Border Wolves:Something Wicked This Way Comes

By Nicholas Hall

Night, the time man rests, sleeps, when the body and mind rejuvenates itself from the toils of difficult days of labor and/or a day of intensive, exhaustive problem solving, worry, contemplations, failures or successes in personal relationships, and the continual emotional ups and downs of just living, sleep sometimes does not come easy to the restless or agitated body and mind and if it should creep up, allowing a fitful slumber, it oft is not for long!

Waking during the dark of night, in that time bordering the midnight hour, the hour of bewitching, the time between one day and the next, the eerie hour of all things deadly, deceiving, events replaying in the weary mind, logical thought, instead of reaching conclusions, sometimes allows the active imagination to creep forward, giving way to thoughts of the unimaginable!

Little boys, bladder stretched to overflowing, often become fearful of stepping out of their warm beds into the darkness of the bedroom, fearful the salivating, sharp-toothed and clawed monster lurking under the bed will grasp his foot before it hits the floor and drag the little boy, kicking and screaming, unheard by parents, into the darkness where an unknown fate awaits! Fear of father or mother's reproach for wetting the bed is greater, however, and a leap of faith is made!

Adults often, when awakened by the troubled mind, will eschew the childhood fears of monsters under the bed, rise from their bed, walk to a window, and look out, as if seeking an answer or solace to their restlessness. On a night when the moon is full, it's cold, bright glow casting long and short shadows, creating patterns and caricatures into open spaces giving illusions to the troubled mind of creatures unknown, dwelling and lurking in those dark shadows, the mind of man can wander into realms of the unknown, those of the bizarre and paranormal. A rational mind would dismiss those imaginings and return to bed!

The rational mind of mere humans does not, cannot comprehend what might be concealed in those shadows, laying there, watching, and biding the time until ………..

Nose up, eyes focused, seeking, yet finding nothing, Jessie couldn't help but to think something was not quite right. He just felt he knew there was something unknown out there, waiting, watching, but he couldn't detect any tell-tale signs of something amiss!

Wary, but still alert, he looked down at his cock for a visual inspection and saw, not three feet from where his piss puddled on the ground, a paw print - one, solitary, large wolf paw print! The hair on the back of his neck began to tingle and his senses became even more heightened as he again began an inspection of the surrounding forest!

"By the pricking of my thumbs
Something wicked this way comes.
Open, locks,
Whoever knocks!

(William Shakespeare - Mac Beth)

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or locales is entirely coincidental.