Luna's Story By P. A. Liba NOTE: several more chapters have been written. Let me know if you'd like this story to continue with those chapters????
CHAPTER 1 – Lost
Well, all I could do was hope that these high school kids might just tune out the two rat heads just out of middle school. “Loony Luna, Stinky Luna, Loony Luna, Smelly Tuna.” I thought the torture might stop once we got into high school. I tried to blend into the lunch line, as I ignored their crude slams. I shifted the weight of my heavy backpack from shoulder to shoulder, when I felt a tug and heard a rip despite the lunchroom noise. I swung around fast to see who was messing with me, and my loaded backpack smacked the kid behind me in the face. I gave him one of my ‘I’m sorry’ looks, because I knew he wasn’t the attacker. The two loud mouths weren’t anywhere in sight. The next thing I knew, some of my belongings hit the floor. I didn’t want anyone to see anything in my backpack, so I scrambled to grab stuff and shove it back into the slit one of those creeps slashed. My favorite pale pink rock with a perfect dark cross etched in it by something or somebody hit the floor. As I grabbed it and jostled everything around trying to keep more personal things from falling out, the lunch line ground to a halt as everyone glared at me and shouted crap. So much for going unnoticed. Everything I cared about lived in my backpack. Oh sure, school stuff too. But none of that fell out. No such luck. I didn't dare leave my personal stuff at home with all my favorite collections. Probably no one would want my perfect snake skin or dried leaves and twigs, but there's a gold coin I found that would disappear in a heartbeat... The security officer came over. She'd been watching and seemed to understand how frustrated I was. With a wave of her hand, she calmed down the lunch line. Guess she didn’t exactly see who attacked my backpack, but she looked at the slit and we both knew a knife had to be involved. “I saw two boys run out of the line. I recognized one, and I'll catch up to them. "So what did you do to them?" She asked. “Uh, nothing.” I said as I stared at her. How could she think I did anything to those two delinquents? Good thing I got free lunch, but my stomach was in a knot as I clutched my backpack. It was hard to carry a tray but I managed it with one arm. The rest of the day didn’t go well, either. More stuff kept trying to fall out of the slit. Kids were snickering and pointing as I tried to hold onto everything. Being a new freshman sucks. Maybe I am Loony Luna. I wish I could turn into a werewolf and scare a bunch of kids half to death. After living with my Grami all those years, I could hardly believe what I'm putting up with now. I've only been back with Mom and this new boyfriend since middle school started. If my Grami hadn't died, I'd still be with her. I miss her so much. My last hour was almost over... stupid math. Like I'd ever use any of that in whatever-you-would-call my life. Mom and her boyfriend did use math, as they tried to figure out how many ounces of booze they might have left to share. I was exhausted as I began to think about the bus ride home. Maybe I could snooze a little on the bus. I never get enough sleep at home, as I always have to find ways to dodge mom's latest boyfriend. They're all the same. I've lost count of all the losers she's had since I had to move back in with her. When I finally do get to sleep, that same creepy nightmare bugs me almost every night. On top of all that, my bus is loaded with other kids I would rather live without. One freak always ties to trip me as I get on or off the bus. And most everyone on the bus seems to know how to call me, 'Loony Luna,' in a way that cuts like the knife that slit my backpack. As I climbed on board, I think everyone could read my face, ‘don’t mess with me’ so the bus ride home wasn’t as bad as I expected. True to his ways, Billy Boy stuck out his foot to trip me as I tried to get off the bus. I saw it coming and stomped on his foot as I hurried to get off. I could hear him yowl as the bus door shut. That was the only thing that made me smile all day. Blackhawk joined me as the bus rumbled off. That big black bird has always seemed more like my dog than my pet raven. He squawked his usual hello and I mimicked his greeting back to him. Then he flew, landed, kinda hopped, and flew some more as we both started to make our way to the trailer I’m supposed to call home. But I stopped short as... I just couldn’t face going to that almost extinct, faded blue trailer. I was still too upset to face Mom or what's-his-name. If they were there, they’d be half drunk by now and fighting... and when Mom kicks that loser out of their room, he tries to put the moves on me. I can't deal with any of that right now. So the two of us took off across the desert. Blackhawk was confused at the change of direction. His squawking got louder. I didn’t feel like mimicking that. In fact, he could have gotten lost for all I care. But he didn’t. My backpack hadn't gotten any lighter, and my arms ached from holding onto it to keep stuff from falling out. I finally dropped it next to a bush that would make a great tumbleweed some day. Even though my big backpack wasn't a very comfortable pillow, I just wanted to doze off. Blackhawk landed and finally shut up. He paced around me, cocked his head from one side to the other and studied me, as if he could figure out why I'm so mad and so tired. Guess I dozed off, but woke up to a loud squawk from Blackhawk. He circled me and flapped his wings, which made the cool night air feel even colder. The desert could get frigid after sunset. I jumped up as I realized it was really getting late. If Mom was home and not too drunk, she'd lock me out all night, for spite. I started running and Blackhawk kept up with me. He didn’t have to deal with my damaged backpack. I thought I knew where I was. Even in the dim evening light, the old trailer should have been in sight by now. Instead, I spotted that abandoned cabin, which looked spooky in the shadows of the desert knolls. I was further away from the trailer than I thought. I’d only seen this cabin once before, months ago, when I was out wandering around looking for lizards and trying to stay out of that trailer. I eyed what was left of the cabin's windows. Without really thinking, I dropped my backpack, walked toward the cabin, and made two tight fists as I approached what was left of the window panes. First my right fist and then my left smashed two brittle glass panes. Blackhawk backed away from me and the cabin. I couldn’t even see him now, but I could hear his wings flapping, and could imagine him hopping around nervously. He was the smart one. Before I could unclench my sticky wet fists, the loud bark of a dog scared me so bad I almost wet myself. Then a loud voice shrieked, “WHAT THE HELL DO YA THINK YOU’RE DOIN?” In that instant, I forgot about my miserable bloody hands. “Wh… who… whoo are you?” The dog kept barking. “LUNA, IS THAT YOU? DID YOU SMASH WHAT’S LEFT OF MY WINDOWS?” “Sally?” “HEY, ORPHAN, SHUT UP. ENOUGH BARKING ALREADY” “Sally… it IS you. What are you doing way out here? Last time I saw you, you were living in the desert back behind the thrift store with your friends.” Sally stood in the sagging doorway of the cabin, holding onto the nape of her dog’s neck. “Where’d you get the dog? What do you call him? Orphan?” “You always did ask a lot of questions, Luna. My friends and me parted company awhile back. I didn’t care for the things they got into. Some were steal'n, some were pee'n on the nearby park's picnic tables, and one bastard grabbed a woman walking along the road... and raped her. The whole town turned against us homeless folks after all that. “And I found this big pup a couple weeks ago, just wandering around in the desert. Somebody just dumped him, but he’s OK now. I'm sharing my water and jerky I have till I can teach him how to dig roots to chew for moisture and food. What are you doing out here anyway? It’s almost dark.” I was glad to see Sally but knew I better get going. My hands were throbbing, and I didn't feel like sharing my troubles with her just now. “Good to see ya, Sally, but I gotta get home. I’ll try to get back here after school tomorrow and bring some duct tape to fix your windows... maybe we can talk then.” “Don’t bother,” Sally said, “if YOU stumbled across me and Orphan, someone else might. We’ll be out of here by daylight.” She disappeared back into the dark shack. At that moment, any rage I still felt turned to sadness. I liked Sally, and I would never do anything to hurt her. She'd been through enough. Now I may never see her again. I stumbled along, hoping I was going the right direction. Maybe I could slip in unnoticed even, if Mom and the loser were home. I couldn’t hear or see Blackhawk at all, but I knew he was out there somewhere, probably dozing in the tree near the trailer. The night air was icy now, and I felt chilled right through to my empty stomach. I pulled my coat from my backpack. My old coat had many shades of grime, and now would have blood stains too. I know it's pretty grungy but it would fall apart if I tried to wash it. It's the only coat I have, so that's the way it is. I spotted a dim light in the distance. It had to be the trailer. Mom must have left the light on over the kitchen stove. I was wiped out.. My hands hurt like hell. My backpack, I swear, had gained weight in the past few hours. To my relief, when I reached the trailer, I saw their car was gone. As I reached up to open the door, I made the mistake of looking down. There, blocking my way, was the biggest scorpion I’d ever seen. Fear kicked all my other emotions aside, as the sight of the scorpion reminded me of the nightmare I’d have to face again if I ever got to sleep. I finally sidestepped the thing and got inside. I went straight to the top junk drawer next to the stove, and began rummaging through assorted nails, and candy bar and gum wrappers. I could see my knuckles were still bleeding a little, and the pain was pretty solid. Somewhere in that messy drawer should be a safety pin for my backpack. Found one. I peeked in the cupboards to see if there was any food. No point in looking in the fridge... there was usually only beer in there. Just as I opened the second cupboard, the light over the stove went out. Shit. She didn't pay the electric bill again.