Beth leaned heavily against the ancient oak tree. Her heart pounded, and her breath was labored from running. Her eyes were wide with fear. Beth skirted the tree, never relinquishing the security holding its massive trunk provided, and faced the direction from which she had fled. Summoning the courage to peep around the trunk, she looked to see if there was any sign of the demon pursuing her. Nothing!
"It's there! God, I know it's there!" Beth thought to herself. "It's watching me! Where is it?" Her eyes focused on the darkness, trying to discern a tell--tale shape among the trees and foliage of the forest into which she had fled.
"Nothing! But its got to be there!" Beth thought. The pounding of her heart sounded like a base drum in her ears. Her breath seemed to roar like a storm.
"Surely it can hear me!" She thought. She dared not even whisper to herself. Beth cursed her decision to flee into the woods rather than retreat to her home. She cursed her decision to go into her garden that evening. She knew there had been attacks in the countryside. She never should have gone, but she couldn't sleep. The garden is so peaceful and beautiful in the full moon.
When she first saw the creature, Beth seemed frozen in her footsteps. She stood steadfast in horror and amazement. It was a wolf, but not an ordinary wolf. It was larger than any wolf she had ever seen or heard of. Beth stood five feet and seven inches tall, and she guessed this monster measured five feet or more at its shoulder. Its head was larger than a basketball. Its supernaturally white fangs appeared to be as long as Beth's pinkie finger. When its lips pulled back in a snarl, its gums were red, blood red.
It noticed her immediately after it broke the cover of the forest at the edge of her garden. Without knowing why, it seemed to Beth it expected to find her there among her roses, calla--lilies and the other flowers she lovingly planted. The garden was her sanctuary. And now her sanctuary had been invaded by this beast.
Beth had to force herself to stop looking at the creature and consider her escape. She needed to flee, to run for her life. Although the animal was not directly between her and the house, it could easily intercept her by running across the perimeter of the garden. The wolf would be too fast for her to give it any advantage. Her only chance was to run away and make the wolf run as far as possible. Only then could she get far enough ahead of it to find some hiding place, some make--shift sanctuary, in the woods.
Now she stood trembling, clinging to the scant protection of the oak's trunk and wondering where the beast lurked. Beth knew she couldn't have lost her fleet preditor during her flight.
"Where is it? It's watching me, stalking me. It can smell me. It can smell my fear! God, why won't my heart be silent?" The thoughts tumbled through Beth's mind. She looked around the trunk again. Nothing! Could she have escaped? Is it over? Then her blood ran cold.
"My god, the wolf circled me. Its waiting in ambush for me to come to it!" Beth turned suddenly, her back against the tree and her arms splayed behind her, still clinging to the bark of her only protector. She tried to see through the darkness and the forest itself. Nothing!
Beth tuned back toward the tree. She once again peered around the trunk in the direction from which she had fled. She then looked to her left and turned to look in all directions. Nothing! Her heartbeat slowed and her labored breathing was less pronounced.
"Is it gone?" Beth permitted herself a small measure of hope. Gone or not, she thought, she could not stay in the forest all night. If it was not gone, it would find her. If it was gone, she needed to return home.
"But which way to go?" Beth looked around again. The path on which she fled was the most direct route home, but she risked running into the wolf. It could be lingering along the path, sniffing, tracking her. The thought panicked Beth. If she took a more circuitous route, it would take her longer to get to safety. It also would give the monster more time to find her.
Beth startled. Her eyes wide with fear, she looked in the direction of the sound. It was a sound like a twig cracking when it is stepped upon. Nothing! She peered into the darkness, desperately wishing she had the wolf's eyes. She dared not move. She just stared, trying to discern the slightest movement. Nothing.
Suddenly panic gripped Beth. She had to move. She had to leave the cover of her oak protector and run home. Which way? Beth ran. She ran to her left. It would take her longer but she didn't have to think about running into the wolf while it hunted her along the path she had fled. Before she had ran thirty yards, she heard the crunching of dead leaves and twigs on the forest floor.
"It can hear me! It knows where I am!" Beth's last thought was a breathless whisper from her lips. She ran faster. She needed to escape the dense foliage and get to one of the more worn paths back to her garden, and then to home. The path was ahead. She could see the moonlight illuminating the intersection where a path forked. Beth stopped only briefly to glance over her shoulder, first back into the woods and then down the left fork before she turned to left down the main path. Her chest was hurting. She was winded, but fear propelled her toward her garden and home.
