Meeting the Pack Chapter 1
Everyone questions what their role is on life. Our main character feels in his heart that there is something more in store for him. He happens to stumble upon that role by chance.
When you think about how certain things take place in your life, you cant help but wonder if it has a purpose. Was it meant to be? As I sit here on the rocky mountains over looking the Alpine plateau of Southern Alaska, feeling the wind hold me, giving me an overwhelming feeling of freedom, I could not help but feel free. Recalling the events of the last few months on how everything took place, it all seemed like time flashed before my eyes, and here I am, a changed man. Well am I even a man now? It seems like a dream. As I tilt my head up to the sky, I close my eyes and reminisce how my life changed.
The buzzing sound of my alarm clock forces my eyes to open. I grab my pillow trying to cover my head from the reality that I must return to the daily routine, wake up, brush my teeth, shower, and get ready for work. There are those who enjoy this daily routine; having never being a morning person, it was and still is quite a difficult task for me. As I got ready for work, I see myself looking back from the other side of the mirror and could not help but wonder, there must be something better then this. There are times when you have to listen to your head, but for some reason, my heart was telling me something else. What is it? My zoned out state of mind was quickly interrupted with the ringing of my phone. "Hello?" "Mr. Alexander? This is Doctor Mizoski. I'm calling about your physical you had a few weeks ago. It is imperative that I see you as soon as possible." "That does not sound good Doctor. Is everything ok?" "Its just better if I see you in person. I don't want to alarm you, but like I said, it is imperative that I see you as soon as possible. Please do not delay this." "Okay, I'll call out of work today and head right over." "Alright then, I'll see you when you get here. Just tell the nurse at the desk that you are here to see me and she will bring you in." "Alright doc, I'll see you in a bit." As I hung up the phone, I became increasingly worried. My father died of cancer, fighting for his life for the past ten years, but he was in his late 70s. I'm only in my late 20s. Am I doomed to suffer his fate this early?
The drive to the doctors office seemed longer then normal. My mind wondered from my funeral to chemo therapy, being alone with no siblings and parents who are now gone; Am I left to suffer this alone? All these thoughts raced across my mind. An overwhelming sensation of both anxiety and depression consumed me. As I placed my car in park and shut off the engine, I sat there momentarily looking at the entrance way to the clinic. "I wont know until I speak with him so it is better not to worry about something that I am unsure of just yet." I said to myself trying to remain calm. I approached the nurse, "I'm here for Doctor Mizoski please." "Oh yes, Mr. Alexander, right this way." As I followed the nurse, my heart increased its pace as sweat started to escape from the typical stress spots. "Mr. Alexander, please have a seat." I took my seat next to his desk, looked at him and patiently waited. He opened a medical file and re-read his notes. I can already see from his expression that he was having a hard time trying to find the proper words. "John, I know your physicals last year where terrific, no signs of cancer, even earlier this year, no signs, but what astonishes me is that you have an anomaly within you blood. Do not worry, you do not have cancer." he states as he smiles at me. I wanted to jump and scream in joy right then and there but I maintained my composure, not quite sure whether this anomaly was good or bad so I patiently listened. "I honestly do not know whether this anomaly is good or bad, it is unlike anything I have ever seen or heard. It took me a while to get back with you because I shipped a sample to a bunch of my colleagues and they too are unsure of what this means or what it even is." He saw the worry and question in my expression. He pulled out a piece of paper with illustrated figures on them and handed them to me. "See this figure here? This is what a human DNA strand looks like. In elementary terms, it is a spiraling ladder basically." He pulled out another document with another illustration on it. "This is your DNA strand. Unlike a human DNA strand that had two vertical strand with many horizontal strands that connect them, your DNA has three vertical strands with multiple horizontal connecting strands with a fourth vertical strand that spirals around the standing three. I have checked your medical record from as far back as the age of 15 and you have not once suffered from any kind of illness, nor broken bones, nothing. Have you ever noticed that?" I was stunned and had no idea what to say. I just looked at him and shook my head no. "Have you ever noticed anything strange or out of the ordinary?" "Doc, I just live my life day to day just like anyone else, work and home, work and home, all my friends from college have moved, and my co-workers, well...they are ass holes so I don't associate with them outside of work, so I don't really go anywhere. Like I said, home and work." After noticing what I had just said, I could not help but laugh at myself, especially at how much of a looser I have become. "Well, I want to run further tests with the current blood sample that I have. I just wanted you to be aware of what is going on. You are in the clear of cancer, but still, be cautious and continue to live your life as you are." As I left his office, all this information overwhelmed me. I needed to go for a drive. Where to? No idea, I just put my car in drive and drove. The image of my DNA strand was all I could picture in my head. What the hell does that mean? Am I some sort of alien? Am I a mutant? MUTANT?! IM NOT A DAM X-MEN sheesh, ugh what the hell is going on? Next thing I knew the blaring sound of a semi horn brought me out of my daze, swerving my car out of the way, sliding and spinning out of control. I braced for impact as my car slide into a ditch. Just fucking great, I thought to myself. I crawled out of my car and looked around. "Where the hell am I?" I looked around and saw nothing but open lush mountainous plateaus, the chilled wind kissing each mountain, flocks of birds flying high, herds of caribou rummaging near the tree line. CARIBOU?! What the hell? Where the fuck am I? My heart started to race, it was a strange sensation, my heart was racing like I was running a marathon. It almost hurt. Realizing that I needed to get it together, I came to my senses, and walked to the peak of a small hill to see if there was a town near-by but instead saw a welcome sign. Welcome to Alaska. I felt like I was going to pass out. How did I get here. I felt like I was on the road for only a few minutes but yet I get from Vancouver to Alaska in a blink of an eye. Seriously what the fuck is going on?!?! I just stood there on the peak of the hill, not a clue on what I was supposed to do. No cell phone reception, no cars for miles, oh and what's this? Snow is starting to fall? Oh terrific, I'm not going to die of cancer, instead ill die from hypothermia. I started to laugh out loud like a mad man. I dropped to my knees, feeling helpless, alone, and strangely enough, not scared or frightened. What is this sensation I am feeling? As the snow started to fall, a single snow flake fell on the tip of my nose, not cold, but somehow warm to the touch. The snow fall started to envelop me, the more snow that blanketed me, the warmer I felt, yet strangely enough, I felt soothed and calm. As I closed my eyes, there was a strange smell that captivated me, it consumed me like it was something I was familiar with. I slowly opened my eyes, and right in front of me was a pack of wolves. They were not just an ordinary pack of wolves, but each individual wolf was the size of a VW beetle or at least they looked that big to me. The one standing in front of the rest really caught my attention. I felt an unfamiliar feeling of comfort from him. He was interested in me just as much as I was interested in him. Having seen national geographic documentaries on many occasions I was no fool. I stood still as much as possible, anticipating possible moves I could take in the event that he attacks me. Somehow, I feel as if he knew what I was thinking and just sat in front of me tilting his head, almost as if questioning why I would want to think that. "Um, hello." Seriously, I am facing a pack of wolves just starring at me and that's all I say. Why don't I just ask them if they want to eat me? Clearly frustrated with my first choice of words, what came next was something I did not for see happening. The pack leader came up to my feet and laid on his belly. I look up and the rest of the pack followed suit. "Why do you hesitate? We do not intend to hurt you." I looked around franticly looking for the source of the voice. Okay, now at this point, I knew I was going crazy. First I had no recollection of my drive from Vancouver to Alaska, its snowing like crazy and I feel warm, a pack of wolves have yet to maul my jugular out, and now I am hearing voices? It was all too much at once, my heart raced like I have never felt before. The pounding sensation from my heart filled my ears like a band with nothing but drums beating right next to my head, my breath grew short, my surroundings started to fade into green and purple. I tried to move my body but remained motionless, till my body gave way and I started to fall to the ground, then suddenly, everything went dark.