The full moon has always had a special meaning to people. But to a certain group, the full moon has a very special significance.

I was standing there in the dark at the ocean's edge. I had been waiting here for a good half hour. Any minute now, it would happen. I was breathing heavy with the anticipation of it. I could feel it. Any minute now.

Suddenly, it happened, I could see just the tiniest sliver of light above the waves. The moon was rising. The full moon in all of its glory.

On a hilltop, not too far away, a wolf howled, greeting the nocturnal mistress. I could understand that, I almost felt like howling, too.

Slowly, the silver sliver of light grew larger as the moon rose over the water, turning the tops of the waves into a glimmering, scintillating shimmer. I shuddered at the sight. Tonight would be the night. Tonight, the moon would be full. Tonight would be my night.

Every four weeks, it was like this, except on those nights when there was so much cloud cover that the moon never showed. I didn't always come to the shore for the moonrise, I sometimes greeted the full moon from some other spot. But I liked it here because there were no trees or buildings or hills to hide the moon as it rose, I didn't have to wait as long.

At times I wished that I had not been cursed with this particular affliction, but as the time of the full moon grew closer each month, I always found myself becoming more and more excited, looking forward to this one night out of every cycle of the moon.

As soon as the moon was completely above the horizon and my body was bathed by its light, the change would take place. I could almost feel my body changing already, but not yet. Not until the full moon was completely in view.

The sand was warm beneath my bare feet. Slowly I unbuttoned my blouse and let it slip off of my shoulders and fall to the ground at my feet. I unfastened my bra and let it join my blouse. My skirt and panties followed. I didn't want to become entangled in my clothes when the change took place. I could feel the cool ocean breeze as it caressed my bare body almost sensuously, but that was nothing compared to what was to come.

The moon was three quarters of the way above the horizon. I trembled with excitement. But NO! A cloud was moving toward the moon, threatening to hide it from me. NOT NOW! Not tonight. This is MY night! Despite my silent pleading, the cloud slipped between me and the mother of my change.

I felt robbed. I knew that I could only wait and hope that the cloud would blow away and let the moon be revealed to me in its full glory. Some nights, it didn't. Please don't let this be one of those nights.

There were those among the "normal" people who would want to study me if they knew about me. Others would try to "cure" me of my "illness." Still others would try to use logic to convince me that I should try to resist the moon and my change and try to convince me that I could resist if I tried. But they had never experienced the life of the were ones. They had no concept of the power that the moon held over us or of the unbridled pleasure that we found during our time.

The long minutes dragged by as I watched. Then, the top of the cloud was edged with silver. The moon was rising higher and would soon be above the cloud! Excitement thrilled through me. Soon!

Most of the "normal" people were only aware of two types of were people, the werewolves and the vampires. And even those they thought of as only folk tales with no substance in truth. They even misunderstood those, thinking of them as evil beings that delighted in human blood. Of course, they were wrong. There were many types of were people, and I knew of none that thirsted for human blood. Most of us, in fact, were peaceful and gentle beings, even in our altered states.

They had other misconceptions about us as well. The full moon was necessary to us to cause our change, but once in our were state, it was daylight that changed us back to our human state. The exposure to sunlight didn't kill any of us like it does in the movies. The worst thing that I have ever heard of that has happened to any of the were kind that was caused by the sun was a case of sunburn, just like anyone else. They also had some strange ideas about our invulnerability. True, we are pretty hard to kill, but stakes through the heart and silver bullets were hogwash. I once knew a young werewolf that was shot in the head with a common lead bullet. It tore up his brain. He died. And, also not in keeping with common belief, he didn't change back to human as he died. And personally, I love garlic in my food. And this stuff about the were kind being frightened by a cross! Ridiculous! I consider myself to be a Christian and have personally had some pretty remarkable and moving religious experiences and crosses don't bother me a bit. All folk tales.

As I said, there are many types of were people, and the genes that control the were tend to run in families, but not necessarily the "type" of were. My mother, for instance, is a were cat. My parents had been married for five years before my father found out about her. It was only when they started talking about having a baby, me, that Mother felt that she had to tell Dad. Of course, he didn't believe her until she let him see her change. She had to let him know. How else could she convince him that they had to keep me out of the light of the full moon until I got old enough to take care of myself? Of course, there was only a fifty-fifty chance that I would inherit the were genes. I'm glad that I got on the right side of that equation.

Suddenly, the wind out at sea seemed to pick up, and the cloud started moving again. It wouldn't be as long now as I had expected. Still, I felt that I had been unfairly robbed of those few minutes.

Then I saw the edge of the moon peeking from behind the cloud and I forgot all feelings of being cheated and of normal people and of everything else except for what was about to happen.

Then it happened, the moon was fully exposed to me! I could feel my body contracting, shortening, changing. A delicious coolness spread through me. I could feel the wings sprouting from my shoulders. I only had to remember to be back at this spot when daylight arrived, it wouldn't do to change back to human miles from home with no clothing.

Within seconds the change was complete. I spread my wings and took to the air. I was exhilarated and was immediately completely alert with my were senses in full operation. I didn't want to take the chance of running into a hungry bat or even a hungry owl that might look upon a large luna moth as a tasty morsel.

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