.. the rumbling of it's ravenous hunger. Why does bother to he run? This is the end! Why not just give up? Suddenly somewher from the mist a voice called to him.
"Tommy, face it, face him." The boy spun all around and tried to look through the mist. "Who's there?", he mangaed a weak squeak in between breaths."Tommy, a nightmare is also a dream. Dreams can be controlled." "What?", the boy shouted, "what are you talking about?" Time seemed suspended at this moment.
The monster was gone, the forest, the bruises. It was only him and the voice. "Face Him", the voice urged.The boy tried to comprehend what was going on. Slowly the boy understood.
In a flash the nightmare was back. The werewolf was just behind him, ready for the killing pounce. The boy no longer ran.He turned around and faced the beast. From somewhere a shotgun appeared in his hand. The monster leaped, it's claws grasping for flesh.
A loud bang was heard. The werewolf fell short of the boy by mere inches.The boy looked down upon his kill in triumph. But the downed creature stared to stir.
It lifted it's head to glare at the insolent boy who dares defy him. Snarling, it fixed the boy with a stare from it's pupils which are nothing more than narrow slits. Mirroring hellish terror and imeasurable hate. It lashed out it's talons and sliced a deep and jagged cut on the boys abdomen.He screamed.
. "Ahh!", Tommy wailed. He jumped out of bed hysterical and crawled under the bed. "It did'nt work", he sobbed, "the doctor lied. It's not a dream, the werewolf is real!" Tommy trembled, even after seeing the phsycologist his nightmares still did not go away.This was the fourth time already he had tried to face his fear and banish it.
But every time, no matter how hard he tried the outcome was always the same. The werewolf always got him. When the boy's parents reached him they found him murmuring again and agian, "He's gonna get me.. he's gonna get me.
." Tommy's face was pale, his eyes was glazed.It seemed he was in a trance, triggered by panic and confusion. He could almost hear his sister whispering in his ear, "He came for me, soon it will come for you. Halloween..
Halloween, It will come at Halloween." "I don't know what else to do", an exhausted and hopeless mother admitted, "No matter how much we try he still gets those, those, dreams of his!" Liz buried her head in her hands and started weeping. John and his wife were in the kitchen.Puffy eyed and lines drawn all over their faces was proof of several sleepless and troubled nights. John came over and hugged her.
"There must be a way. If there's a problem there's a solution. We'll find it soon, don't worry.Remember the other night you reminded me that desparing won't do any good, you were right. I think it's time for you to take your own advice.
" Liz welcomed her husband's strong arms. She nestled close to him, and took comfort in his warmth and determination. Though she was the clear thinker and the logical one, she lacked the emotional gas and determination that her husband has. Her husband though blinded at times by problems was very strong and stable. Liz thought that they complemented each other quite well and that getting married to him was the best thing that she ever did. Together, they could just mabybe get over this.
Liz did not know, however, how much more their son could take, before going mad. Just tonight, they found him under the bed, off in another world, out of touch with reality. It had taken a great deal of comforting to get Tommy out of his shock. "I love you", she said. "I love you too", he replied. Both statements were sincere, from the heart.
"I got it!", John yelled leaping out of bed. Liz opened her eyes groggily and tried to clear the clouds of sleep from her thoughts. Why did her husband awaken her from their much needed sleep. "Honey, what is it?" "Liz I'm sorry I woke you, after all that's happened tonight but I got an idea on how to cure Tommy's nightmares.
" John was was shaking with excitement. Liz had to make up her mind whether her husband was rational or not. Did he have a dream, or was he suffering under stress.Liz decided to hear what her husband had to say, instead of saying what was on the tip of her tongue, which was: "Get back into bed honey, we all had a hard night.
I'm sure what you have to say can wait until morning." She looked to him and patiently listened. "Liz, Halloween is two days away. Tommy said that the werewolf would come after him at Holloween right?" John was talking so fast that his words came out as a mumble. His wife had difficulty deciphering what he was saying but she nodded.
"What we can do is make Tommy actually meet and kill the werewolf. That way he won't be afraid anymore." Liz frowned, she was'nt sure if John was actually making any sense or if she was hearing him correctly. "How are we going to do that, John?", she asked.
"This Halloween, I'll dress up in a Werewolf suit. We'll give Tommy the shotgun. Since he's so determined that The Werewolf is gonna come for him.He'll take it gladly. Of course we hide the real bullets and replace them with blacks.
We'll send him off in the back yard that leads to that park and I'll come after him. He'll shoot me I'll pretend to die and he'll think he killed the werewolf. I then sneak away and come back to take him home.What do you think?" "John, don't you think it's a little dangerous, I mean we're going to let him have a shotgun?", Liz was hesitant, and arming a boy with a dangerous weapon was unthinkable.
"Don't worry, I told you we'll make sure it's loaded with blanks.", John said with overflowing confidence. "Could'nt we give him a fake gun instead?", his wife reasoned. "Liz, our son is a smart kid he knows a real gun from a fake one. It'll give him so much more confidence knowing that he has my shotgun. And that he's finally going to kill the werewolf!" "John, I don't know about this", Lis wanted to cure her son's nightmare as much as her husband, but this was going a little too far.
"Liz what else can we do? Nothing so far has worked, we've got to try something else and this is a good idea!" "Are you sure that he'll think your a real werewolf and what if he decides to take a look a what he killed? Would'nt he find out that it was all fake?", his wife persisted. "Do'nt worry, I'll take care of it, everything will turn out just fine.", her husband insisted. John urged his wife to go along with his idea so fircely that Liz finally submitted, though reluctantly. Tommy peered through the trees. It was dark, he could not make out anything, except shadows.
Gray shadows that seem to dance in the night, spying on him. The only sounds he could hear was his own heavy breathing, and the occasional snap of a twig made by his uncertain steps. Clutched tightly in his trembling sweaty hands was his father's shotgun. The weapon must have been heavy for a young boy at Tommy's age, but he did'nt notice.
Other concerns were preyig on his mind. The werewolf did not die in his dream, his nightmare. After he had shot it, it still came after him! It had taken his father hours to convince his son that this shot gun was actually going to get rid of the wolf.That his father's gun was special and more powerfull. Suddenly, a faint rustle sounded behind him. Tommy gulped, he swerved right and left willing his eyes to pierce the darkness.
It could have only been a nightime breeze, but not to Tommy. He knew it was him, the werewolf.His first instict was to bolt and be as far away from it as possible. But Tommy suppressed his urge to run. He knew he could not run forever, he knew he had to face it sometime. The shadow loomed closer, slavering and growling, intent on it's victim.
It seemed to Tommy that this shadow was blacker than night, more terrifying than any fear he had ever known in his life.It was either the wolf or him. The decision would be made now! Slowly, and with trembling hands, Tommy raised the barrel of the shotgun and pointed it at the dark shadow. Liz shifted uncomfortably in the kitchen chair and kept glancing nervously out the window. She did'nt like this idea. A sense of restlessless anxiety plauged her.
She did'nt know why she felt so afraid.Calm down, she chided herself, there's nothing to worry about. Soon your son will be cured of his terrible nightmare and everything will be all right. You, you husband and your son will live happily ever after.
She did'nt believe a word of it. Liz could'nt stand sitting around anymore.She stood and began pacing the lenght of the kitchen. Maybe if I just take a look at the bullets that I hid in the master bedroom cabinet I would feel better, Liz told herself. Feeling the bullets in my hands would be proof that the blanks my husband bought was in the shotgun that Tommy has. It would be proof that everything was going well.
Liz hurriedly made her to the bedroom and went straight to the locked cabinet.She slipped in the key and opened the top drawer. The box of ammunition was hidden beneath a neat stack of clothes. The pile of shirts did'nt seem disturbed. Liz heaved a sight of relief. She reached under and flet the reassurance of the wooden box of bullets.
Quickly she inserted another key and opened the box.It was emptly! Liz's face became deathly pale. "No", she choked. Bang! The shot echoed loudly. Yet another shot was fired, bang! A gurgled gasp escaped the lips of the werewolf, before it slumped heavily to the ground. This time it did not get back up.
This time it was dead! Tommy stared at scene before him, stared at what he had just done. He was relieved that he had taken the time to look for the other bullets. He knew that the ones his dad gave him would'nt work. It seemed finally he had conquered and won. But for some strange reason, he flet that something was missing, that something was'nt quite right.
As Tommy headed home, the forest was still silent. Still filled with gray, dark shadows.
