Wonder: A Soul Savers Collection of Holiday Short Stories & Recipes by Kristie Cook

fine. Really. Don’t worry about me.”
    He considered her for a moment until his phone beeped again. He glanced at the text message and groaned. Then he pulled something out of his back pocket.
    “I know you have no money. You have no way of getting anywhere and here I have to abandon you. I wish I could do more but—” He grabbed her hand and pushed something into it before jumping into his truck and driving away. Before he drove five yards, though, he slowed as he rolled down his window. “I still don’t even know your name.”
    What the hell , Rissa thought, it’s not like I’ll ever see him again .
    “It’s Rissa,” she said, but he was already pulling away. She wasn’t even sure that he heard her.
    Once he was gone, she looked down at the paper in her hand. Gray’s name and a phone number were printed on what looked like a business card, though it included no business name. She chuckled. As if she had any way of ever calling him. Behind the card were two folded twenty-dollar bills. She frowned at these, and anger immediately blossomed. She didn’t need his charity! That’s how he’d seen her this whole time—as a cause! She huffed and growled and stomped off down the road, as though to get away from him although he’d already left her. Then she considered what she’d do with the money.
    She really did need it. She had the clothes Gray had basically given her, flip-flops on her feet, and nothing else. Forty bucks wouldn’t get her far, but it could put a few meals in her belly. Or maybe a night at a motel. Nah. That wasn’t a good trade. She only had enough for a seedy place rife with various body excrements. She’d rather sleep on the forest floor. But a few good, human meals ... those were definitely worth it.
    She already had a full belly from breakfast, so she tucked the money into her shirt pocket, then she headed out of town. Once she was far from anyone’s prying eyes and hidden deep in the trees, she stripped out of her clothes and tied them into a bundle. Then she changed, picked up the bundle with her mouth, and ran. She didn’t realize it at first and told herself she hadn’t meant to head in that direction, but before long, she found herself at the edge of the woods by Gray’s little cabin. Just like she had the evening before, she sank back on her haunches and stared.
    No smoke rose from the chimney now. No light shone through the windows. The house was lifeless now, its occasional occupant gone for a while. Such a shame it sat empty, Rissa thought as she began searching for a place to sleep that night, carefully watching for more traps. She stopped in place and looked back at the house. She paced a few times, her gaze never leaving it. Did she dare?
    She did.
    Nobody will ever know. I’ll just stay for a couple of days, then leave it the same way we did this morning. No harm, no foul. She continued talking herself into it even as she carried her bundle of clothes across the field and to the back door. After sniffing the air and looking around to ensure nobody could see her, she morphed into her human form and put on Gray’s clothes, then picked her way through the flimsy door lock, her heart pounding the entire time.
    As night settled in, she was still unsure of her decision, and several times, she almost bolted for the woods. But eventually she fell asleep. She headed for town the next morning and bought herself some groceries, then headed back, her conscience bothering her less. After all , she told herself once again, it’s not like it’s hurting anyone. They won’t even know.
    Days passed, and she felt more and more comfortable, although she still remained on alert. During the daylight, she’d walk through the woods, looking for traps and releasing them in case she had to run through there again. At night, she snuggled up on the couch under the blanket that smelled like Gray, the strange, faint scent making her nose tingle only at first. Then she grew used to it. In the