since I was eleven. I know. Hard core right? Will was going to choose his animal today, too. As was my best friend, Jack. Jack has been my best friend since forever. I have no idea what I would do without him. They both told me what animals they chose. Both lions. Very original. I refused to tell anyone what I picked. They will have to see when we get there.

We all met at the sacred circle at 7. This was the moment. I looked down the line and saw Will. He was staring at me. "You ok?" he mouthed. I shook my head. I looked on the other side of me and saw Jack. All smiles as usual. As a woman got up and started talking to us about the selection process, I couldn't help but count the people in line. 43 in all. I wonder how many would be dead in the next hour.

Finally. The process was beginning. They called out the bears first. 12 bears in all. More than other years. The bears tumbled out of the woods and looked so powerful, it was scary. They were huge. I had seen tons of spirit animals before, but it is scary knowing that this is your choosing day. Each of the bears looked different. Black, brown, white, and mixed were all there. The selection went fast. Only 2 boys killed. It's sad to say that. Only two boys.

Next they called the tigers. 15 of them. Prowling out of the woods like silent killers. It was sad to watch. only 5 made it out of this round. It was hard to watch all the killing. But, that's how it worked right?

Finally. They called the wolves. I was so scared i barely had the strength to move forward. But, I did. I looked around to see who was there with me. I waited and waited. Then I realized something scary. I was the only one to choose wolf. Out of all 43. I was the only one.

I looked at Will and I could tell he was scared for me. I offered him a sad smile and focused on the task at hand. The wolves came out of the farest one by one. The first was just as big, maybe a little bigger than a normal wolf. It had grey hair and came forward and laid down on it's belly. The second wolf was red. It was bigger than the first, but not as big as it could be. It too, laid down. The third wolf was beautiful. It was pure white. And it was huge. It's blue eyes were like the ocean. IT looked pure and perfect. It sat down on it's haunches. The last wolf to come out made me take a few steps back. IT launched itself out of the woods with so much power. It was black as night. No color to be seen. And when it landed i could see it was easily the biggest animal there that day. Bigger than even the white wolf. Its eyes were blood red. And it snarled. Its lips were curled back over its huge teeth. It was terrifying

She waited for more, but none came. Now was the time. I walked in front of each wolf. Thinking. Calculating. Feeling. I wanted it to be the white wold. It seemed pure. It seemed good. But I had a feeling. It was a feeling that could get me killed. I walked on front of the black wolf. I looked into his red eyes. He was still snarling. Even more than before. I kneeled down and held my breath. I waited. And when I looked up again, the wolf was bowing. This huge, intimidating animal was mine. And then I heard it. The speaking in my head. It was a woman's voice. It had a low comforting pitch. "Sorry to frighten you. It was something that I had been instructed to do. Nice to meet you Shay." I had done it. I walked over to the side of the circle, my wolf in tow. I was going home. I would see my family again.

I was safe. But Will and Jack weren't yet. Next was the lions. They stepped up. The lions prowled out of the woods. There were lions and lionesses. There was a lion that looked like my wolf, but not as big. It had a large mane and it was black with red eyes. There were smaller ones that were gray and red. Then, one of the most beautiful creatures i had ever seen stepped out of the woods. It was a giant, white lioness. It was the size of my wolf. It was pure white with blue eyes. I thought the wolf was pretty, but this was something else.

Then came the choosing process. Will and Jack walked forward to the wolves. After a while, Will kneeled in front of the great, whit lioness. I held my breath. I waited, and the lioness didn't bow. It raised its paw. I was too shocked to scream. In one swipe of the paw, Will's head was off. I fell to the ground. I looked at the white lion. It seemed so impure now. Will's blood had stained its paw. Then I saw Will's wolf remove itself. It was the black lion. The one that looked like my wolf. What would I say to his parents? His little sister?

I saw Jack looking at me. He looked so worried about me. I motioned for him to keep going. After walking around for a while, and stood in front of the same white lioness. He kneeled. The white lioness kneeled back. It was his. It still had Will's blood on its paws.

The panthers came and went. No deaths. I was still kind of in shock. I don't really remember much. I remember that Jack ran over to me a gave me a huge hug. I didn't hug back.

Later that night at the camp, I sat on the side of the hill, away from everyone. My wolf tried to comfort me. The point of the camp night was to name and bond with your animal. I liked my wolf. She didn't pry. She just sat there beside me and looked up into the sky. I would say the stars, but there was not a star in the sky that night. That's how I named my wolf that night. Starless, the great black wolf. She said she liked that name.

After sitting there for a while, Starless began to growl. I turned around and saw jack and his lioness. "I've been looking for you. You ok?". I shook my head. I had been thinking about what I would tell Will's family. Jack didn't really talk to me for a while. Apparently, I was crying. He came over to me and held me for a long time. Whispering comforting things in my ear.

I looked over at his lion. She no longer had blood on her paws. He told me he named her Ivory. Pretty fitting name for the white cat. We sat there on the bank for the rest of the night. Talking, thinking. Wondering what the next day would be like. Not only the next day, but the rest of our lives.