The Lunar Curse

Elara Voss got out of her car and the door made a loud noise as she closed it. The air in Silverbrook smelled like pine trees and wet dirt, which was very different from the air in the city she came from. It had been ten years since Elara Voss was last in Silverbrook but everything looked the same. The old sign was still there. It said "Silverbrook: Where the Forest Meets the Soul" in letters that were not as bright as they used to be.

Elara Voss remembered this sign; it was the same when she left Silverbrook ten years ago. Silverbrook was a town and Elara Voss was back but she did not know what to expect. The smell of pine trees and the quiet of Silverbrook were a change from the city life Elara Voss was used to. She let out a laugh to herself. The idea of a soul is funny. To me it is like the place where dreams go to die. The soul just seems like a thing where dreams go to die.

She put her backpack on one shoulder. I walked to the Silverbrook Gazette office on Main Street. The Silverbrook Gazette is really old. The building is two stories high. The paint is coming off. The windows are probably really dirty because they have not been cleaned in a while. She needed a job. The Silverbrook Gazette was hiring. She used to work in a city but she lost her job because they did not have enough money. Now the Silverbrook Gazette is her chance to have a job again.

She kept telling herself that the Silverbrook Gazette was an opportunity for her. She felt it inside that the thing that was really bringing her to this place was the fact that her parents died and nobody knew what happened to them. It was like something was pulling on her heart and that something was the mystery of her parents death. The mystery of her parents' death was what was really pulling her to this place.

Inside the office the editor, Mr. Harlan said hello to her with a nod. Mr. Harlan was a man who was probably around sixty years old. He had a mustache that was really thick. "You are Voss right? I looked at your resume. It says you are good at figuring out mysteries. We need someone like that now. There have been some things happening with animals. They have been attacking people. It is really scaring everyone. These animal attacks are very weird. The people in this town are really spooked because of these animal attacks.

Elara was really curious. "What kind of attacks are we talking about?"

Harlan leaned back in his chair. The wood made a loud noise under his weight. He said "There have been some maulings. These maulings started a month ago. The Sheriff is saying that bears are doing it. Some people say it is something else. The old timers are talking about wolves. We have not had wolves in this area for decades. The maulings are what people are worried about."

She nodded to herself. Made some notes in her head. This could be the story she was looking for something that really interested her. After she sat down at her desk, which was stacked high with old yellow papers she got a cup of coffee from the break room and started looking through some old files. The attacks were really bad: they had cuts, bodies were ripped apart and they always happened near the edge of the forest. There were no people who saw anything with a lot of blood and people were really scared. The attacks were always near the forest edge and that is what made them so scary. The forest edge was where the bad things happened. The attacks were the thing that she was trying to learn more about.

By the afternoon Elara decided she was going to talk to the people who live in the town. She went to the diner that's across the street called Mayas Place. Maya Ruiz was standing behind the counter. She has been Elara's friend from when they were kids. Maya Ruiz had her dark hair tied back in a ponytail. She was wearing an apron that had flour all over it. When Maya Ruiz saw Elara her face got really happy. It was like when the sun came up in the morning.

Elara! Oh my god you are back! Maya rushed around the counter. Gave Elara a big hug that smelled like cinnamon and fresh bread. It was so nice to see Elara. I thought Elara would never leave that city.

Elara. Hugged back. She said "I could not stay away from you forever. How is life treating you?"

Things are the same as they always are. I am selling coffee and pies to people.. You know what is interesting. There is a lot of excitement now because of those attacks that have been happening. People are locking their doors at night. It is like they think the world is coming to an end. People are really scared. They are locking their doors. The attacks are making people lock their doors at night. That is making things exciting.

Maya and her friend talked for a bit. Maya told her all about what was going on in town. She said who got married, who got divorced and who was being unfaithful.. Then Elara started talking about the maulings and Maya's face became really serious. "You need to be careful Elara. My grandmother used to tell me stories about the woods. She said there are creatures that walk on two legs during the day and on four legs, at night the woods are not safe."