Wolf Moon-Chapter 2a

For earlier installments of Wolf Moon, click here.

Eight days passed by before Chuck saw anything but that big bright moon rising up above the trees of his family property. Eight days before he saw anything but the black nothingness of a coma. When he did finally open his eyes, screaming and thrashing away the flimsy blankets of his hospital bed, he fully expected to be staring down the snarling mouth of his worst nightmares. But he didn't. Instead, tender arms reached out for him and shoved him against the mattress. A voice called out to him, soothing him.

He laid back and took in deep, slow breaths. Something was wrong. He wasn't where he was supposed to be. It was too bright, and warm. Someone walked into the room and pulled away the tender arms that had remained firm across his chest. One of his eyelids was pulled back and a light was shined at it. Chuck pulled away and blinked his eyes.

"Where am I?" he said.

"You're at St. Juliana's, honey," the woman examining him replied. "Don't you worry about a thing. You're wife here brought you in just in time. You'll be okay."

Chuck turned his head. His wife stared back at him, smiling and clutching his shoulder. "Oh, Jeanie," he said.

Her sweet, sparkling eyes did all the talking; she didn't need to say a thing. Red rimmed and swollen, they showed the many hours of worry, but the lines that creased around their edges also showed how happy she was to see him awake. He reached his hand out to caress her cheek. She met it halfway and melted into his arms.

"Jeanie." He sobbed.

She brought her head up and wiped her eyes. "Don't you ever scare me like that again, you bastard."

Chuck laughed. His muscles screamed against the sharp movement, but he was so glad to be alive. No pain in the world was enough to take away how happy he was to be with his wife at that moment.

She leaned toward him and brushed her lips against his. "I love you," she said. Wrapping her arms around his neck, Jeanine pressed her soft cheeks against his scruff.

"No!" Chuck pushed her away hard and sat up on the bed. He couldn't let her get close. He needed to see the doctor. He needed to know the truth. "Get the doctor," he said to the nurse.

She didn't budge. "Now come on, just lay down."

"I said get the doctor."

The woman looked from Chuck to his wife then rolled her eyes and walked out of the room. Minutes later she returned with an older man with short, white hair. He walked up to Chuck's bed while the nurse stayed by the door.

"You wanted to see me?"

Chuck sat up straighter and narrowed his eyes. "Did I come in here with any scratches or bites?"

The doctor smiled his patronizing little smile and said, "Don't worry, Mr. Bardine, we treated all your wounds."

"That's not what I asked."

He sighed. "Yes, you had a few deep scratches from where the wolf attacked you, but nothing debilitating. You'll be up and out of here in no time."

Chuck closed his eyes and laid his head back against his pillow. "You have to kill me."

Check in next Monday for the next installment!

~Emily White

Wolf Moon-Chapter 1c

For earlier installments of Wolf Moon, my paranormal writing project, click here.

Crap.

There wasn't enough time for the word to pass his lips, but Chuck certainly thought it over and over again as the wolf, it's white teeth bared, soared through the sky at him. The strike from the massive animal was enough to knock him off his feet and crash him into the electrified fence. His jaw locked on contact as electricity surged through his spine.

He tried to scream through the pain, but every muscle failed to respond. The wolf that had knocked him down rose up out of the corner of Chuck's eye. The beast stood up on two legs and morphed into a man-like monster with coarse hair covering the expanse of its body and claws extending past its fingers.

It was at that precise moment that Chuck knew he was dead. Every second up until that point, he had harbored the delusion that he could fight his way out of it, but that foolish confidence was long gone. His body lay broken on the ground about to explode from the constant stream of electrical current running through it and something out of his nightmares stood just feet away, ready to rip him apart.

Nope. No hope. Not even a little bit. With all the strength he could muster, he took a deep breath and stared at the moon. That beautiful, beautiful moon. The last thing he would ever see.

Check in next week for the beginning of Chapter 2!!

~Emily White

Some Good News to Share!

I recently entered a short story contest on the WD forum. To be honest, I almost didn't submit anything, but I'm glad I did because I ended up placing first! This just goes to show you that, no matter what, you need to get your work out there; don't let excuses get in the way.

Here I was, on the day of the deadline (yes, I am a procrastinator) writing out the first few words of my story. I didn't finish it that night. I got about a third of the way through the story and decided the drivel wasn't worth the wasted space or anyone's precious time in reading it. I went to bed without another thought. The next day, I discovered that the deadline had been pushed back a few days. It was then that I smacked myself around a bit and resolved to finish my story.

I didn't finish it that day, or the next day. In fact, I didn't even work on it. No, it wasn't even until the day before the deadline that I decided to look at it again. It was still drivel, but it was my drivel and I sat behind my computer until that story was done! After a few small edits, I sent it away hoping and praying that I would get more than one vote (my own). As it turned out, I got a few more than one.

We are always our own worst critics. Now, after this small victory, I can allow myself to look at that story and admit that it's actually pretty good. I'm glad I decided to put myself out there and enter that contest. I just hope that this situation will always remind me that, no matter what, I need to push forward and submit, submit, submit!!

And I certianly hope that this story will inspire you to do the same.