Chapter two

“SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!” Danny screamed as she tried to pick me up, but she couldn’t, it was like I was connected to the ground. I howled again, and all of a sudden I fell into a deep slumber right there on the dirt covered forest floor.
“IS ANYONE OUT THERE?!?!? PLEASE HELP ME!! MY FRIEND IS HURT!!!” Danny screamed as she tugged on my blue shirt. It was covered in dirt and as she tried to tug my body off the earth I would not budge. I was connected, one with the earth. Nothing could pull me off. Even though my eyes were closed in a deep slumber I howled again into the dark forest, calling for the mbwa mwitu out in the beyond, maybe hurt au in deep anguish.
“No…..no….this can’t be……” Danny whispered as she looked into my dirt and scarred face. “I need to get my mom. Stay here.” She whispered to me, ignoring the fact that I was basically asleep.
While she was gone, I became to awake, but my eyes wouldn’t open. Nothing on my body could songesha at all for that matter. My fall from the ladder hadn’t been that high. So why was it as if my entire body was broken? I didn’t understand, and I tried with all my might to songesha at least a finger, but nothing, it was as if someone else owned my strength.
Suddenly, I felt the movement of four paws walk the ground near me. I couldn’t see the paws, I sensed them. They were so real to me, and I soon heard the breath of a creature in the distance. It started to limp on its right hind leg. I howled out again to the creature and as soon as I made the yelp an almost match yelled out into the night. I howled again, and it did the same. Every time I howled, it would howl again, and I could feel the four paws limp closer to me. The 7th time I howled, I felt the warm, moist breath of a dog right above my head. This time I managed a small whimper, and a long, rough wet tong licked me over the eyes. Then the mouth, and then the chin until it finally reached my lips.
As soon as the wet tong draped itself over my cut and bleeding mouth I immediately gained strength. All at once, I began to breathe, my arms moved, and my eyes opened. In front of me were four, pure with paws about half an inch away from my face. I slowly got up to find a great, white winter wolf. Its black diamond eyes stared into mine as if it was kusoma me. My past, my present, and my future. The encounter with the animal lasted for what seemed hours, but it was interrupted kwa the sound of Mrs. Brown’s voice. The mbwa mwitu heard it too and ran off away from the voice back into the black forest.
“Please, don’t go…..” I whispered to the wolf, as I reached for Its white fur. It turned to look at me one last time.
Suddenly, a cold sweet voice filled my head, “I shall see wewe again, friend.” I shook to the sound and realized that the voice was the wolf’s. I was communicating with the wolf. It turned and limped away before I could call out again.
Behind me I heard the sound of crunching leaves and whispered. I turned around and saw Mrs. Brown carrying a flash light along with Danny behind her.
“Janie!” she screamed as she saw I was already on my feet. “What happened? Are wewe okay? Danny and I have been so worried!” Mrs. Brown ran to me and pulled me into a comforting hug.
“Thanks.” I alisema as Danny ran to me and gave me a hug as well.
“Come on let’s go inside and get wewe some hot chocolate.” Mrs. Brown said. Her face looked concerned and a little scared as if she knew this was even worse than it seemed. Mrs. Brown pulled off her red koti, jacket and began to wrap, upangaji pamoja it around me.
“No, Mrs. Brown I’m not cold.”
“Oh don’t be silly! It’s like 25 degrees out here!”
“I’m not cold. Don’t waste your koti, jacket on me.”
The walk back to Danny’s house was silent and eerie. Although Mrs. Brown repeatedly asked me what happened my thoughts were elsewhere. How the mbwa mwitu had spoken to me confused my brain. Why did all this happen?
We finally reached the jikoni to Danny’s house and inside Mrs. Brown made us hot chocolate. Since it was 8:30 and my house was 20 dakika away Mrs. Brown called my Dad and had me sleep over for the night. After the chokoleti Mrs. Brown sent us off to bed.
Upstairs I changed into some of Danny’s pajamas and she laid a sleeping bag across the floor inayofuata to her bed.
“So…..um….Janie….what really happened out there? And why were wewe howling?” Danny asked as she pulled on some frog pajamas and hopped into bed.
“I don’t really know. It was confusing. I kind of Lost control of my body. And……………………..I know this is going to be a weird question, but when we were out there, did wewe ever hear the howling wolf?”
“No…………..”
“Well, I could sense it. Like, I knew where it was and that I seemed to feel the wolf’s pain, like the mbwa mwitu was me. When I fell to the ground off the ladder I immediately could feel the shape and feel of the wolf’s paws, even if they were 3 miles away. Then, when wewe left, the mbwa mwitu came to me………………..and….I…. it’s too complicated.”
Danny stared at me long and hard. Her giant eyes looked straight at me. “Janie, I want wewe to tell me EVERY detail of what wewe heard saw and felt.”
“Why………………” I asked shockingly. I was scared and confused. For the first time in my entire life I was cold. I felt like my moyo was empty.
“Tell me NOW!” Danny alisema on the verge of yelling. She stood up and grabbed a notebook from her desk.
“No………….. It’s too embarrassing…..”
“YOU WILL TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED JANIE AND I’M WARNING wewe KNOW IF wewe DON’T….. if wewe don’t….something really bad could happen! So just, tell me!”
I had never seen Danny get mad at me before. Her ferociousness and determination gave me chills.
“Fine.” I whispered. I explained everything to her, how I talked to the wolf, how I could feel it, how I sensed it everything. Danny took notes and the zaidi I told the zaidi her afraid look grew.
When I was finally done I sighed and slid into my sleeping bag. “That’s all, Danny, that’s all.”
For a long time we were quiet and Danny sat in her green dawati chair, Lost in thought and soon I drifted off to sleep.
The inayofuata morning, Danny woke me up to the smell of pancakes downstairs. Danny was fully dressed in blue jeans and a green t-shirt. She had green Converse on and her blond hair was pulled in a braid.
“Come on get dressed! We have to go!” She alisema as she chucked me a grey jump suit.
“What…..what’s this? We have to go to school soon and I am not wearing this to school!” I alisema rubbing my eyes.
“We have something zaidi important to do today then school. Your father is out on a business trip and your step mom doesn’t care that you’ll be staying with us until your father gets back, which will be in…………………..5 days. “
“I’m………..what…… we aren’t going to school? Then where are we going?” I asked as I sat holding the suit.
“We are going to the BOES. You’re going to take a test there. Now hurry up and dress. We have to go!” Danny alisema as she started stuffing a green and pink duffel bag with stuff around her room.
“The BEOS?” I sighed as I pulled on the jump suit. It was itchy on the outside but inside it was soft like silk. It was really comfortable like I could work out, sleep, and go to school in it all together.
“Ha, no the B-O-E-S. It stands for building of elemental shapeshifters.”
“The watta cutta who?”
“The elemental shapeshifters. You’ll understand when we get there.” Danny pulled me out into the hall and sped down the stairs. Mrs. Brown had a plate of pancakes ready for me.
“Hello Janie. Good morning, wewe can eat in the car we need to hurry!” Mrs. Brown alisema as she stuffed the plate into my hands. She grabbed her mfuko wa fedha, mfuko and we jumped into her car.
In the car Danny braided my hair as I ate the sticky, syrup covered pancakes. Mrs. Brown wove around the cars trying to get in front of the car lines and she drove faster than the speed which shocked me. She never broke the law. She seemed rushed and on edge.
“Mrs. Brown are wewe alright?” I asked her with a compassionate face.
“Yes, Janie, I’m fine.” She said. But I had a feeling she was lying.
Soon we reached the BOES. I didn’t realize we were there until Danny jumped out of the car. I followed her out and Mrs. Brown locked the door.
I looked around me. We were standing in a deserted area on the side of the rode. Mrs. Brown and Danny started walking towards a barbed wire fence off about 5 yards. On the fence was a sign kusoma “This area is owned kwa the government. Do NOT pass through, au else wewe will get a government fine and wewe will have to spend a period of time in jail.”
It scared me, and what scared me even zaidi was that Mrs. Brown and Danny each jumped over the fence with ease.
“Uh, it says this area is government owned. We shouldn’t go in.” I alisema after they motioned for me to jump over.
“It’s not really government owned honey. It’s just to protect the area we are going to from non-magical peoples.” Mrs. Brown alisema as she motioned again for me to come over.
“Non-magical peoples?” I asked. What in the world was she talking about? I sighed and jumped over. Mrs. Brown began walking towards a forest.
I ran up to Danny so I could walk with her. “Danny, I’m extremely confused.”
“Oh, I was too when I had my test. It will be okay.”
“Test? Was I supposed to study for it?”
“Ha, no the test will onyesha if wewe are an elemental shapeshifter au not!”
“Great……….” I was not an elemental whatever. I was a normal teen who has a really hard life, nothing else.
For ten dakika we walked in silence. We entered the forest and there were so many trees that Mrs. Brown had to bata every now and then because of their small size.
Danny ran up to her Mom. “Mom, let me help you.” She alisema as she turned and winked at me. Suddenly Danny began turning in a small dance and as she did green light shined on her fingertips. I had to stop and watch with my mouth open in awe at what my best friend was doing. The green light from Danny’s finger’s died down and all the trees immediately grew at least 4 feet. Mrs. Brown was able to walk without having duck.
Danny had just magical grew the trees! How was it that my best friend had the un-normal talent to make plants grow? And she never told me? I knew she loved plants but she never told me she could control them!!
“WHAT DID wewe JUST DO?!” I screamed with my mouth open and eyes wide in surprise.
“You’ll figure out soon enough.” She alisema as she giggled at herself like she knew something I didn’t.
She was right of course. Just as she alisema that a giant gate appeared. It was of two trees that formed an arch. Under the arch was a wooden door with a strange uandishi I had never seen before written on the wood.
“Where in the world are we!” I merely screamed in shock. To make me even zaidi surprised Mrs. Brown clapped her hands together and a giant wind slipped into the opening of the door. It immediately sprung open to present a world zaidi miraculous then Disney land itself.