Jaklynn and her two younger sisters walked home from school every day. It was not a short walk. Jaklynn would wait for the High School bell marking the end of another terminal school day, then walk over to the middle school to pick up her sister Katelynn. Then both Jaklynn and Katelynn walk to Lincoln elementary to pick up their youngest sister, Mary. From the elementary school, the walked the short trip home past Mikoshika State Park to reach home.
For all the walking, and despite being close to home, Jaklynn felt uneasy on this part of the walk. Something in Mikoshika made her uncomfortable. The wind would sweep through the trees, rustling the leaves, which sound like footsteps.
On especially cold winter days, temperatures can reach -30 regularly in Eastern Montana, Grandma Fulls would drive her rusted blue '88 Cadillac to pick up the kids from school. Jaklynn hated getting picked up my grandma Fulls for two reasons. Primarily because being a senior without a driver's license was an embarrassment, but also because her grandma drove so slowely, they might as well be walking.
Still, the car was warm. On cold days it was enough to pile in next to Katelynn, where they would poke little Mary in the tummy, as she giggled her innocent laugh, and grandma Fulls drove with a speed that resembled an airplane waiting in line to take off.
A cold April afternoon, Jaklynn and her sisters were walking home past Mikoshika. Jaklynn stopped when she heard a sharp sqeal, like a piglet, come from somewhere in Mikoshika. Jaklynn stopped. She scanned the dried grasses and bushes in the park. She strained her eyes, but couldn't see anything.
"Jaklynn, I'm cold," Mary said, tugging at Jaklynn's sleeve.
Jaklynn lingered for a moment scanning the bases of the trees, ten turned, smiled at Mary, "Alright, let's go home and get warm."
For the rest of the walk home, Jaklynn couldn't shake an unsettling feeling from her stomach and as they neared their house, she looked over her shoulder, back at the park. For a moment, she saw an unusually large rabbit slide behind a bush. Other than being oddly large, it appeared to be a normal-looking rabbit. What put Jaklynn on edge, however, was that the rabbit seemed to have been watching her.
"What are you looking at?" Katelynn asked.
"Nothing," Jaklynn said, hidding her discomfort and smiling at her sister.
At home, Jaklynn started to make dinner for her sisters, who were busy watching Phineas and Ferb. While Jaklynn did much of the cooking in the house, a scantly packed pantry and time limitations, Jaklynn studied vigorously and already had a partial scholarship to attend UC Davis the following year, resulted in a dinner of Mac n' Cheese, with spinach this time, to make it at least the slightest bit healthy for her sisters.
She was considering a genetics problem from AP Bio, whether adenosine receptors in livestock would be a plausible fit for genetically isoloted strains of antimicrobial properties derived from honey, plausible she surmised, but unlikely, when Katelynn walked into the kitchen, which required nothing more than getting up from the living room and walking two steps into the kitchen and said, "I want eggs."
"I'm cooking Macaroni," Jaklynn replied
"But I want eggs," Katelynn said.
Tired, but wanting to show patience to her younger sister, Jaklynn asked with a sigh, "Why do you want eggs, Kate?"
"I want a booty," Katelynn replied.
"What?" Jaklynn was taken aback by her sister's cavalier approach to an atypical subject.
"Jenn said that if you want a booty, you have to eat lots of eggs," Katelynn said.
"Ugh, Jenn is the worst. That is not true, Kate, and even so, why would you care?"
"Jenn said all the famous girls have booties!"
"Stop listening to Jenn! She is the spawn of the cultural devil!"
Katelynn looked huffed, but after a moment looked at the macaroni and smiled, "Is it done?"
"Not yet," Jaklynn relaxed, "but if you would really like eggs, we can also have eggs, but not because they give you a 'booty'"
"Yeah, okay," Katelynn replied.
"Okay," Jaklynn said, "Will you check the fridge? I am not sure if we even have eggs."
Katelynn opened the fridge and rummaged around for a moment, only to to turn back to Jaklynn with an expression of disappointment, "We don't have any, Jakyll!"
"You can use this one!" Mary emerged from the living room. The episode of Phineas and Ferb had ended and she came into the kitchen carrying a blue-yellow egg.
"Where did you get that thing?" Jaklynn asked.
"It was on your packpack," Mary responded.
Jaklynn eyed the egg suspiciously. Dark hues of blue and yellow swirled on the egg like a thunderstorm. Blue and yellow were Mary's favorite colors, almost as if it had been placed there for her to find.
"Can we cook it?" Mary asked.
"I don't know if that's a good idea," Jaklynn said cautiously, "it looks like it might be bad."
"No, it's a good egg," Marry protested.
"I think we should just have macaroni tonight, Mary"
"But it's a good egg," Mary's voice shifted to a cry.
"You should probably just cook it for her," Katelynn interjected.
"Okay, we'll cook your egg," Jaklynn agreed, "but only if you promise to eat all your macaroni."
"I promise," Mary beamed.
Jaklynn too the egg from her, feeling its weight. It felt heavier than a normal egg, and it hit against the counter top with a resounding 'thud,' when she tried to crack it. She hit it again, harder, and it cracked open, spilling into the pan. Jaklynn and Katelynn both jumped back. Sizzling in the white of the egg wasn't a yolk, but the crudely severed hoof of a piglet, jaggedly cut above the ankle as if bitten off.
Upset by her sister's reactions, Mary ran back behind Jaklynn's legs crying, "What, what what?"
"Katelynn, take Mary," Jaklynn said, "stay here."
Jaklynn walked to the front door, knowing intuitively that when she opened the door, she would confront the ill that had been hanging over them today, and which she felt had been hanging over them for much longer.
She opened the door, slowly at first, then all at once. Her eyes quickly adjusted to the fading light and she saw, watching her from the front lawn, a large rabbit. It had all the features of a rabbit, but Jaklynn noticed the clawed pads of its feet. Jaklynn involuntarily gasped. This pleased the rabbit immensely, which grinned, revealing a mouthful of carnivorous teeth.
The door still open behind her, she felt herself frozen with fear. She couldn't move. She couldn't think. Her mind stammered and she felt overcome by a feeling not to be standing in the doorway. Instead of retreating, however, Jaklynn took a step towards the rabbit, its pearly canines still visible. A question formed in her throat, "What-" when something came flying at her from the periphery of her vision, hitting her in the temple, and everything went dark.
PART TWO
When Jaklynn woke up, she found Katelynn hiding in the corner of the living room. Katelynn was huddled behind a chair with her knees drawn up to her chest. Jaklynn coaxed her from the corner and onto the couch. Jaklynn learned through Katelynn's choppy retelling, what happened after she'd been knocked out.
A second rabbit had thrown a rock at Jaklynn, knocking her unconcious. The second rabbit, then a third, entered house, stepping over Jaklynn's lifeless body. Katelynn and Mary ran behind a chair. Katelynn held onto Mary like a stuffed animal, a young girl desperately searching for some sense of safety. The rabbits came and dug their claws into Katelynn's arms until she loosened her grasp on Mary. The rabbits drug Mary screaming across the room and outside. The last Katelynn saw the rabbits were already down to Mikoshika, dragging her screaming sister into the brush.
The first rabbit had remained idle during these events, watching Jaklynn's unconcious body. The rabbit then walked up to Jaklynn, then with an almost human like touch, brushed the hair back behind Jaklynn's ear, revealing her face. He moved his paw to her cheek, its claws making intendations on her skin. From its other paw, it placed a black egg in the crook of her arm, then whispered into her ear, "piglet, child, duckling, fawn; one of each; their fates we've drawn; don't come searching; she has gone, and death will be lurking."
For all the walking, and despite being close to home, Jaklynn felt uneasy on this part of the walk. Something in Mikoshika made her uncomfortable. The wind would sweep through the trees, rustling the leaves, which sound like footsteps.
On especially cold winter days, temperatures can reach -30 regularly in Eastern Montana, Grandma Fulls would drive her rusted blue '88 Cadillac to pick up the kids from school. Jaklynn hated getting picked up my grandma Fulls for two reasons. Primarily because being a senior without a driver's license was an embarrassment, but also because her grandma drove so slowely, they might as well be walking.
Still, the car was warm. On cold days it was enough to pile in next to Katelynn, where they would poke little Mary in the tummy, as she giggled her innocent laugh, and grandma Fulls drove with a speed that resembled an airplane waiting in line to take off.
A cold April afternoon, Jaklynn and her sisters were walking home past Mikoshika. Jaklynn stopped when she heard a sharp sqeal, like a piglet, come from somewhere in Mikoshika. Jaklynn stopped. She scanned the dried grasses and bushes in the park. She strained her eyes, but couldn't see anything.
"Jaklynn, I'm cold," Mary said, tugging at Jaklynn's sleeve.
Jaklynn lingered for a moment scanning the bases of the trees, ten turned, smiled at Mary, "Alright, let's go home and get warm."
For the rest of the walk home, Jaklynn couldn't shake an unsettling feeling from her stomach and as they neared their house, she looked over her shoulder, back at the park. For a moment, she saw an unusually large rabbit slide behind a bush. Other than being oddly large, it appeared to be a normal-looking rabbit. What put Jaklynn on edge, however, was that the rabbit seemed to have been watching her.
"What are you looking at?" Katelynn asked.
"Nothing," Jaklynn said, hidding her discomfort and smiling at her sister.
At home, Jaklynn started to make dinner for her sisters, who were busy watching Phineas and Ferb. While Jaklynn did much of the cooking in the house, a scantly packed pantry and time limitations, Jaklynn studied vigorously and already had a partial scholarship to attend UC Davis the following year, resulted in a dinner of Mac n' Cheese, with spinach this time, to make it at least the slightest bit healthy for her sisters.
She was considering a genetics problem from AP Bio, whether adenosine receptors in livestock would be a plausible fit for genetically isoloted strains of antimicrobial properties derived from honey, plausible she surmised, but unlikely, when Katelynn walked into the kitchen, which required nothing more than getting up from the living room and walking two steps into the kitchen and said, "I want eggs."
"I'm cooking Macaroni," Jaklynn replied
"But I want eggs," Katelynn said.
Tired, but wanting to show patience to her younger sister, Jaklynn asked with a sigh, "Why do you want eggs, Kate?"
"I want a booty," Katelynn replied.
"What?" Jaklynn was taken aback by her sister's cavalier approach to an atypical subject.
"Jenn said that if you want a booty, you have to eat lots of eggs," Katelynn said.
"Ugh, Jenn is the worst. That is not true, Kate, and even so, why would you care?"
"Jenn said all the famous girls have booties!"
"Stop listening to Jenn! She is the spawn of the cultural devil!"
Katelynn looked huffed, but after a moment looked at the macaroni and smiled, "Is it done?"
"Not yet," Jaklynn relaxed, "but if you would really like eggs, we can also have eggs, but not because they give you a 'booty'"
"Yeah, okay," Katelynn replied.
"Okay," Jaklynn said, "Will you check the fridge? I am not sure if we even have eggs."
Katelynn opened the fridge and rummaged around for a moment, only to to turn back to Jaklynn with an expression of disappointment, "We don't have any, Jakyll!"
"You can use this one!" Mary emerged from the living room. The episode of Phineas and Ferb had ended and she came into the kitchen carrying a blue-yellow egg.
"Where did you get that thing?" Jaklynn asked.
"It was on your packpack," Mary responded.
Jaklynn eyed the egg suspiciously. Dark hues of blue and yellow swirled on the egg like a thunderstorm. Blue and yellow were Mary's favorite colors, almost as if it had been placed there for her to find.
"Can we cook it?" Mary asked.
"I don't know if that's a good idea," Jaklynn said cautiously, "it looks like it might be bad."
"No, it's a good egg," Marry protested.
"I think we should just have macaroni tonight, Mary"
"But it's a good egg," Mary's voice shifted to a cry.
"You should probably just cook it for her," Katelynn interjected.
"Okay, we'll cook your egg," Jaklynn agreed, "but only if you promise to eat all your macaroni."
"I promise," Mary beamed.
Jaklynn too the egg from her, feeling its weight. It felt heavier than a normal egg, and it hit against the counter top with a resounding 'thud,' when she tried to crack it. She hit it again, harder, and it cracked open, spilling into the pan. Jaklynn and Katelynn both jumped back. Sizzling in the white of the egg wasn't a yolk, but the crudely severed hoof of a piglet, jaggedly cut above the ankle as if bitten off.
Upset by her sister's reactions, Mary ran back behind Jaklynn's legs crying, "What, what what?"
"Katelynn, take Mary," Jaklynn said, "stay here."
Jaklynn walked to the front door, knowing intuitively that when she opened the door, she would confront the ill that had been hanging over them today, and which she felt had been hanging over them for much longer.
She opened the door, slowly at first, then all at once. Her eyes quickly adjusted to the fading light and she saw, watching her from the front lawn, a large rabbit. It had all the features of a rabbit, but Jaklynn noticed the clawed pads of its feet. Jaklynn involuntarily gasped. This pleased the rabbit immensely, which grinned, revealing a mouthful of carnivorous teeth.
The door still open behind her, she felt herself frozen with fear. She couldn't move. She couldn't think. Her mind stammered and she felt overcome by a feeling not to be standing in the doorway. Instead of retreating, however, Jaklynn took a step towards the rabbit, its pearly canines still visible. A question formed in her throat, "What-" when something came flying at her from the periphery of her vision, hitting her in the temple, and everything went dark.
PART TWO
When Jaklynn woke up, she found Katelynn hiding in the corner of the living room. Katelynn was huddled behind a chair with her knees drawn up to her chest. Jaklynn coaxed her from the corner and onto the couch. Jaklynn learned through Katelynn's choppy retelling, what happened after she'd been knocked out.
A second rabbit had thrown a rock at Jaklynn, knocking her unconcious. The second rabbit, then a third, entered house, stepping over Jaklynn's lifeless body. Katelynn and Mary ran behind a chair. Katelynn held onto Mary like a stuffed animal, a young girl desperately searching for some sense of safety. The rabbits came and dug their claws into Katelynn's arms until she loosened her grasp on Mary. The rabbits drug Mary screaming across the room and outside. The last Katelynn saw the rabbits were already down to Mikoshika, dragging her screaming sister into the brush.
The first rabbit had remained idle during these events, watching Jaklynn's unconcious body. The rabbit then walked up to Jaklynn, then with an almost human like touch, brushed the hair back behind Jaklynn's ear, revealing her face. He moved his paw to her cheek, its claws making intendations on her skin. From its other paw, it placed a black egg in the crook of her arm, then whispered into her ear, "piglet, child, duckling, fawn; one of each; their fates we've drawn; don't come searching; she has gone, and death will be lurking."