Author's Note: This is a work of fiction.
They say lycanthropy is a form of mental illness where the person
believes themselves to be a werewolf.Let's say, just for a minute, that
lycanthropy has some basis in fact,difference being that a werewolf
doesn't shapeshift and that the full moon doesn't really have anything to do
with it at all.Let me take this one step further. What if there were
werewolves stalking the forests of North America?Just for the record I live near a wooded area,the idea for this story occured to
me while I was walking through that place.
The first thing I noticed while walking around was the amount of wildlife around.The place is normally full of wild quail,small cottontail rabbits,fawn, and even wild turkeys.While I was walking I saw nothing,as if some kind of predator was making this area its feeding grounds.The next thing I noticed were animal tracks that I couldn't identify.I've lived in this area all my life,I know the tracks of all the animals in this area but these were different.They kind of looked lke the prints of a dog, but much larger and whatever made the prints was walking on two legs.I walked along a creek bed, following the tracks,every once in a while looking over my sholder.As I came to a clearing I see this huge bey tree and I walked toward it. I noticed it looked as if it had been split down the
center and burned on the inside,the strange thing was that the tree was still
alive.I walked around some more and saw the same
tracks.They seemed to lead down the bank to a rocky area just beyond the
creek bed.As I walked down the bank I began to think to myself "What if it's
a werewolf,what will I do". I decided to keep going anyway, despite my worries. As I reached the
top of the rocks I saw alot of trees and sagebrush, but I also saw
something moving just beyond the furthest line of trees. I couldn't quite
make it out, but I could tell it was big. Not quite as big as a bear, but larger
than the average human. It was covered with grayish brown hair.I was
a good distance from it, but it looked as if it was eating something.I took out
my binoculars to get a better look.It was than that I realized that the
thing was gnawing on a human arm. Suddenly it turned and looked in my direction.
I could see blood dripping on it's canine-like teeth through the binoculors.I was far enough away that I would be go long gone before it could even reach where I was, but I still was scared. The thing had a wolf-like appearence, but it didn't look
completely animal.Coming to my senses I backed away slowly. I never moved my eyes from it, I saw it kneeling
there, eating what was probably a poor hiker who wandered too close to the
caves. As I started back up the bank and headed toward the main trail a little voice in my head asked something I hadn't thought of
before."What if there are more of them in these hills?"
Some time
later,after I got home I picked up the evening paper. On the front page
the headline was "Hikers missing in East Bay Hills". I've been over there on the
trails since that day, but I always feel the eyes of the wolf
watching.Are monsters real? I pose the question to you.