Stellaluna found herself at the Barstow house. Waylon had invited Barry and her over to his house for dinner. She didn’t mind going. It was something to do, and it had been awhile since she last saw Celine.

  As they dug into a lobster dinner, Waylon bragged about how Sebastian finally got a girlfriend. It was all he talked about. Sebastian let his father do all the sharing. He hunched over his plate, all attention on his food. Like he was afraid someone would force him to talk about her. It did nothing to quell Stellaluna’s doubts of him being “cured.” She also reflected on her talk with Yannick. Why did he need to be cured anyway? Why was homosexuality considered unnatural and wrong?

  After dinner, Barry and Waylon talked in the family room. They drank beer as they watched a sports game. So stereotypical.

  Stellaluna and Celine opted to go for a walk outside. Although dark, streetlights illuminated the sidewalk. And Celine’s neighborhood was safe. A slight chill filled the air, but their sweaters did a good enough job of keeping them warm.

  “I can’t believe Sebastian actually has a girlfriend now,” Stellaluna said. “He’s really been cured then?”

  “Waylon thinks so, yeah. But…” Celine sighed. “I would think a girlfriend would make him happier.”

  Celine had confided her concerns about how Sebastian had become grumpy and withdrawn, ever since returning from that camp. It was a dramatic change from before. “It’s strange. A couple months ago, he started acting a little like his old self. He still wasn’t talkative, but he was cheerful and smiling. Texting all the time. He started leaving the house. I asked him where he was going. He said he was hanging out with a friend. I thought it was a girlfriend but he was too embarrassed about how Waylon would react.”

  Stellaluna wouldn’t blame him for keeping that quiet. “It wasn’t a girlfriend?”

  “It must not have been, because ever since he started dating Ellie, he’s been grouchier than ever. It’s like dating the girl makes him miserable.” Celine lowered her voice. “I don’t think that camp worked. And I…” She stopped walking, and bit her lip.

  Stellaluna stopped along with her. “What?”

  “I have a hunch that his ‘friend’ was a boyfriend. It explains how he’s been acting.”

  “That makes sense.” If Celine was right, that made the world more depressing. If Sebastian was happier dating a man than a woman, why shouldn’t he be allowed to do that? Because society thought it was wrong? Stellaluna wondered how Celine would react to her opinion.

  The two reached the end of the street, which led downtown. They stopped in front of a chain link fence. It surrounded a junkyard.

  “I never wanted to send him to that camp,” Celine whispered. “I had a bad feeling about the place. But Waylon-”

  A large animal threw itself against the chain link fence. The women jumped. It was too dark to see what kind of animal it was. But it growled and yelped. It continued throwing itself against the fence. The fence rattled over and over.

  Celine grabbed Stellaluna’s arm, and they raced back home.

  Sebastian sat alone in his room, ignoring texts from Ellie. Pretending to like her was draining. Why couldn’t he actually like her? It had been two weeks. Surely after all this faking, he’d feel something by now.

  He wished it was Axel texting him. But Axel hadn’t contacted him since that day they ran into each other at the froyo shop. It was exactly what Sebastian wanted.

  But if he wanted that so bad, then why did he feel so miserable? Axel might have reminded him of that disgusting part of himself. But at least Axel brought him joy at times. Ellie brought no joy and also reminded him of that disgusting part of himself. He thought of it every time he forced himself to act romantic towards her.

  The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  Voices erupted from downstairs. It sounded as though Stellaluna and his mother returned from their walk. Perhaps the Callahans were about to leave. His father would probably come up here and drag him down to say goodbye. Sebastian decided to save him the effort, and do it himself.

  Sebastian walked downstairs and was met with the sight of Stellaluna and his mother frantically shouting over each other. Something about bears and wolves. Barry and Waylon kept asking them to calm down.

  “What’s going on?” Sebastian asked.

  Celine looked at him. “You are no longer allowed to walk downtown.”

  It was something Sebastian had started doing occasionally, on Axel’s recommendation he get out of the house more often.

  “Walk?” Stellaluna gasped. “He shouldn’t go there at all! What if it roams around there?”

  “We would have heard about it in the news. I think someone’s keeping it locked up for something.”

  “What are you talking about?” Barry asked. “What’s downtown?”

  “The junkyard right before you reach downtown.” Celine clutched at her chest. “There’s a bear living there!”

  “Not a bear. A wolf!” Stellaluna cried out.

  “It was too big to be a wolf.”

  “But it sounded like a dog.”

  “Maybe it was a dog.” Waylon rubbed Celine’s shoulder. “I know you ladies have over-active imaginations.”

  “We’re not imagining it!” Celine pushed him away.

  Sebastian’s eyes widened. He’d never seen his mother stand up to his father.

  Stellaluna raised her chin. “Go check for yourselves."

  “What do you say?” Barry asked Waylon.

  “Definitely.” Waylon looked at Sebastian. “Come on, boy.”

  Celine stepped in front of Sebastian. “No!”

  “What?”

  “He’s staying here where it’s safe.”

  “For God’s sake. He’s a grown man.”

  Now Sebastian really wanted to see this creature. “I’ll be okay.”

  “We’ll carry guns,” Waylon said. “Will that calm you down?”

  “A little.” Celine turned her head away. Like that, she was back to her submissive self.

  “Good. Let’s get our guns, and see what all this fuss is about.”

  About ten minutes later, Sebastian found himself standing in front of a chain link fence, hunting rifle in hand. He hoped he wouldn’t have to use it. Did he even remember how?

  It was dark. Sebastian, Waylon, and Barry turned on the flashlights on their watches. They walked along the fence, shining their lights through it.

  “There’s nothing here,” Barry muttered.

  “Typical women, getting hysterical over dumb shit,” Waylon said. “What’s the bet it was only a rat?”

  “Probably. I’m giving up.”

  Waylon agreed. “Let’s go, Sebastian.”

  Barry and Waylon walked away. Sebastian flashed his light through the fence again. This time, he spotted a silhouette of a large, dog-shaped animal about ten feet away. It jerked his head towards the light. Its eyes glowed, but its tongue rolled out.

  The animal got to its feet, and approached the fence, tail wagging. Sebastian could clearly see now that the animal was a dog. The tallest dog he’d ever seen. Its head came up to Sebastian’s chest. Long, wiry fur framed its eyes.

  The dog whined. The poor thing was probably hungry. Sebastian pressed his palm against the fence. The dog sniffed it.

  “Sebastian,” Waylon’s voice shouted from a distance.

  “Coming,” Sebastian shouted back. He looked at the dog. No way would his parents let him keep it. “I’ll come back tomorrow,” he promised it.

  Stellaluna woke up in the morning from nightmares about the ferocious beast she had encountered. The men had assured her and Celine that there wasn’t anything there. Barry had the nerve to suggest maybe it was a rat they saw.

  “That thing was the size of a wolf,” Stellaluna had told him. “Rats don’t get that big!”

  Barry responded by saying, “Clearly you’ve never been to New York.”

  Stellaluna was growing rather tired of Barry being dismissive to her feelings.

  She bumped into Yannick on the way to breakfast.

  He greeted her. “You are upset with Master Callahan again?”

  Was it that obvious and did it happen that often? “Yes.”

  “What now?”

  “Last night, I saw a frightening animal. It would have attacked me if there wasn’t a fence between us.”

  Yannick furrowed his brow. Stellaluna wondered if he understood any of her words. “What happened next?”

  “Me and my friend ran away. We told our husbands about it. They left to look for it. They didn’t find anything. Barry says it was probably a rat.”

  “He does not care, that you were scared?”

  “Nope.”

  Yannick shook his head. “I’m sorry. You need someone better.”

  “I really do.”

  “Stellaluna, darling, there you are.” Barry approached the two, frowning at Yannick.

  “I will now the windows clean,” Yannick said to Stellaluna. He nodded at Barry, and left.

  “I asked him to clean the windows,” Stellaluna explained to Barry.

  “Are you sure you weren’t sharing your little adventure with him, like you have with the rest of the servants?”

  How did he know she’d been telling everyone about the beast she encountered?

  “It’s all the servants are talking about.” Barry shook his head. “They’re suggesting all kinds of nonsense as to what it is. One of them thinks it’s some sort of scientific experience.”

  Stellaluna hadn’t thought of that. “It could be.”

  “It was nothing. And you need to stop gossiping about with the servants. They have important work to do.” With that, Barry walked off, leaving Stellaluna to continue her daily wanderings.