Riley's Curse, A Moon's Glow Prequel Read Online Free PDF Page A

smiled and nodded as if my explanation
made perfect sense, although we all knew that there was no
shortcut. Even so, they accepted my fib because it was easier than
dealing with the fact that I was lying, or there was something very
wrong with me.
     
     

Chapter Five
Abilities
     
    A few days later, I was outside repairing a
hole in the fence. It was a workday so my father was at the general
store, the business we owned in town.
    During the week it was my responsibility to
take care of the farm. I had finished school two years before.
Instead of going to College, I stayed at home to help my father.
This saved him money so he didn’t have to hire anyone. He was
putting my earnings away for me to go to school in the fall.
    “Mary no!” I heard my middle sister Rose yell
just as I lifted the hammer, about to pound a nail into the wooden
post. I froze; the forgotten nail tumbled to the ground,
disappearing in the long grass. When I looked up, I saw my six year
old sister climbing up the ladder that I had left out. She was just
stepping off the last rung preparing to climb on top of the barn
roof. As Rose yelled, Mary looked down at her, and lost her
footing. She was going to fall.
    I dropped the hammer, and rushed over just as
she fell, catching her just in time. Umph! Air whooshed out of me
as her weight dropped onto my arms.
    “Am I dead?” she asked, squeezing her eyes
tightly closed. Her tiny fingers gripped my work shirt.
    I laughed. Thank the lord, she was okay. I hugged her close, extremely
relieved. She smelled of plum pudding and garden soil. “No, you are
not dead, but you should know better then to climb up onto the
roof.”
    “Nathaniel!” Rose yelled with a trace of
panic in her voice.
    I turned around to see her rushing toward me,
shock clouding her face. Her long wheat colored hair hung in
braids. Her bonnet was falling down off her head onto her shoulders
as she rushed toward us.
    “Yes?” I asked, setting Mary down on her
feet, who stared up at Rose waiting for her answer.
    “How did you get to her so fast?” She glanced
anxiously from Mary to me, a look of complete bafflement covering
her face. I understood why she was concerned. I didn’t even realize
until then that I had run thirty feet in a few seconds. “Uh…I was
working on the barn door when I heard you yell at her,” I lied,
something that was becoming a habit for me. She accepted my
falsehood, just as my parents had last week, only because not to,
was too strange to comprehend.
    Mary giggled, pulling Rose away toward the
garden where she had been playing earlier in the day.
    I was glad to see them go. I knew something
was wrong with me, but I wanted to keep it to myself as long as
possible.
     
    The unexplainable behavior did not go away.
Over the next couple of weeks I noticed I had acquired some very
bizarre abilities.
    One day, as I was repairing the barn roof, I
lost my balance, and fell to the ground, landing on my feet.
Thankfully no one was around to see. It was getting harder to hide
my new found skills. The dishonesty to my family was beginning to
weigh on me.
    I could hear animals rustling in the woods,
miles away. I could also smell them approach, even identify the
species by their scent.
    The most disturbing change was my bizarre new
cravings. The food my mother prepared was not satisfying me. I
finally realized what the problem was. She was cooking the meat,
and I craved it raw. One day the craving was so strong I found
myself about to gobble down the uncooked beef my mother had left in
the ice box. I stopped myself just in time. I didn't understand why
all of this was happening to me, and more than ever, I just wanted
to go back to the life I had weeks ago.
     
    Almost a month had passed since Lucy’s death
and I was starting to forget important details about her, the exact
color of her hair, or the sound of her laughter. I hated myself for
this. Since I was to blame for her death, I should remember every
detail about