Scene One

Joseph had been married for almost 15 years, and it had never been exactly easy. He loved his wife Esther, but she could make things very difficult whenever she was angry, and there was no way she wouldn’t be furious now. That’s why he always hated fighting with her; it only led to days of ice cold silence. But today, he feared a fight was inevitable. He had no choice this time but to face her wrath.

Cautiously, he began his approach to the front door of their house, listening and watching keenly to discern if she was waiting on the other side to launch into a tirade immediately upon his entrance. He stepped softly in an attempt to lessen the sound of his footsteps on the narrow red brick walkway leading to their house, putting the very front of the toe down first before carefully lowering the heel, but he couldn’t completely muffle the clomping sound of each foot as his black square-toed business shoes made contact with the bricks below. His mind distracted, he barely registered anything at all of his surroundings before almost automatically withdrawing a small, silver-colored key from his black suit-jacket pocket and inserting it into the matching silver-colored lock of the front door. Nor did he register the nearly imperceptible shaking of said hand, as the nervousness for what was about to occur began settling upon him in waves, before turning the key and then opening the door, a slight, barely audible click the only sound.

Joseph entered the house, expecting tumultuous screaming, only to find that there was no sound. An almost eerie silence blanketed the front entrance way, which only served to increase his nervousness and tension all the more. The lack of any discernable odor was even more disturbing, as not a day had gone by since their marriage that he didn’t come home from the law firm to the smell of a cooking dinner. He carefully set his dark leather briefcase on the small, oak wooden table by the door, and shut the door behind him very cautiously, so as to not provoke matters further with too much noise. He then delicately took off his jacket and red and black striped necktie and tossed them over his briefcase, while looking around for his wife. He could see directly up the stairs, and through the doorways into the sizable living and dining rooms, but there was no sign of her.

“Esther?!” he called loudly, running a still shaking hand nervously through his salt and pepper hair, as a thin layer of sweat began to form on his forehead. “Esther, sweetheart?” a little gentler this time, a loving, concerned tone to his voice. Yes, he was acting, but hopefully he was convincing.

“Don’t you dare ‘sweetheart’ me, you no-good lying adulterer!” Esther had come running down the stairs, and now stood angrily on the first floor landing, directly above and in front of him. Her face was red and contorted grotesquely in extreme loathing. Her short, blond hair was a mangled mess, far from her usual beautiful self and it was clear from the liquid on her face that she had been crying. Her arms were crossed firmly in front of her dull grey jogging top, as she stood there like an empress about to announce an execution. “I can’t even stand to be in this house for one more moment with you!”

“Esther, please, just let me explain. I promise I didn’t mean it, it’ll never happen again.” He was seemingly almost begging now, light blue eyes staring into dark brown, imploring.

“NO! I hate you, I’ll always hate you! Get out, you lying bastard!” She screamed, the muscles in her throat visibly straining with the effort to maintain that volume, as they pulsed on the side of her neck. There was obviously no reasoning with her in that state.

“Well, if you insist on talking like that then I can’t talk to you, and I’m certainly not leaving. Maybe after you’ve calmed down we can discuss this. Until then, it’s obviously pointless. You can do what you like.” He was through with this little game, he was tired after a long day and wanted to enjoy the rest of the evening in peace. He certainly didn’t have the patience for one of her temper tantrums anymore. Joseph barely even registered her look of intense shock, like she had just been slapped, as he went walking quickly up the stairs, pushing by her on the landing, her mouth now hanging open and her eyes wide as saucers.

“Bastard!” She screamed after him at the top of her lungs, a distinct tone of shocked surprise in her voice. But he was having no more of it, as he slipped into their bedroom and silently locked the door behind him. He could honestly care less what happened between them next, as he walked toward the bedside table and reached for the television remote.

Scene Two

Matilda didn’t know what she was going to do. Her marriage was falling apart. It seemed as if she and David couldn’t even be in the same room together without an argument anymore. She had to leave him, she knew that, but she didn’t think she had the courage. Regardless, she would have to do something.

She sat on the big, old, green couch in the living room, staring through the large floor-to-ceiling front windows overlooking the neatly-manicured front yard and driveway, waiting for him to come home. The tick-tock of the old cuckoo clock on the wall was the only sound in the room, other than her rapidly tapping foot when it came in contact with the hardwood floor beneath it; she had never had much patience. She quickly glanced over at the clock on the wall, 5:45, he was late. Still, she sat, as dusk slowly settled and the sun set on the horizon, bathing the house and yard in a blanket of darkness. She flipped on the small, green lamp on the side table and continued her lonely and desperate vigil. She watched the driveway like it held the breath of life, barely even daring to blink.

Finally, just as she was beginning to nod off, her head slowly tilting back onto the couch cushion, she was suddenly jerked back to wakefulness when she heard a car engine, growing ever closer. She could recognize the sound; it was definitely David’s car. It sounded a bit like a content cat from a distance, with just a gentle purring. She glanced over at the clock once more, 8:15; he’d never gotten home that late at night without calling before. As the shiny red Honda Accord pulled into the driveway and shut off, thoughts of just what to say to him ran rapidly through her mind.

As she heard the distinct hollow thumping sound of the car door opening outside, Matilda roused herself up from the couch. She made a half-hearted attempt to straighten her long, dark brown hair back to normal again with her hand, as it had gotten frizzy and tangled. It was really more out of nervousness than anything else. Then, as she heard the car door slam loudly outside with a jarring crash, she walked self-assuredly to the doorway of the entrance hall, barely registering the thumps of her footfalls caused by her flat-soled white tennis shoes. He would be certain to see her there, just as soon as he opened the door.

She waited and listened, hearing the soft footfalls as he walked rapidly up the concrete walkway toward the front door. Within moments, though it seemed like so much longer, he was on the front stoop. Then, she watched apprehensively as the bronze-colored doorknob wiggled slightly, before rapidly turning to one side. Then, the door quickly burst open, propelled by an extremely impatient hand.

As David was coming through the doorway, he suddenly spotted her standing there, and completely froze. His green eyes were as unreadable as his expression, as he stood there completely blank-faced. “We need to talk.” Matilda said to him, her voice sounding far more confident than she actually felt. “I’m leaving you.” There, she had finally said it. It felt amazing too, like an enormous weight was lifted off her shoulders.

He didn’t look surprised at all, as he quietly stood there. His hand suddenly jerked slightly for some reason, before going back to rest at his side, as if he suppressed some impulsive act. Then, he looked down and suddenly realizing where he was, he moved the rest of the way inside the house and quietly shut the door behind him. He slowly turned back to look at her, as one hand came up to run itself through his blonde hair “Why? I know we have problems, but I thought we could work them out.” He sounded more than a little hurt, and the guilt cut through her like a knife.

“We’ve tried working through them. I don’t really know what’s kept me here this long. Except, I care about you, and probably always will. But, the most prized possession I have is my love, and I can’t share that with you anymore. You know that. I am sorry.” The tears started to rapidly well up in her eyes, and she desperately tried to keep him from seeing her cry, as she wiped the tears away hastily.

“But, I love you, despite everything.” It was barely a whisper, and it ripped at her heart, as she raised one hand to tenderly touch his cheek.

“I know.” With that, she picked up the suitcase she had packed earlier, which had been sitting unnoticed on the floor by the wall and walked with it towards the door. Suddenly, she stopped and turned toward him one last time, as her mouth opened to tell him how much she would miss him. Then, she thought better of it, and closed it again. Finally, she just said “I’ll come back for the rest of my things tomorrow.” The tone of her voice was filled with sadness, and regret, but was also determined. Her mind was made up. He just gave a small, sad nod of his head as she turned back and walked straight out the front door.

Scene Three

Remus couldn’t believe his eyes at first. He had to blink twice quickly before being certain he wasn’t delusional. He had told her not to come. He distinctly remembered telling her, earlier that day, when he had told her the truth about himself, not to come that night. He could remember every painful moment of that conversation as if he were reliving it all over again. He was surprised she had chosen not to listen to him, yet here she was, standing just inside his front entranceway staring at him across the room. She had just moments before gotten through taking the liberty of letting herself in. Then his surprise quickly turned to fear as he suddenly remembered his reasons for not wanting her there. As his brilliant green eyes went wide, he went flying across his spacious living room to confront her.

He towered over her, as he reached out and took a hold on both her shoulders. He was actually worried enough to feel like shaking her. How could she have come, knowing what the dangers were? He stared deeply into her unusual violet eyes and saw something strange, she wasn’t scared. If anything, there was a flicker of concern in her gaze as she stared straight back at him. This probably shocked him more than anything else could have, as he released her. He surveyed her carefully, from her head to her feet. He started with her almost waist-length, shiny, light brown, curly hair in a shade so similar to his own short cut, and continued down past her sky blue sun dress, so different from his own blue jeans and white t-shirt, and finished with the blue short-heeled shoes that were on her dainty feet. She was breathtakingly beautiful; he had to admit, as he took a step back to give her some space.

“What are you doing here, Selene? Don’t you realize how dangerous this is?” He asked quietly with his voice full of genuine heartfelt concern. He turned away from her then and paced over to the single small window in the room, his face drawn and his eyes going dark with worry as he looked up into the night sky.

“Yes, Remus, of course I understand the dangers. I just came here to tell you something; something very important.” She walked up behind him and leaned up against his side. After a few moments, he relented, and put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her in closer to him.

“Well, whatever it is, you had better hurry and say it. You know why I told you not to come until after the full moon, and we are running out of time. So, what is it?” Of course, he already knew what it was; she didn’t want to be with him anymore, not that he could blame her now that she knew the truth. Still, that didn’t stop his heart from breaking. But, he resolved himself to hear her out, that was what he had to do if he truly cared for her. No matter how much it hurt. He quickly braced himself for what he knew was coming.

“I just came to tell you that I’ll stand by you; no matter what, I’ll be there.” At first he couldn’t believe his ears, he must have heard her wrong; she certainly didn’t mean that she wanted them to stay together. Then, he looked over at her, and saw her smiling widely at him with a face almost literally glowing with genuine love and happiness. Then, gradually, it dawned on him that was what she meant. His face quickly turned into a reflection of hers, as he hugged her as tightly to him as he could. “I love you, Remus, that’s all that matters to me. I’ll be back to see you first thing in the morning. I promise.” With that, she placed a hand behind his head and pulled him down to her and into a searing kiss, before releasing him so that she could leave.

“I love you too, Selene, more than life itself.” Remus smiled a small grateful smile at her as she headed for the doorway. Her footsteps slowly, regretfully, retreated away from him; but before disappearing out the door completely, she turned back with one hand on the still unturned doorknob and spared him one last sweet smile for the night. Then, with almost no sound at all, she was gone until the next morning. A little later, as the full moon rose and the gut-wrenchingly painful changes began to take a hold over his body, he held that image of her sweet, beautiful smile in his mind. Then, a minute later, a lone, loud, mournful howl echoed throughout the house and surrounding fields; it was the sound of the wolf. He would not regain human form again until the next morning. But a part of him still remained, and knew she would return to him.