With Hope: A Fan Fiction of Something To Hitch Meat To

With Hope: An Alternative Fiction Story

Artho’s skin began to prickle. Not with fear, not with fever. With hope. He rushed outside the building, put his palm against its dull brick exterior. Clicked. The walls flushed red, then purple. Fluted columns started to sprout beside the doors, which were quickly changing from sliding glass and steel to intricately joined oak. With big knockers.  Artho giggled. Pretty damned tarty. He wondered if that had been the builder’s original dream for the building. He double-clicked. The building reversed to its usual form.

“You’re getting it.”

When he turned towards the voice, Artho wasn’t at all surprised to see the little girl. She was crouched down beside the steps, jam-jar glasses winking at him. Her hair knotted and unknotted itself.

“Can I change everything?” Artho asked.

“Course not, silly! Changing things isn’t your job. You’re not changing things; that’ll happen anyway. You’re helping them peel off the fake skins” (Hopkinson 849).

Artho’s skin began to prickle. This was a moment that he never thought he would get to meet. This girl must have been sent to him from the heavens. He thought about all the years he carried around this bitterness and animosity, how weighed down he felt.

“I don’t want it anymore” Artho cried.

“So let it go”.

                The sky grew into this thick layer of black. The ground shook and debris filled the air as the winds picked up and buildings swayed. Artho stood in disbelief as his skin began to bubble and peel. The hate was literally freeing itself from his physical body. All his heart ache and all his worries in the world were melting away. The skin made piles and piles and piles. First just one but then two, and three, and four and they continued. Tripled and quadrupled, all the way down the boulevard. As far as the eye could see.  These piles of crisp black pieces of skin formed around Artho’s feet until they picked him up. Swirling and tossing him around playfully in the air. The skies parted and the sun shined from behind him and he looked down at the girl. She smiled. It’s almost like these piles were trying to tell him something.

                “Go” the girl whispered to Artho.  

                So he ran. No, more like floated across these piles of skin. He laughed and danced through them, and after his foot left each one, they vanished from behind him. All his flaws and imperfections disappearing into thin air, never to be seen again. The start of something new.

Artho touched everything in sight, changing every dull and bland piece into bright and vibrant colors. He wanted the world to appear like how he felt. This indiscriminate little child had given him this breath of life and inspiration that he had been waiting on for years. How beautiful. He never wanted to come down from this. And so he fell off his high horse in the clouds and hit the ground running. And he ran and ran with such joy and liberty. He had to tell the world about his change. But in the midst of his excitement he stopped at a beautiful realization. She had helped him peel off his fake skins. This meant more than just being able to change physical characteristics of things. This meant that he could show the real him. Artho could be himself, the self he always wanted the people around him to see but couldn’t dare let free.  What this girl had done for him was more than give him superpowers. She had given him a second chance.             

Artho actually took pride in his appearance when he got dressed this morning. Waking up didn’t seem as “routine” as it did yesterday. No more going through the motions. The bus ride to work didn’t seem so agonizing and long, but instead he took an extra look at the flowers, looked out the window today and admired the sunshine for what it was.  It was time to start appreciating the small things.

Although his purpose for attending work today was not the same as it was yesterday, he still recited the same performance as he did every morning. Artho sat in computer chair, and opened up the files as though the editing process would begin. But instead, he deleted it. He opened up the next file, and deleted that one too. Every document deleted. Every program ever downloaded was deleted. Every porn video, every editing software gone. He had done what he came here intending on doing. There was no telling where Charlie was or how soon he would be coming back, but Artho wanted to be nowhere in sight when he came back around.

 He grabbed all the things out his desk, his coat and out the door Artho went. This would be the last time he would ever be seen in this building ever again. No goodbyes to his former co-workers, no one last glance to his desk. None of that. This job and what it stood for was behind him. What he did for a living was completely against everything he stood for now. He didn’t want to be responsible for hiding people behind fake edits anymore and even though the idea around it all was so ugly, it was what transpired such a wonderful new outlook for him. The world should know what it feels like to be free and from now on he promised himself no more walking around with his head down. Everything he would do from this point forward would be WITH HOPE. His mission was complete. He could sleep easy at night now knowing that the software that hid people’s true selves behind artificial revisions was lost in the cyber realm forever. With his things in his hands, Artho put his hat on and walked down the block. To moms for Easter it was.

Something to Drape Skin Over

Something to Drape Skin Over

Amanda Catalano

            The only things on Raven’s mind as she left the studio were a shower and the nonstop itching on her ankle where her high-top sneakers rubbed her skin raw. It wouldn’t scar. She never gave the skin a break or time to heal, always wearing high-tops.

            The shower was a bit more pressing. As soon as she got home, to her tiny apartment, she made a beeline for the bathroom. She never touched her kids after work without first blasting her skin with near-boiling hot water and practically scrubbing off the whole top layer. She always came out red and steaming, and after throwing on shorts and a t-shirt, crept silently into James and Anna’s room and pulled them into her, breathing in the pure scent of their baby skin. She kept dozens of pictures of them in her purse and showed them off to anyone who cared to see every chance she got. She needed the people at work to know that she was more than what they made her do.

            Her kids would never smell the way her skin did.  

            As she was holding them, her husband, Rob, would come in and wrap his arms around the three of them, kiss her on the forehead, and call her Julie. Her body buzzed with the sound of her real name.

            But something about tonight was off. On her way to the shower, she noticed Rob hadn’t left the bathroom light on for her the way he did every other night. Instead, a light shone from the kitchen down the hall. Curiosity overpowered her need to be clean. Her heavy sneakers were impossible to silence as she made her way down the hall, passing by her wedding pictures hanging on the wall, and the framed baby photos that were too big to fit in her purse. From the corner of her eyes, she and her family looked like nothing more than blobs of skin.

            Rob sat at the kitchen table facing her, but didn’t look up as she entered. He was usually in bed when she got home, not waking until the sound of the shower echoed through their bedroom wall. Julie’s ankle tingled, begging her to scratch, but she ignored it. She stayed standing in the doorway, refusing to touch anything when she could still feel the saliva and sweat and fluids of other people on her skin.

            “What are you doing up?” she asked, her voice soft with concern, a complete contrast from her demanding tones in front of the camera.

            Rob still didn’t look at her. Her heart beat heavy in her chest. She needed his loving gaze. His disregard of her presence ate at her.

            “Rob?” she said when he remained silent. She took a step closer, noticing the way the overhead light reflected off Rob’s thinning head the same way it did from the oiled pecs of the guys she worked with. The skin on her husband’s face sagged under his eyes and his beard cut through his skin like needles. She could see every pore in his cheeks and nose. Something was really wrong. She had never seen him like this before.

            “Who’d you work with tonight?”

            The question came out of nowhere, and his voice was so quiet, she had to take a moment to make sure she’d heard him right. He never asked her that. He never wanted to know. She didn’t know what to say other than, “What? Why?”

            Rob shrugged his shoulders, the material of his shirt stretching over them, held down by his arms held tight to his body. “Just curious, I guess.”

            It took her moment to find her voice before saying, “Tania again.”

            “Just Tania?”

            “And John.”

            He pulled his lips into his mouth and nodded. “Were you and Tania supposed to be sisters again? Did John come in as a long lost brother or something?”

            “What? Robert, what is wrong with you? How do you know anything about Tania and me? We never talk about work!”

            When they first started dating, Rob agreed to never watch her videos, and she agreed to never talk about work. Not that she would want to anyway. As soon as she left the studio, she did everything she could to forget about what she did there. She focused on the burn of the shower on her skin and the feeling of her ankle being rubbed by her shoes. Washing away Raven and grounding herself in Julie.

            “Someone said your name at work today,” Rob said, still not looking at her.

            “So what? It’s not like they don’t know you’re married.”

            “No. They said your other name. Raven. And they told me all about what you do at work. The assholes I work with have seen you do things with other people that you haven’t even done with me. Congratulations, I hope you’re happy.”

            He got up from the table and disappeared into their bedroom before she could think of anything to say. In her shower that night, it felt like her skin would melt right off her bones. She was almost disappointed when it didn’t.

            Julie took the bus to school every morning. Sitting in a classroom was supposed to be her salvation. What would soon get her out of that studio. But today, she was hyperaware of every glance sent her way. She couldn’t help but think that they saw her with her face between Tania’s legs. Something about the way her skin crawled every time she made eye contact with someone, the way she could make out every cell on the hand of the girl sitting next to her, tightened up her chest and made it hard to breathe. She needed fresh air.

            She couldn’t ignore the stares as she got up in the middle of class and walked out. The tingling on her ankle was hardly noticeable.

            Taking deep breaths of the cool Toronto air did nothing to calm her nerves. Her heart pounded and her skin prickled. She wanted to rip it all off steal someone else’s.

            “You look very familiar.”

            The voice made her jump. Standing next to her was a man with dark skin. Not dark like night. More like the coffee she drank every morning that always ended up being more milk than coffee. He carried a bag full of avocados, his forearm tattooed with a strange symbol she thought she might have seen before. Probably tattooed on some other guy. People always ended up getting the same things permanently etched into their skin without even thinking about it.

            The idea of needles in her skin made her shiver.

            “I don’t want to hear it,” Julie said. She made a move to step away from the man, but in an instant, he was on one knee, pulling aside the top of her shoe to take a look at her ankle. She screeched and kicked at his hand. “The fuck’s wrong with you? Don’t touch me!”

            “Just had to make sure,” he said calmly, standing up again. “I’ve photoshopped that thing off your ankle plenty of times. And that scar on your stomach from your c-section. And the birthmark off your left ass cheek.”

            “Who are you?” she gasped, horrified at the thought of him doing anything to her bare skin, knowing her body so intimately.

            “The name’s Artho. I work in web design. Tri-Ex Media.” He grinned at her as if it were nothing and held a hand out for her to shake.

            Julie looked from his hand to his face and couldn’t shake the dirty feeling crawling on top of her skin. Even in the cooler fall weather, she could see something oozing from the man’s pores.

            “Sorry,” she said after a moment. “It would feel weird shaking your hand, considering…”

            Artho held his hands up in surrender. “Understandable. I actually wanted to talk to you about something though.”

For a split second, Julie swore she saw a little girl with pigtails and thick glasses peak out from behind the man, but in the blink of an eye, she was gone. I’m losing it, she thought, putting a hand to her head.

“You don’t belong in those videos,” Artho continued. “You’re not like the others. You’re too real. I’m tired of making you not real.”

“What are you talking about? We’re all the same. We’re all trying to get out of it, but that’s easier said than done, ya know? What are the chances of me getting another job, even with a degree? People aren’t gonna want a known pornstar in their company.”

“What if I told you there was a way? Not just to get out of it, but to completely erase it from your history?”

“I’d call you crazy and get the hell away from you.”

“Well, there’s a way.”

“You’re crazy,” Julie said, and with that, she turned to walk away.

Artho reached out and grabbed her hand, squeezing to the point where Julie heard an audible click. She yelped, thinking something in her hand had broken, but she felt no pain. Her entire body buzzed, and the man was gone. She held her hand to her chest, but something on her palm caught her eye. The symbol from the man’s tattoo was emblazoned into her skin, slowly fading, sinking into her hand.

Alarmed, Julie pulled out her phone to call Rob. A thought in the back of her mind stopped her. Her body buzzed again in response to it. Pulling up the internet on her phone, she typed in the address to the site all of her videos featured on. She searched her fake name. Where previously dozens of results had been displayed, no results were found.

With shaking hands, she dialed Tania’s phone number. The girl on the other end had no idea who she was. Her body still buzzing, she took the bus home, and her husband embraced her as if nothing had ever happened.

The Touch Of A Wolf

David Mernan

Fan Fiction

The Touch Of A Wolf 

       Snowlight, moonlight, a confusion of paw-prints. All silent, all still. Midnight; and the clock strikes. It is Christmas day, the were-wolves' birthday, the door of solstice stands wide open; let them sink through. See! sweet and sound she sleeps in granns bed, between the paws of the tender wolf.

She awakes

       “Hey Little Red Riding Hood why don’t you come with me, that was great and everything but I would like to take you to my neck of the wolves.  Im sorry I meant woods.”

“ I don’t know if that’s a good idea Mr. I’m supposed to wait for my Grandmother here, because I have some things to give her”

“We can come back for those in a few minutes I just live up the hill”

“My father told me never go up the hill because  only bad happens up there and plus there are wolves up there”

“It will be fine Red Riding Hood I will protect you from any danger”

Hugging Little Red Riding Hood and comforting her that everything is going to be alright, she still seems skeptical.  The touch of Little Red Riding Hood is amazing to the wolf. He knows he has to convince her to come up the hill with him to satisfy himself.  She finally gives in only making him promise that they will be back shortly for when her Grandmother returns. 

            Borrowing clothes from her Grandmother, Little Red Riding Hood, and the wolf begin to make their way up the mountain.  The smell of Little Red Riding Hood is more than the wolf can handle.  He wants to break down and eat her right here but knowing her father could come looking and find the remains would not be good.  He would come hunting for one of them and no wolf wants that.

            While walking to where the Wolf supposedly lives they are talking about everything from family to schooling to what they do for fun. The Wolf has never had someone talk to him like this but he also never really gives anyone time before he consumes his victims.  The Wolf was very interested in what she had to say and was also very open to telling Little Red Riding Hood about his life before being a Wolf.  She did not know this but the conversation really had the Wolf reminiscing on his days before his wolf state of being.  The innocence of Little Red Riding Hood really had him going with what was going to happen.  It made him return to his past thinking of what was going to happen.  Remembering his victims gave him a thrill every time.

            Arriving at the wolfs' so-called home was interesting. Little Red Riding Hood was scared but anxious to how her visit here was going to turn out.  Going inside the wolfs' home had such a dark feeling.  Little Red Riding Hood didn’t realize this was the place where many of the wolf’s other victims lives had come to an end.

“Can I get you some tea or anything Little Red Riding Hood”

“No that’s ok I’m alright.  What's that you are doing over there”

In the Kitchen the wolf was putting some things together in an oversized pot. Little Red Riding Hood thought it was suspicious but didn’t think anything of it.

“Just putting together somethings for supper later”

“ Ohh ok that’s alright”

            Remembering what had happened at Grandma’s house the Wolf walked over towards little Red Riding Hood with a seductive smile.  Her pale skin was a turn on to him.  Kissing her neck little Red Riding Hood was skeptical about what was happening. The touch of the wolfs' strong arms and body had done something to her. Little Red Riding Hood found herself being seduced but couldn’t do anything about it.

            Awakening clothes-less for the second time today Little Red Riding Hood was wondering where she was. What just happened to her? Whatever it was she thought it was time to get back to Grandma.  Out gathering some things for his “supper” the Wolf was nowhere to be found right now.  Her clothes were scattered all over so she started dressing getting ready to return to Grandma’s house.  While roaming around the wolfs house she started looking through some of his things.  They were some interesting things that were a little out of the ordinary but Little Red Riding Hood being so young and innocent once again didn’t think anything of it.  She came to a locked chest but the lock was undone.  Obviously something the wolf didn’t want her to see but Little Red Riding Hood could not help herself.  She opened it up and inside were necklaces and clothing items of many other women.  She started going through all of them thinking that something wasn’t right with this.  Finding blood on a clothing item she began to freak out.  What could she have done.  Is the man she is with right now a murderer? “ I need to get out of here right away” she says to herself.  She grabs and handful of necklaces to show the village people what she has discover and continues to rush to the door.

            In a rush Little Red Riding Hood knocks over her chair spilling the tea and other items the wolf was using for his supper.  She opens the door only to find the Wolf making his way down the hill with some ingredients he had gathered.  She panics, shuts the door so the wolf does not see her.  She knows that if she stays she will be the main ingredient in the wolfs' supper.  She rushes to the back window opening it and jumping out.  She hits the hard ground rolling a few times before she comes to a stop.  Getting up she begins to run knowing that the wolf could easily catch her if she waits.  She runs in the direction of her grandmother’s house hoping she can get there before the wolf tracks her down.

              The Wolf returns to his house only to find everything spilled on the floor and Little Red Riding Hood nowhere to be found.  Looking through everything in anger he finds the chest open with the contents unorganized and all over the place. Realizing that she had found them he jumps to his feet. Letting out a howl he runs to the door.  Using his powerful sense of smell takes in a big breath of air sensing that Little Red Riding Hood was not far.  There was something about Little Red Riding Hood that made him want her more than his other victims. 

            Arriving at her Grandmother’s house, she hears the sound of the howl in the distance. Little Red Riding Hood rushes inside slamming the door behind her.  Frantically looking for her Grandmother, she still cannot find her.   Looking in every room and every closet she still cannot find her.  Finally opening the bedroom closet she finds her Grandmother unconscious with a lot of blood covering her body.  She knows the wolf must have been there before.  Sprinting out the door, knowing the wolf must not be far behind.  She runs towards her father’s house crying hysterically at what she had just witnessed. The Wolf not far behind picks up her scent following her every step. 

            Little Red Riding Hoods father comes rushing out of the house hearing the sound of his daughter crying.  She jumps into his arms till crying hysterically.  Her father still trying to figure out what is going on holds her and comforts her.  He can’t make out what she is saying but the few words he does are “wolf” and “grandmothers dead”. Realizing something is really wrong he rushes inside and grabs the shotgun by the door.  He comes back out to bring Little Red Riding Hood inside the house.  Little Red Riding Hood suddenly gets a strange feeling like something was brushing the back of her neck.  Looking back she sees the Wolf staring her down from a distance.  She hears a whispering voice “Until we meet again Little Red Riding Hood” as she makes eye contact with the wolfs big dark scary eyes.

           

Do you know who is watching you?

Do you know who is watching you?

A Story Taken From: A Dairy of a Mad Man

Do you ever feel like people are watching you, that there are cameras everywhere following you around, watching your every move? Well I know that this is happening to me and I can’t stand it. I search for the cameras and the tape recorders but “they” always seem to trick me. You are probably wondering who “they” are. Well let me tell you a story.  When I was younger I was part of their group, a group of people spying on others they wanted to “make disappear” for one reason or another. Don’t bother asking me what the reasons were; I just sat in a small dark room with monitors everywhere. After a day at staring at those monitors I would report back to them and tell them my findings for the day. I was never told who they were or why they were doing what they did. Now that I think about it I never saw them in person; our conversations where usually over the phone or some sort of video chat and even then it was a different person every time.  I worked for them for about 10 years until they got a child involved. They talked about doing horrible things to this sweet, innocent baby. I could not take it any longer. I’ve watched fathers get taken from their families and many other things I can’t even say. I refused to work with people that could do such horrible things to families and children.  At the end of the day when I was supposed to have my daily conversation, I screamed and yelled and quit. About a week later I received a call saying that I was next.           

     People tend to think I am crazy for thinking all this, but I am telling you I am not.  My friends and family always tell me, “Josh you never worked for “them” you worked for a bank but you got so obsessed with the whole camera thing they fired you.” I did work at a bank but it was after I worked for “them” and I quit, they didn’t fire me. The bank I worked for was going along with “them”. I am telling you. My co-workers would walk by me laughing. I would see them all huddling in a group looking at me pointing at the security cameras we had and then pulling out their phones to listen to something. They were all probably listening to me reading my daughter a bedtime story. It made me sick. What else was I supposed to do? Stay around and work for people that were helping “them?” That was all a while ago though. I now can’t find a job that isn’t working with “them.” Every time I get a new job something happens where it makes me believe “they” are watching. Sometimes I even search for the camera but I can’t find them. They are better than I thought. My family is even becoming a part of “them.” My crazy wife left me and took my sweet daughter with her. My wife was working for “them.” This time I found the camera  in our baby’s room, looking over her crib. When I asked my wife about it all she said was, “Honey we put that there to look over Chloe.” Did she really think I would believe that bull? I explained to her as nicely as I could, “GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HOUSE.” She refused to leave Chloe here with me. She said to me “if you think the only person that puts up with you would betray you like that you do not deserve our daughter.” Now that I think about it what did she mean by “Put up with me”… And people think I am crazy!
      I stayed in my house for about a year but since I had no income I could no longer afford my home. I sold it and now currently live in my parent’s basement. I know it sounds lame, or like I am some sort of pervert, but trust me I am not. My parents are really the only ones not helping “them.” My best friend Nate even turned on me.  He never usually invites me over unless it’s some sort of party except this one day.  He asked me to come over to help him fix his T.V. I knew that this time I would finally catch “them” because they would never think I would expect my friend for years to turn on me like that. I told you they are tricky like that. As he welcomed me into his fairly new home, he could tell I was a bit jittery. He asked me what was wrong; I told him I just needed some coffee because I was up late the night before. He ran down stairs to get me a cup. This bought me some time to search the upstairs. I looked under his bed, in his closet, in all his drawers. Just then a light bulb popped into my head like in the movies, I didn’t check the light bulbs.  I unscrewed every single light bulb in sight. Breaking every single one on his night stand, I’m surprised he didn’t hear all this going on upstairs. I knew a camera was in one of those sockets or inside the light itself.  I couldn’t find anything anywhere and I knew I didn’t have much time left. The coffee was done brewing and he was pouring it in my cup. Then it came to me, it’s all in the T.V we were supposedly fixing. I found a chair and when I was about to throw it, Nate walked in and said; “What did you do to my room, GET OUT NOW.”  I was furious I didn’t get to find the camera in that T.V and show everybody that I was right and out smart “them.”  I was walking back from Nate’s house and I saw the magazine stand that is always on the corner of Main and Parkway. I scanned all the magazines and newspapers. I stopped in my footsteps. Why was I on the front page of the BEE? I paid the guy a buck and sat down on the closest bench. I slowly pulled the paper closer to my face, scared to see what it said. “WHAT” I said. The picture wasn’t of me at all it was a picture of the circus that was coming to town. I swore it was me on that front page, I knew “they” changed the picture as soon as I was about to read it or “they” switched the newspapers so fast I couldn’t even tell. I was angry, furious, and energetic so I ran back to the newspaper stand and tore every single magazine and newspaper off and demanded him to tell me who he was working for. All he did was scream for the cops. The cops grabbed me and threw me in the back of their car like I was a rag doll. I didn’t go without fighting though, I tried punching, kicking and even biting to try and get lose but damn those cops were strong. 
      I am currently in a dirty old jail cell. The cops told me that I am going to an institution in the morning. I really don’t want to go but they keep telling me I’ll be safe there and whoever is after me won’t be anymore; so I guess it is okay. 
        My name is Chloe; I am Josh’s daughter I found his dairy after we had to clean out his things from his room at the institution. I guess since he didn’t finish telling you his story, I will. After he got to the institution, he loved it for the first month. He totally forgot about the cameras and everything watching over him. Until one day, a camera fell off his bed post onto the floor in his room. He couldn’t trust anybody at the institution anymore. He would steal the knives from the kitchen and wait for a nurse to walk in and try to stab her. He said “You are one of “them”; I am going to kill you before you can take me.” After a while they just stopped coming in in general and would slide his food through a slot in the door. I guess being stuck in one room for over a year can make a sane person go crazy so imagine what it did to him. One day when they came to give him his meds, they didn’t see his hand reach over to grab them but saw a shadow in the far corner. They slowly opened the door saying his name, “Josh please don’t hurt us we are just here to help you.”  As they slowly opened the door they saw his body hanging from the ceiling holding a note. He must have been crying while writing it because it was all smeared, we could make out one sentence though and it said “I didn’t want “them” taking me away.”

Nicholas Georger

With midday approaching and her morning chores behind her, Grete had finally found an opportunity to play.  She moved the chair resting next to her door to the center of the room, retrieved her violin from the stand beside her bed, and sat down. She positioned her violin between her chin and shoulder blade, and gently struck the bow against the strings.  The melody it produced was soft and slow, and Grete’s delicate motions matched the pace of the tune.  As she played, she tapped her foot in time with the music and the colors swimming across the inky blackness of her closed eyelids began to dance and swirl to the harmony that engulfed her room.  Suddenly, however, Grete’s concentration was broken by a knock at the door.

            “Who’s there?” shouted Grete.

            “It’s Gregor, open up.”  With a flustered sigh, Grete put down her violin and got up to open the door.

            “What do you want?” inquired Grete.

            “I came to watch you play.” With glass of milk and sandwich in hand, Gregor attempted to step into the bedroom, but Grete denied him entry.

            “Don’t even think about bringing any food in here! I just finished cleaning.”

            “Come on, can’t your dear brother be treated to a meal and a concert on the last day before his business trip?”

            “Fine, just make sure not to get any crumbs on the floor.” Grete returned to her chair and readied her violin once more.  Gregor grabbed another spare chair that sat beside Grete’s bed and placed it front and center before her.  Gregor then set his glass of milk on the floor and began eating his sandwich as Grete started to play.

            This piece was performed at a considerably faster pace than her previous one; it was a wild concerto that had her digits dancing madly along the fingerboard as her bow struck the chords with rapid precision.

            As she played, Gregor imagined Grete onstage in front of a packed concert hall, the spotlight shining down on her as she graced the audience with an immaculate rendition of Vivaldi’s “Spring”.  Every gaze in the building would be transfixed upon her as her violin brought to life images of blooming flowers, flowing streams, and cloudless skies.

            Gregor’s daydream was finally brought to an end by the completion of his sister’s performance.

            “Bravo!” Gregor exclaimed as he stood up from his chair and clapped enthusiastically.  Grete immediately responded by rolling her eyes, but quickly conceded and returned Gregor’s standing ovation with an equally enthusiastic bow.

            “Satisfied?” Grete questioned glibly.

            “Absolutely! That was wonderful! Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go pack.” Gregor gulped down the last of his milk and made his way towards the door.

            “Hey, don’t forget to wake me before you leave tomorrow, okay?”

            “Don’t worry, I wouldn’t leave town without saying goodbye to my little sister.”

            “Than-” Before Grete could finish, she felt a collection of tiny breadcrumbs prickling the bottom of her foot.

            “Gregor, I told you not to make a mes in here!” Gregor flashed a sly smirk as he fled Grete’s room, shutting the door behind him.

            That was the last time she saw Gregor smile.

******

                Grete remembered when milk was Gregor’s favorite drink.  Now, it seemed that he had no taste for it at all. The basin of milk and bread she had left for him had been untouched, and she couldn’t help but wonder why.  She was certain that the strain caused by this ordeal of his would have instilled Gregor with a fierce appetite.  But then again, maybe he didn’t even need to eat.  Grete had yet to get a good look at Gregor since his transformation. What had he become, exactly? Was he some sort of monster?  That couldn’t be, that sort of thing only happens in books.  This was real life; how could such a thing be possible?

            As Grete pondered these questions, she began to sweep Gregor’s floor.  Whatever Gregor was, she was sure that he’d at least appreciate the fact that his room was kept tidy.

            Then, in the midst of cleaning, Grete spotted the cloth samples resting on the table.  The sight of them made her recall how Gregor had slowly grown more melancholy since taking the job as a travelling salesman.  He became withdrawn, spending most of his time isolated in his bedroom.  When he’d come down to dinner, he hardly said a word to anyone and stared down at his meal, seemingly lost in thought.  Grete wondered if the constant travelling had begun to tax Gregor beyond his limits.  She wondered if he liked anything about his job at all. She wondered how long it had been since Gregor was happy.

            Grete then remembered her violin.  She remembered how her performances made Gregor smile; how, years ago, he would take the time to watch her play.  But, what if Gregor heard her play again?  Would that snap out of whatever spell he was under? It seemed like ages since she had performed, and maybe that was part of the reason why Gregor had slipped into such a sorry state.  Maybe if she played again, everything would go back to normal.  Gregor would return to his old self, and he’d watch Grete recite sonatas and concertos while drinking milk and wating sandwiches that left crumbs on her clean floor.  Maybe, once she started playing again, everything would be alright…     

Don Quixote

I was invited to a couple’s wedding ceremony in La Mancha, a village where my grandfather lived in. I almost forgot the name of the village since I had not been back for decades after I left to pursue my dream. I wished to be a successful merchant like my grandpa considering my intelligence and courage. To be honest, grandpa was an outstanding man for he had visited various parts of the world seeking adventures. As a result, I always took grandpa as my model.

The couple intended to invite my grandpa. As the only descendant of the family, however, I received the invitation letter from the small village. In the letter, the bride was named Dulcinea del Toboso and bridegroom was, I had never heard the name, Don Quixote de la Mancha. It was a good reason for me to get back to collect memories and new stories. I packed immediately and got off the next day.

It had changed greatly in the small village. The ceremony was held in a church. The bridegroom was a tall gentleman in a suit. His wife was a young plump lady. Frankly speaking, I could not say she was pretty. The guest on my left told me that the bridegroom was the greatest man in the world. That provoked my interests to sit down and listen to the stories.

“Nobody knew who gave the name to Don Quixote as a knight. It seemed that he was determined to be a knight with courageousness and justice. He had so many adventures and glorious stories, which set the examples for the followers. He insisted on his dream to be a knight and fought against all difficulties and hardship. He was the hero for La Mancha; he was the knight for the nation.

“He had fought against numerous enemies, such as lions and sheep. He captured every opportunity to fulfill his obligations of the profession. He even practiced with the windmills. How valorous he was! Don Quixote deeply loved a young lady called Dulcinea in the village for years and did not speak it out. The fair lady lived in his inner heart and was his motivation to go through the setbacks. What the loyalty of love it was!

“One day, when he fought against a beast in the woods, a group of soldiers passed by and were shocked by his valiant behaviors. The head of them confronted Don Quixote and asked him to join the national army. He agreed with the soldier and became a member of cavalry from that day. Our valorous knight was trained in a tough way but underwent it with his aptitudes and moxie. The war just erupted three years ago, and Don Quixote was sent to the front line. During a major battle, all of the cavalries were dead except for him. The warrior fought to the end and got the victory for the nation as well as the honor for himself.

"Afterwards, he was crowned as a real knight by the Queen of Kingdom and got a large amount of money as the reward. He became the hero for the nation and everyone in the village knew his name. When he returned to the village, he revealed his love to the beloved lady, Dulcinea, who is the bride today. ”

That was what the gentleman told me.

“You know, I’m the best friend of Don Quixote," he said proudly and straightened the his back, " I'm Sancho Panza.”

The lady on my right continued, “Well, I am the best friend of Dulcinea. You must like to listen to her story.”

The lady did not know the original name of Dulcinea. She was not called Dulcinea at the very beginning, but nobody cared, even herself. Dulcinea told everyone that she had a crush on the valiant knight in the village but she was too bashful to talk to him. It sounded reasonable that not all ladies were active or aggressive. She waited for him years after years. One day, she got the news that Don Quixote was conscripted to the national army and assigned to the front line. Our fair lady wept for her breaking heart, but she insisted waiting for her Mr. Right. Years passed, the knight eventually came back to the village and expressed his deepest passion to the lady with a proposal. He called her Dulcinea and she accepted this name. There was no difference between two names for her. As long as she could be with Don Quixote, she was willing to do anything for him, much less to change a name. The lady accepted Don Quixote’s proposal immediately and turned into the bride today.

The guest said, “You won’t believe, Dulcinea had never noticed him before he became famous and wealthy. She said she loved him for years, but only I know the truth.” Women were always caring about gossips. The lady sighed, “He is so charming. Dulcinea is the luckiest woman in the world to be chosen by him. I’m so jealous! ”

On my way back, I came up with a similar story told by my grandpa when I was little. The experience of the main character in grandpa’s story was alike but also different, for everyone in the village thought he was crazy and mocked him. Moreover, the man’s name was something like Quijada or Quesada instead of Don Quixote. It had been a long time and I could not remember the story clearly. I did remember that it was grandpa who dubbed him as a knight. 

By the way, my grandpa owned an inn in La Mancha after he retired. Maybe you have heard about him.

The Howl of the Werewolf

Justin Kennelly

Dr. Hill

ENG 215

18 November 2012

The Howl of the Werewolf

A Fan Fiction of Angela Carter’s The Company of Wolves.

            Darkness has fallen upon a remote village deep within the dark forests of Germany, robbing the land of its warmth as the wind gusts bring with it a heavy snowfall, which threatened to entomb them in a wintry grave. Then suddenly over the cries of the blistering winds, came a blood-curdling howl so fearsome and melancholy, it sent a chill down the spines of even the most seasoned of hunters. At that moment they knew they were no longer alone and that I, the beast who terrorized these woods, striking down any who dared venture out alone after dark, had returned.

            For generations I had terrorized this village, returning every ten years to steal every young man and woman of marrying age and torture them mercilessly until they literally begged me to end their wretched lives. But wait…. How rude of me!  I haven’t even introduced myself! My name is Wilhelm Klawitter, and I am a 100-year-old werewolf. However, contrary to popular belief I was not born a werewolf, I was a hardworking huntsman engaged to be married to the love of my life.

Now you’re probably wondering, if my life was going so well, how did I become a werewolf in the first place? Well in order to understand my story you must travel back in time with me to the winter of 1726, to the very village I now lay siege to on this dark wintry night. I was a young 20 something hot shot, thought to be the best huntsman by far in the entire region, and engaged to be married to the young and beautiful Wilhelmina Barde. I had loved her with all my heart since the very moment I had laid eyes upon her when her family resettled in our quaint village 5 years prior when her family's estate burned to the ground in a nearby village. From that moment forward, I did everything within my power to make her mine, making a complete utter fool out of myself in countless foolish acts I would prefer not to divulge, until one day I had finally won her affections, or so I thought.  

When our wedding day came,  I was standing at the altar as the whole village piled into the tiny little church dressed in their Sunday best waiting for the ceremony to begin. However, from the very moment I awoke that morning I had this foreboding feeling in my heart that something was terribly wrong. Early that morning, the sky had darkened, the temperature had dipped well below freezing, and the snow had begun to fly. Despite the deteriorating weather conditions and the incessant feeling that something was quite right, I decided the wedding was to go on as planned. However, five minutes before the ceremony was to begin, my worst fears came true as the best man came dashing up to the altar and told me Miss. Barde was nowhere to be found! Fearing for her safety in the steadily worsening weather conditions, I immediately assembled a search party and we searched high and low for hours until in utter despair my friends pleaded with me to admit she was gone and we would continue the search for her body when the weather permitted. Heartbroken, I staggered home with my friends who were worried about what I would do in my grief stricken state. Once we reached my home, I told them they were welcome to stay until the storm blew over. What happened next will forever be seared into my mind for the rest my days. When I opened my chamber door, to fetch some blankets for my guests, there was Wilhelmina lying in my bed with another man! Distraught, I bolted out the door into the frigid night before she could even muster the words to defend herself. I ran deeper and deeper into the woods until my frozen legs were incapable of carrying me any farther. As I lay there face down in the snow heartbroken and praying for death, a strange man appeared out of nowhere and immediately seemed to know everything about my life.

“You disgust me! How do you call yourself a man? I thought you were supposed to be some sort of hotshot huntsman. But all I see here is a pathetic washed up bastard unworthy of life, wallowing in the snow over some wench who left him at the altar for another man! No wonder she felt the need to leave you, she needs a real man to hold and cherish her on these cold wintry nights! However, despite your unworthiness, I am willing to grant you the power to exact your revenge on those who have betrayed you and make their every waking moment a living hell! However, if I grant you this gift, you must first prove yourself worthy of it before you exact your revenge.

Brewing with anger at Wilhelmina for her most dishonorable betrayal and this verbal lashing from a man I had never met before in my life, I wasted no time in delivering my answer. “YES!”

While at that point I was willing to do pretty much anything to exact my revenge on those who had made such a fool out of me, I was completely unprepared for what I was about to witness. The man started to convulse as he let a blood-curdling scream, what used to be normal human teeth and fingernails became razor sharp fangs and claws, which he immediately used to cleave off the skin of his human prison, revealing a muscular body, more dog than human. However, it wasn’t until I stared into his glowing eyes that I knew the stranger was a werewolf!

When the transformation was complete, he let looked up to the moon and let out a most forlorn howl, the likes of which I never heard before. Between the utter disbelief of what I had just seen and frigid temperature, I was paralyzed where I lay as he came and over to where I lay wrestled a huge chunk out of my shoulder with his massive fangs right as I was passing out.  

When I finally came to days later, I was surprised to see my shoulder was completely intact, which led me to believe it had been nothing more than a bad dream. That is until I turned my head and saw him staring at me from across the cave.

“Thought it was a dream huh? Sorry to disappoint you, but it wasn’t a dream. As far as your shoulder goes, werewolves are quick healers and are capable of surviving wounds that would prove fatal for a human. Now for the next year, you must dedicate yourself to learning to live the life of a werewolf. I’m going to teach you how to hunt, how to survive, how to adapt to your environment, and most importantly how to control the beast inside.”

“But I thought…”

“You thought what? That werewolves only transform during the full moon? That’s a load of crap that mothers tell their children at bedtime, when they can’t sleep at night. In reality, you can change at any time day or night and as a new werewolf, it will be nearly impossible to control, but with time and my guidance, you will learn to change back and forth on command.

And that’s exactly what I did, for the  next year, I learned the ins and outs of being a werewolf, how to hunt, how to survive and how to keep a low profile to keep the angry villagers from finding and killing me when I was at my weakest right after the full moon.

By now, winter had once again graced the dark forests of Germany and it was about a week away from the anniversary of my becoming a werewolf, when my master told me he had taught me everything I needed to know about being a werewolf, and now to officially graduate I was to do what I had been waiting so long for, I was to stalk and kill Wilhelmina and the bastard who stole her from me. With that said, my master took off into the woods and I was never to see him again.

Immediately I set out for the village, anxious to exact my revenge! For four days after I reached the village I observed from a distance, seeing that in my absence she had married the man I’d caught her with the year before and she had borne him a son. What irked me the most however was the rest of the village had just as soon forgotten about my existence and openly accepted her and her family into their little community. No matter, they would feel my wrath soon enough, but for now, I set my sights on Wilhelmina and her happy little family. On the fifth night, I quietly snuck into the nursery and snatched their young son and ran off with him into the forest, where I enjoyed consuming the little boy’s body, not a big meal but the feeling of exhilaration I got listening to their screams when they discovered their baby's severed head lying next them more than made up for it! The next night after the young grieving parents had gone to bed once their babies remains had been interred in the local cemetery, I returned to their house and kidnapped her dear husband as he slept and dragged him to the forest where his screams rang like music in my ears as I dismembering him piece by piece and left the pieces scattered around the house for his darling wife to find the next morning. Having robbed her of her family, she finally snapped and sat in a corner rocking herself back and forth until the next night, the anniversary of her betrayal, when I paid her a visit in human form. Oh, how I loved the sheer look of terror that ran across her face when I finally transformed in front of her.

“PLEASE… PLEASE, you’ve already taken everyone I love away from me! Have Mercy!”

I stared deep into her eyes and told her, “You should have thought about that before you left me at the altar to jump in the sack with your now deceased husband! Now you can go join your family and burn in hell!” With that, I tortured her until sunrise at, which point she finally succumbed to her wounds and I had consumed her entirely, after which I plotted my revenge for the village that had taken in the little harlot and her illegitimate family.

On that night, I decided from here on out, every ten years I would return to the village and slaughter every man and woman old enough to partake in the bonds of holy matrimony. And this was how it was for the next 79 years, I would return on the anniversary of Wilhelmina’s betrayal kill all who were old enough to marry, before they had the chance to engage in the same treachery I had been subject to and then leave before the remaining villagers had the chance to track me down and kill me. However, when I returned for the decennial slaughter in 1806, I came across a young woman now known to the world as Little Red Riding Hood. Her parents had been stupid enough to allow her to go wandering alone in the woods, knowing perfectly well that the decennial was upon them, so I stalked her for a while through the woods waiting for the perfect moment to strike. After about an hour of trailing her, I had had plenty of opportunities to dispatch her, but something about her kept me from doing so. Therefore, I decided I needed to get a closer look so I shifted back into my human form and presented myself as the young huntsman I once was. When introduced myself, there was something in her eye that almost immediately calmed the inner beast. Captivated by this strange spell she seemed to have over me I decided to gain her trust and walk along with her, while I tried to figure out what was wrong with me. After a while, I devised a plan that would finally allow me to kill her and continue on with my mission. I had found out she was on her way  to her grandmother’s house, so I made a bet with her I could make it there she could knowing full well that with my werewolf abilities it would be no contest. Once there I would kill her grandmother, not my usual target but hey, it would be an appetizer for the main course, and enraged she would try to kill me forcing me to respond in kind.

My plan went off without a hitch, until Red arrived. Instead of the murderous rampage I expected, she started stripping down to her bare skin! What in the world was she doing? Didn’t she know what I was and that I was here to kill her? But one look into her eyes and I knew I was never going to be able to kill her, and that despite everything I’d done to her she had for one reason or another accepted me for me!

Now most assume that I simply ate her and went on with my life, but I will tell you right now that is not what happened. As I stood there staring into her eyes, part of my icy heart thawed just enough to realize that maybe there was enough room in my heart for a companion to accompany me through my eternal life. Therefore, in a completely unexpected turn of events, I made her a werewolf and she has been at my side ever since, feeding on passersby brave enough to wander the woods alone and every ten years joining me in my ongoing vengeance against the village where it all began.