I can still see the smirk on the clerk’s face. To him I was just another crazy.
“Silver bullets? Sure, we carry ‘em.” Stock them just for nuts like you, he didn’t say. But he thought it. I know he did.
I don’t care what he thought. I don’t care anymore what anyone thinks. I learned quickly not even to bring up the subject or face unrelenting ridicule. So I no longer talk about it. Now I just need to act.
The need for action eats at me as I sit here and wait. Wait for the coming night. Wait for the full moon to rise over Hickory Hill. Wait for the monster to arrive. But tonight will, at last, be the end of the waiting. Tonight the monster dies.
I understand the ridicule. I really do. Who in their right mind believes in werewolves? Only children and madmen, or so I’ve been told. After all, they tried to commit me. But I believe. I know. I am not a madman.
Shadows are growing long as night approaches. The forest floor is already dark, only the canopy above still holds begrudgingly to the last rays of the sun. The forest about me grows eerily still. Normally this would be a busy time in the underbrush – the changing of the guard from the creatures of the day to the creatures of the night. Not tonight. Tonight all is still, as if the residents of the forest know that trouble is on the way. They are all frightened. I am frightened.
How could I not be?
I check the trap again, for the tenth time, the hundredth time. All is ready. The trip line is set. The gun loaded with one silver bullet. I will only have one shot at this, so what’s the point of a full clip? I only pray it really is a silver bullet. I had to take the gun dealer at his word. I am no metallurgist. It’s soft but not too soft and looks like silver, not lead. It was certainly expensive enough. He grinned when he told me the price. I pray that it’s silver. For there is only one thing more dangerous than a werewolf, and that’s an injured werewolf.
The sun is gone now and fear surrounds me. It is pitch dark here under the trees. Starlight cannot penetrate the heavy hardwood overstory. I’m sure the moon, despite being full, will hardly cast a shadow here. I’ll never see the moon rise over Hickory Hill due to the trees, but I’ll know when it does. Because that’s when the monster will come.
The duct tape around my chest is secure. Now that the sun’s gone the forest is growing chill and I look at my clothing, folded neatly on the log beside me. I yearn for their warmth. I do not put them on. I do not want them shredded when the monster comes.
He is close now. I can sense it. My heart is racing. My breathing is getting rapid. The moon must be just under the horizon. Above me some frightened bird can no longer take the mounting tension and flutters off, crashing wildly into leaf and branch as it panics into the night. The sense of panic is rising in me as well. My good sense seems to be fleeing me with the approach of moonrise. Animal instincts are urging me to flee, to get away from this madness as quickly as I can. If I stay I shall surely die. Run. Run for all I’m worth.
No!
I must see this through. I cannot let another month pass, another full moon, not another night of the bloody murder of innocents. Tonight it must end.
The thin wire hangs down from my chest. Soon it will no longer be slack. The trip wire will tug at it, make it taut, and then it will go slack again – forever. But with luck it will do its job.
I am sweating profusely now, my breathing is ragged. Reason flees, only animal instinct and fear remain. Suddenly the moon is up. Run! Get away. Run! Kill!
I bolt. The wire grows taut. The gun strapped to my chest explodes in a deafening roar. I howl in pain, snarl and snap at the unseen assailant. I fall to the ground, see my blood soaked arm sprawled out before me. My life blood flows freely from my chest. I see my arm changing back into human form. I smile as I close my eyes for the last time.
It was a silver bullet.
—
©2009 by J. M. Strother, all rights reserved.
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Duct tape and a wire, great trick. Nothing like having a terrible condition nobody will believe. Fun story.
It’s so hard to be taken seriously when you’re a werewolf, except of course, during a full moon.
Glad you liked it.
~jon
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by J. M. Strother, MEG. MEG said: RT @jmstro: Happy New Year! Silver Bullet, for a once in a new moon New Year. Enjoy my #fridayflash: http://bit.ly/8sDGpC [...]
Ohh. Very nice build up. I thought at first heck, I’d have a FULL CLIP…then I saw where you were going with needing just one bullet. Nicely done. Glad that the gun dealer didn’t lie.
I knew that at a certain point it would become obvious where I was going. I just hope it was late enough in the story that people would still be interested with how it all worked out. Glad you liked it.
~jon
Ah yes, duct tape and WD-40 are the two essential parts of any tool kit. Happy new year to you and the whole Friday Flash group!
Darn, I forgot to work in the WD-40!
Thanks for reading, Tim, and Happy New Year to you too. Keep on flashing. Man, that just doesn’t sound right…
~jon
Nice build-up to this. I could feel the fear mounting.
Happy New Year!
Thanks, Laura. Happy New Year to you too.
~jon
A were commits suicide. Very nice. I did love this very much.
Thanks, Carrie. Glad you liked it.
~jon
Excellent build-up – even though the duct tape tipped me off to the twist, the tension kept on coming. Possibly a different tension when you know that the hunter is also the hunted, but just as potent, I assure you!
Happy New Year!
Thanks, Maria. I was hoping the tension would remain once people figured out what was going on. Glad it worked for you. Happy New Year to you too.
~jon
Ooo — you’re off to a good start for the New Year! I guessed it was a suicide upon him mentioning his clothes, but the single bullet should have given it away.
Thanks, Dana. You’re off to a good start too. I did not see the end of your story coming at all. Well done.
~jon
Jon!
Perfect story. . . I was nose-to-screen waiting for a werewolf to jump out of the trees or something and have this guy end up in a huge battle. . . or have the bullet not be siver. . or . . . I don’t know what but I did NOT expect that ending!
Great job!
Jim
New Year’s and a suicide – perfect start!
Really enjoyed this story. Werewolf=win! 
Merry Christmas to your werewolve! Good story, especially liked the title (sounds familiar to me… hmmm….). HNY! Peace, Linda
Just as well it was a silver bullet, or that gun dealer might have been dealing with a very angry, very hairy, disgruntled customer.
Should have gone to a gun club to find someone willing to cast a silver bullet for the price of a silver bangle. A lot of those guys already cast their own bullets for use with spent casings. The melting temperature would be the tricky part but a blow torch should do the job.
The tripwire was a neat idea.
I guessed he was the werewolf, but it didn’t matter. The drama of his predicament is what gives the tale interest. I liked it. (BTW I don’t mind spoilers either; I’m weird that way.)
I guessed too, but then you threw me off and I was completely surprised by the ending. Wow. I loved this.
I wasn’t looking for anything, so I didn’t realise until the end what was happening either. Great (hair-raising) build up of tension, and you evoked the impending ‘lunacy’ of the situation very well. I also liked the narrative style, which gave enough description to make it atmospheric without suffocating the tension. I think you should write more werewolf stories :>)
Rich
Great story Jon, very good build-up. I didn’t guess until the clothes, and, as Mazzz said, it didn’t take away from the story, it just shifted the tension, which, in my opinion, made it that much better.
Love it!
It took me a moment to figure out what duct tape had to do with killing werewolves, but then I got it. Very well played, Jon.
Well, I am rather shamefaced to say that I didn’t realize main character was werewolf!
The build up did leave me nervously waiting for the werewolf to pounce and kill. I thought that MC was planning to die alone with the werewolf in case he had to do this sacrifice.
Anyway, tense narrative and very good twist!
Great start to the new year. I figured out the twist when the duct tape showed up, however, I was still compelled to read thru to the end make sure the monster got his just desserts!
I enjoyed this story.
I too, knew what was up with the duct tape; but the tension remained because the reader needed to know if the man or the beast would/could outwit the other.
Wild ride.
Not a madman after all.
About this point, “…I do not want them shredded when the monster comes.”, in the story I began to think, “Oh, the werewolf is *really* close after all.
Nicely done, Jon. There’s a good buildup in this tale, good tension and great description of the war between the man’s reason and animal instincts.
Very nicely done. I enjoyed the whole thing, but my favourite bit – “Stock them just for nuts like you, he didn’t say. But he thought it. I know he did.” Perfection.
Jon,
That was so well-written and suspenseful. I wasn’t clever enough to figure out what was going on, so you got me good! Very wonderful twist!
Happy New Year and thanks for the FridayFlash organization!
Loved this one. So creative and well written. Vivid imagery and the pace was perfect. Clever twist that I didn’t see coming. Bravo!
A nice take on the werewolf tale. Great suspense builds up to the point when you realizing the werewolf he’s pursuing is himself.
Well, Jon, I’m a fool. I never saw it coming. I could picture it every step of the way, with the clothes folded and the duct tape and wire but I still didn’t get the punchline until it punched me in the face. Good job! Happy new year and welcome to another year of fridayflash.
Yikes to you too.
Barb
Great job with this one! I figured out where it was going, but you tipped the reader off late enough that you want to know if he’ll succeed. Also a good take on the “remorseful monster” theme.
CD