Under the Light of a Full Moon

by D. A. McGrath

  The last week of school seemed to go on forever, but eventually the half term holidays began and Clara, Peter and their parents piled into the car for the two-hour drive to Selina’s house.

  The plan was that Peter and her parents were going to drop Clara off, see her settled in and then return home the same day. Selina was going to see Clara on a train back to her parents at the end of the week.

  Clara and Peter didn’t get to travel very often. Once a year they usually went to visit cousins for a week’s holiday in the summer, and they’d never visited Aunt Selina’s cottage before. They were both, therefore, excited to be going on this trip. After about an hour, though, they were bored with the motorway and started bickering between themselves. Their parents were starting to get really annoyed with them when Clara’s father pulled off the motorway and started driving down country lanes.

  “Nearly there,” said their mum with a sigh of relief. Twenty minutes later, Clara got her first glimpse of Aunt Selina’s cottage and was instantly delighted with it.

  The cottage had a decidedly ramshackle appearance to it, which was just as Clara had imagined. Inside, the house was cluttered and cosy, with lots of family photographs on every available surface. After her parents and brother had left, Clara was wandering through the cottage looking at the photos of aunts, uncles and cousins, most of whom she’d never met, when she began to think about why her aunt had never married and had children of her own. Of course, it was to do with the curse, wasn’t it? Clara thought, sadly. Well, I’m not going to live my life alone like Aunt Selina and my namesake. Clara decided there and then that she’d find a way to beat the curse somehow. She’d find out everything there was to know about it as quickly as possible and figure out how to break it. As Clara was making this vow to herself her aunt called her in to the kitchen for dinner.

  During dinner, Clara made numerous attempts to bring up the subject of the curse with her aunt, however, to Clara’s frustration Selina did not want to discuss it and kept changing the subject to more mundane matters like what Clara was doing at school.

  Clara continued to pursue the subject of the curse over the next few days but with no success at all. Her aunt refused to be pushed and would only say that Clara would find out about everything in good time and the process couldn’t be rushed. Selina eventually distracted Clara from the subject of the curse when they were sitting at the kitchen table drinking tea one afternoon.

  “I wanted to thank you Clara, for the letter you sent to me a few weeks ago, I was delighted to read about your progress. It has to be said, though, I wasn’t expecting such a strong reaction to the full moon this soon. You were practising your blocking technique, weren’t you?”

  Clara nodded vigorously, “Yes, every day. My mind was completely empty when I went to sleep,” she said.

  “In that case you’re transitioning much more quickly than normal. I think you may be ready for a full transformation into animal form this month, even though it’s only been five months since the symptoms began, and it’s time, therefore, that I told you about how we do it,” said Selina.

  “But you said it’d take seven to nine months,” said Clara, anxiously.

  “That is the norm,” replied her aunt. “But you’ve shown an unusually strong gift from the beginning and, while these things are difficult to predict, because they differ from one person to the next, your vivid dreams last month and your recognition of individual animals are an indication that you’re ready for the next step.”

  Clara wasn’t sure whether she was excited by the idea or terrified, but decided it was probably a bit of both.

  Selina continued, “I’m going to try and explain the theory of shape-shifting to you now, and then, in a couple of days, there will be a full moon and we can try it out.

  Now the gift that we have is the ability to turn ourselves into animals. We don’t take over or inhabit an animal that already exists; we become our own version of that animal. In doing so we retain our own mind and thoughts, however, the longer we stay in the animal form the more like the animal we become. It’s very important that you remember this. Do you remember what I told you about your ancestor, Martin?” Selina asked and Clara nodded solemnly, shuddering internally as the memory of her aunt’s stories about Martin, Stephen and Emily rushed back.

  “Good,” went on Selina. “In order to turn into an animal, first the shape-shifter has to imagine that they are the animal – literally imagine themselves into the animal form. For instance, if you were shifting to the form of a dog, you’d need to picture yourself as a dog, and then mould yourself into that form. Don’t worry too much about the practicalities of it now – we can go through that in more detail on Thursday night.”

  Clara was intrigued as to how she could imagine herself into the form of an animal but couldn’t consider it too closely as Selina had moved on.

  “When one is shape-shifting, we generally take the form and size of the animal we are shape-shifting into, however, we’re limited as to how much of us there is to shift. We couldn’t, for instance, shape-shift into an elephant or a whale, as they’re too large. We can change into cows or horses though – animals that are slightly larger than humans are fine. We can also change into smaller animals, like dogs or cats, fairly easily. It is possible to shape-shift into animals that are even smaller but that’s complicated and not many shape-shifters are able to do it.”

  “Can you do it Aunt Selina?” asked Clara.

  “In my younger days I tried it once or twice, but soon decided that it wasn’t for me,” said Selina. “Well, that’s all you need to know, for now. Don’t eat too much on Thursday. It’s not a good idea to shift on a full stomach.” Her aunt then finished her tea and rose to clear their mugs and plates away. “Now, shall we walk into the village this afternoon and see what’s going on?” Clara nodded distractedly, looking forward to and dreading the upcoming full moon.

  Chapter Eight

  On Thursday evening, Clara and Selina were standing in the garden behind the cottage. It was a dark, cloudy, blustery and cold February night, but Clara didn’t need to see the moon to know that it was full. She’d been restless and fidgety for the last two days. Clara couldn’t feel the cold, she was sweating slightly, and shivering internally with nervous anticipation. This was it. The moment she’d been waiting for. A swarm of butterflies were fluttering in her stomach, making her feel sick. She was glad that she’d followed her aunt’s advice to eat lightly at dinner.

  “Now,” said Selina. “The easiest forms for a shape-shifter to take are those animals that have a close relationship with humans. In other words, domesticated animals. Today, therefore, you’re going to attempt to change into a dog. Do you have a strong imagination?” Clara swallowed nervously but managed to nod; she’d been complimented on her imagination by teachers at school.

  “Good,” said Selina. “Okay, close your eyes and picture a dog. It can be any breed of dog you like; however, I would suggest picturing one you’re familiar with.”

  “The family next door has a black dog,” said Clara. “A sheepdog, I think.”

  “Right then, picture that dog,” said Selina. “Picture its soft, padded paws, its shiny black fur, its floppy ears, its dark eyes, its wet nose and its pink tongue. Are you picturing it?”

  Clara nodded again, eyes closed, brow furrowed in concentration.

  “Keep picturing it,” said Selina. “At the same time, I want you to breathe deeply and relax. Relax your shoulders, relax your face, and relax your arms. Now, imagine you’re the dog. You’re covered in thick fur and you’re panting; you’re standing on four legs, not two. Your nose is picking up all sorts of new smells. You can smell the grass and the trees and the cottage, do you feel it?”

  Clara breathed deeply and focused with all her might on a picture of her neighbours’ dog. As time passed, though, she didn’t feel anything other than the blustery wind blowing in her face, raising tendrils of her hair. In fact, she was starting to feel a bit silly. She
wanted to say that she was imagining it very hard, but it didn’t seem to be working. Unfortunately, all she could say was, “Woof.” She opened her eyes in surprise. “Woof,” she said again.

  “Well done, well done,” said Selina clapping her hands and laughing down at the slightly startled black dog in front of her. “I didn’t succeed in changing until my third attempt. How talented you are.”

  Clara suddenly had a terrible urge to scratch behind her right ear. She sat on her hind legs and brought one of them up to ease the itch.

  “Okay,” said Selina. “I’m going to change too, and then we can go exploring.”

  And before Clara’s doggy eyes she saw her aunt transform just as she must’ve done. Instead of seeing her aunt, Clara was now looking a big, shaggy golden retriever.

  “Woof,” said Clara and wagged her tail. Well, if she’d had any doubts before, she was a full believer now. She couldn’t deny what she was seeing or what she was experiencing. For a moment Clara felt the unreality of the situation, like she was floating, like her mind had entered another body. It was extremely disconcerting.

  Then Clara felt a thought touch her mind. The thought seemed to suggest that it would be a good idea if they go for a ramble through the woods to see what they could find. Clara understood that her aunt had given her the suggestion mentally and, as Selina moved off in the direction of the woods, Clara followed as best she could. She was completely conscious of each step, learning to walk all over again. It was fine when she was distracted by sights or sounds and didn’t think about it, but, when she remembered that she had four legs instead of two she kept tripping over her feet. Her aunt seemed to find great amusement in Clara’s predicament, but stayed close and nudged Clara occasionally when she felt that her niece was losing her confidence.

  After a while, Clara stopped thinking about what she was doing with her feet and started revelling in the strange experience. She noticed that her eyesight was greatly enhanced for travelling through the woods at night. There were many exciting smells and sounds coming from every direction. So many strange odours. She wanted to investigate and identify them all. She ran in circles going from one enticing smell to another. Mud, leaves, plants, insects, stagnant pools of water, the urine and other scent trails of many types of small mammals, nothing escaped her nose or attention. Clara occasionally stopped, alert, hearing movement nearby, under bushes and logs and up in the branches of trees. Eventually, she was completely winded by all the running and had to sit, panting, to get her breath back.

  Her aunt waited patiently with Clara until her breathing returned to a more normal rate and then, sensing Clara’s exhaustion, Selina guided Clara back towards the cottage. In her excitement, Clara had travelled quite a distance but didn’t mind the walk back as there was still plenty to distract her, with new things to smell, see or hear at every bend and bush.

  Not far from the cottage, Selina veered off the track and stopped at a large oak tree. She settled down at its base, yawned, and looked back at Clara. Clara padded over and lay down next to her aunt. She hardly had time to wriggle herself into a comfortable position before sleep overtook her.

  When she woke, Clara was in her human form. If it hadn’t been for the fact that she was outdoors, lying under an oak tree and covered by a sleeping bag, she’d have thought that everything that had happened the night before was a dream.

  Even with the sleeping bag Clara was chilly and then another realisation hit her. Under the sleeping bag she was completely naked. Something else Aunt Selina forgot to mention, thought Clara grumpily and turned over to see where her aunt was.

  “Morning,” said Selina brightly. She was sitting at the base of the tree fully dressed and clutching a mug of something hot and steaming.

  “There’s tea in the flask to warm you up,” she said. “And I brought some clothes for you.”

  Clara dressed quickly and took the mug of tea her aunt offered.

  “How long have you been up?” Clara asked.

  “A little while,” said Selina. “You were exhausted last night, so I let you sleep. Now drink your tea and then we can go back to the cottage for a hot breakfast.” Clara’s stomach rumbled noisily at the mention of breakfast. She quickly gathered up the sleeping bag and carried it back to the cottage.

  After a hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs, Selina asked Clara how she was feeling.

  “Fine,” said Clara. “I haven’t slept that well for a long while.”

  Selina smiled. “Fresh air and exercise will do that to you,” she said. “How did you feel about being a dog?”

  Clara thought back to the previous evening. A warm feeling spread throughout her body and she started to smile. The whole experience now felt a little surreal but her memories of being a dog, experiencing its senses and instincts, were strong in her mind.

  “It seemed natural after a while,” replied Clara. “After I’d learnt to control my feet again,” she added sheepishly.

  “It became easier when you let the dog’s instincts take over, didn’t it?” asked Selina and Clara nodded.

  “That’s what I meant when I was describing the difference between the animals’ instincts and the human consciousness. You have to get the balance right between the two,” explained Selina.

  “I see,” said Clara. “Why did we not come back to the cottage to sleep?”

  “How could we open the door with only our paws?” Selina asked, waving her hands in front of Clara with raised eyebrows.

  “Oh,” said Clara, and then panic crossed her face. “How am I supposed to get in and out of the house once I’ve gone home?”

  “Don’t worry,” Selina said. “Tonight, and tomorrow night we’ll practise shifting back into human form before morning, so you’ll be able to leave and return to your parents’ house in human form. While the curse compels you to turn into animal form on the three nights of the full moon, you can control, to a degree, when you change back.”

  Clara nodded, relieved.

  Later that evening, after a refreshing afternoon snooze, they were in the garden once again. This time they stashed a pile of clothes in a damp proof bag at the back of the garden where they’d have access to it later.

  Once again, Selina instructed Clara to take the form of a dog. With her aunt’s descriptive turn of phrase, Clara quickly transformed. She followed her aunt’s golden retriever form into the woods once more. This time they ended up trotting alongside a small river.

  They crossed the river at a wooden footbridge and were now walking alongside fields. Sensing movement in one of the fields, Clara moved in that direction up to a fence. A largish creature loomed out from the dark on the other side and, at Clara’s approach, it startled and leapt backwards, baaing loudly. She’d come across a field of sheep. Clara’s heart thumped, she’d been as surprised by the sheep as it’d been of her, but now she was curious about the sheep’s reaction. Even though she was a human in dog form the sheep had clearly sensed a potential predator nearby and reacted accordingly. Clara tried to reach out with her mind to the sheep to tell it not to worry and that she was sorry that she’d frightened it, but it was so terrorised by her presence that she couldn’t reach it. Instead she moved away from the fence and re-joined her aunt on the track, leaving the sheep in peace.

  They soon arrived at the village near her Selina’s cottage. Smelling something delicious, Clara followed her nose to a row of houses. As they drew closer to the houses the smell became stronger. Smells like chicken, she thought, licking her lips. On her aunt’s advice she’d not eaten a great deal for her dinner and now felt quite peckish. On following the smell, though, she realised it wasn’t coming from a house but somewhere closer. That’s strange, she thought. She continued to follow the smell. It became overwhelmingly pungent as Clara was passing by the rubbish bin at the end of a driveway. Eugh, that’s gross, she thought. She’d been smelling food that had been thrown into the rubbish bin. Doggy Clara had thought that the smell was delicious, but human Clara was quite put o
ff.

  After a stroll through the sleeping village, Clara and her aunt made their way back to the cottage. Their walk had not taken them as far as the ramble the night before, nonetheless, Clara was tired and when they reached the oak tree where they’d slept the night before, Clara happily lay down next to Selina and went to sleep.

  A couple of hours later, Clara was woken by her aunt. She felt grumpy at having been woken, particularly when she found she was still in dog form, but she followed Selina to the cottage garden, nonetheless.

  When they arrived, Selina turned and looked at Clara. Clara sensed that her aunt wanted her to watch closely. One minute she was looking at golden retriever Aunt Selina, a few moments later she was looking up at her human aunt who winked at her before getting into her pile of clothes.

  “Okay, Clara. You saw how it was done. Now it’s your turn,” said Selina. “Just the opposite of what we did earlier. Imagine yourself back into your human body. The Clara that your parents would recognise.”

  Right, thought Clara. If I can imagine I’m a dog, then I should be able to imagine that I’m a human. Now what are my human characteristics? Well, two legs would be a good start. Two arms with hands, five fingers each. No fur, Long hair. A small nose and fewer teeth.

  Clara had her eyes tightly closed while she concentrated on all of this. She was afraid to open them to see if it’d worked.

  Then Selina chuckled, “It’s okay, you can open your eyes now.” Clara sighed with relief and opened her eyes. She put on the clothes her aunt held out to her and they went into the brightly lit and welcoming cottage together.

  Getting into bed Clara was very smug about the success of the evening’s transformation. She’d found being a dog much more natural this evening and her transformation back to human form had gone as well as she could’ve hoped. For the first time she felt excited about being a shape-shifter and she couldn’t wait for the next night’s transformation so that she could experience it again.