Week 3 Story: Excuses Do Not Matter

Werewolf from Wikipedia

The moon was at its full zenith when the wolf made its way to the lake. It was a peaceful place, somewhere that he could come when he needed to get away from the calamity of the full moon. His body ached from the transformation, and his blood lust was pumping through his veins. He only hoped that no one was around when he got to the water.

He always had really bad luck. One of the many downsides to being a monster.

The wolf knew that he didn’t need an excuse to attack the poor deer that drank from the lake, but it made him feel better to give himself one.

“It is the rules of the land to not grace this place during a full moon.” He snarled at the fawn – its spot still covering its back – who was down the lake’s shore just a short distance away. This was a lie; there was no such law, but that did not matter to the wolf.

The fawn’s head snapped up, and the wolf could see the fear in her eyes. The predator did not need to see the fear, however, to know it was there. He could smell it, a heavy scent that clouded the air and clung to his nostrils. He sniffed loudly and his teeth bared, a wolf-version of a smile.

“I did not know.” The fawn stammered, shaking her head. “I am only months old. My mother was shot by hunters when I was even smaller. She didn’t get the chance to tell me about the ways of the woods -“

The young animal was cut off as the wolf drew closer, his paws making low thuds as he came nearer. “Your excuses don’t matter to me,” He told her, the wolfish grin taking up most of his snout.

Before the fawn could even think to run away, too scared to even move an inch, the wolf pounced on the poor animal’s body and brought his teeth down into his prey’s jugular. Blood spattered the ground and muddied the water as it snaked its way to the lake. It gleamed in the full moon’s light, a bright scarlet, and as the wolf fixed his cravings, the human part of his brain couldn’t help but whisper softly, a small and frantic, “Villains always find an excuse for revenge.”

The fawn’s body tasted ever the more bitter as he continued to chew.

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Author's Note: So this week I read The Fables of Aesop by Joseph Jacobs. In my story here, I used the fable of the Wolves. In the story that I used, the wolf is a tyrant that rules the countryside. He uses any excuse to find a meal. He uses the excuse that the lamb, who he is hunting, called him bad names. When the lamb tells him that he wasn't even alive when these names were called, he makes another excuse. This goes on until the wolf believes he has the right to attack the lamb, and he ends up eating him for his dinner. In my version, it might not be too obvious, but the main character (the wolf) is actually a werewolf. This creatures a plot point where his inner wolf and the inner human parts of his brain do not agree with the actions of the other. It makes it interesting, if you were to think about the affects on the human because of the wolf's actions, and vice versa, and what that might do to his persona. I kept the same idea and lesson that is learned in the story, while also leaving the main point of story at the end like Jacobs did. I used more imagery in the story and gave more details than the original story did, to make the writing more complex and the readers intrigued. I had fun writing this story; I like writing the villains as the narrator of stories. It makes for a more interesting read. 

Bibliography: Aesop's Fables by Joseph Jacobs, link to reading online.