Kati was watching the clock so intently that she never noticed Mr. Bache drop two more files onto her desk. In front of her were a few incomplete lists of things that she needed to do; none of which had anything to do with work. The heading of one list was “Clothing”, another list was titled “Food stuff”, and a third list was simply “misc.”…That list containing only one item as of yet…tampons.
Mr. Bache stood over Kati as she just sat there in a malaise, her eyes fixed on the clock, but her thoughts hours and miles away. He subtly cleared his throat as to jolt her back to reality; the reality being that it was Friday afternoon and there was still work to be done before ‘quitting time’. “Kati,” he quietly announced, “five o’clock will be here quite soon, but if you would, dear, I have these last two closings which need to be filed today.”
“Oh! I’m sorry John…I’ll get to them ‘PRONTO!!’ You know you can count on me!” Kati cheerfully spouted.
Kati was pre-occupied because this weekend she was going on a camping trip with her sister and a group of friends. The sixteen of them were going up to Lake George, New York. There they would rent canoes and head out to one of the many ‘lake’ islands, for a long weekend of camping and fun. She was extra excited about this weekend, though, because she was going to be paired up with Tommy! Kati had a MAD crush on Tommy; and being paired up meant that they’d not only share the same canoe, but because all the others on the trip were couples, Kati and Tommy would be sharing the same tent as well!
“This could be the real thing! This weekend might just be it! Tommy and me, alone together in the woods! What could be more romantic!?” The idea rolled through Kati’s head all night long.
Five a.m. Saturday morning didn’t come early enough for Kati…Arriving at the lake 6 hours later seemed like an eternity in passing.
Tommy felt about Kati, much the way that she felt about him. They had so much fun in the canoe, and searching for a tent site, and setting up their tent together. During their search for firewood, Kati stumbled and fell into Tommy’s arms; and in the soft light of the pastel sunset, they kissed, a long hard, passionate kiss. That said it all. Dinner was filled with darting glances and secret smiles; the evening lay in wait.
A walk after dinner was a beautiful time. A full moon was on the rise, reflecting off the mountains in the distance, and glistening across the soft ripples in the lake. Tommy reached over and pulled Kati in close to him. Suddenly Kati broke from Tommy’s embrace. She seemed to be in pain—holding her stomach.
“Are you alright, sweetie?” Tommy asked.
“Yeah, I guess I just ate too much, too fast. I always eat too much, too fast”, Kati smiled, “Let’s go back to the tent, Tommy.” Kati and Tommy walked the moonlit trail back to their tent and climbed in.
Inside, they lay there side-by-side, each nervous about who would make the next move. Kati felt her stomach again and then reached for her bag that contained her personal things. Secretly grasping a tampon, she excused herself, “I’ll be right back, Tommy.”
Upon returning, Kati sensed a change in the atmosphere. The tent suddenly smelled like tequila, and Tommy had taken off his shorts and was sitting up in all his glory!! “C’mon baby,” Tommy laughed, “Let’s get back to where we left off!”
“Tommy, I really like you, and I want to, but not tonight. I just can’t.”
“What’s wrong?” Tommy asked, “You were all there before, come on, babe…I really dig you!”
“Not tonight, though!” Kati yelled, “It’s that time of the month…”
Tommy, now quite tipsy from the drink, said, “I’m not afraid of that. C’mon Kati…”
The sun rose at about 5:30am. Kati’s sister Linda was the first upon the scene.
Kati and Tommy’s campsite had been ravaged, their tent torn to pieces, blood everywhere---but no sign of either of them. A complete forensic investigation shed no light on the mystery. It appeared to be the work of a wolf or wolves, but the island was devoid of any animals like that, and the mainland was 4 miles away.
Several months later, and 1000 miles away, at a meeting of ‘Substance Abusers Anonymous’, a beautiful young woman stood up and introduced herself, “Hi. I’m Kati, and I am an addict. I’m addicted to blood. You see, I am a werewolf.”
“Hi Kati, welcome to our group….”