01.03.2016
The hunting party returned in the early dark, just after the sun had set. Nothing to show for their effort but a few spent shellcases. And these had been collected after Henry fired angrily into a large tree which sat along a river. One they expected the wolf to drink from, because paw prints were lost there, and scatter into the woods further along.
They made their way out of the forest, down the road, and heard children playing in the town’s square. These were too little to know what happened. Henry’s eyes watered as he heard their laughs, and headed straight for his home. Loretta sat on the porch, numbly watching the fireflies which dotted their yard.
The moon rose above the trees and the husband lead his wife inside to the warm lantern light. The other parents collected their progeny and went indoors as well. They’d not give an easy option to that carnivore tonight.
Smoke from the chimneys rose with the smell of meaty dinners. The wolf stalked back from his dayhide, and sat within the forest’s borders. His eyes glinted again from the street’s lamp posts, and he squinted at the moon in disapproval. Too bright for him too.
That spot he sat for many hours, biding his time. Until a teen came from the house, holding a lantern, looking for the outhouse. As the boy closed the door, he found it blocked by something. He tried again to no avail. He looked down and saw the wolf’s snout there. He recoiled and dropped the lantern with a yell.
The kerosene base cracked and met the flame from the wick. The wolf moved into the outhouse, pinning the boy with the door, as the flames spread to the boy’s robe. He let up a wail of pain as the fire seered his skin. And the wolf’s jaws clamped down on his neck to eat the sound.
He flailed at the burning robe and wolf to no avail. The wolf dragged the boy’s body into the woods as the outhouse went up in flames. The boy’s sister had heard the skirmish and looked out her bedroom window. She saw the last of the wolf disappearing into the woods with her brother, robe still alight, and she called out for her parents. They rushed into her room, to gather the story, and then into the backyard and forest to save their boy.