I Walk These Streets as a Stranger
Jan. 18th, 2012 01:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
averydifferentsortTitle: I Walk These Streets as a Stranger
Rating: PG-13 (she says "fuck" a couple times...)
Characters: Tuesday, Hope, Star
Word Count: 1524
Summary: A girl and a wolf walk BEHIND a bar...
Notes: Written for![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
origfic_bingo, prompt: holy place. ...I still have no idea what's going on.
There's something about this place. This town is different, somehow, from all the places I've stopped in before. It's nothing I can really put my finger on - on the surface, it's no different from a hundred different small towns scattered across the country, without a single chain store or restaurant, where all but a few of the kids leave as soon as they hit 18, whether they've graduated or not, where everyone knows everyone else.
"We've got some firewood needs splittin'," Hope tells me when I cautiously poke my head into the bar the morning after I arrive. I hadn't been planning to stay the night at all, and all I really want is to catch a ride out this morning, but when she says it, I just nod, return my bag to the small barn out back, and start splitting wood.
It's a little harder than I would've expected, physically, but it's relatively simple, and it makes me feel a little better about accepting the space to sleep last night. I'm doing them a service that they would've had to do anyway, clearly, given that the hatchet and chopping block look well-used.
At some point I stop to give myself a break. My arms and back ache, and I've broken a slight sweat even in the chill of the autumn morning and the shade of the building. There's a rustle in the woods out back, and I look over instinctively, expecting to see nothing, or maybe a deer. Instead, the thing that stares back at me from just behind the tree line is a wolf, pure black and larger than I thought wolves generally were.
"Shit," I hiss under my breath, my eyes darting over to where the hatchet sits on the chopping block, a good ten feet away from where I'm standing. I should be able to make it to the hatchet before the wolf gets to me, if I go first and it isn't faster than I think it is. I can't remember if wolves generally attack and eat people. This one is big enough that I feel it's a distinct possibility. Then again, if it's trying to decide whether or not to eat me, a sudden movement, seeming to be fleeing, might make up its mind and set it on me.
It stares at me, its eyes surprisingly intelligent, or seeming to be from a few yards away. All my muscles are starting to protest from how still and tense I am, but I don't move. Movement could equate to backing down, in wolf language. I don't know, I'm not an animal expert. Eventually, it huffs a little, almost like it's chuckling, and turns to trot back into the woods. Three or four strides in, it turns around to look over its shoulder at me, staring intently.
I don't move. My life might not be the greatest, but I'm not suicidal. The wolf takes two more steps into the forest and turns around again, staring at me. I could almost swear it's starting to get impatient. I still don't move.
"You got any of that wood ready to bring in?" I hear Hope call from the kitchen, her voice drifting through the screen door, and glance over instinctively.
"Uh... yeah, just a sec," I call, and turn back to the wolf. I'm startled to find that it's come back to the edge of the tree line and is sitting there with its head cocked, looking for all the world like a really large dog. "Just don't try to eat me, okay?" I ask it quietly, and start inching over towards the pile of wood. The wolf doesn't seem any more inclined to attack me when I move, it just keeps watching me with that curious-puppy expression. I cautiously collect an armful of firewood and back into the kitchen, not taking my eyes off the wolf until I'm inside.
"Thank you, darlin', put it right there by the stove," Hope says. I deposit the wood where she points me, and glance a little nervously at the screen door.
"Do you guys get wolves around here often?" I ask after a moment. Though Hope has her back to me, I can see her head lift sharply, and she stops moving for a moment. Then she's back to fixing whatever it is she's making as if nothing had happened.
"Not generally. Get coyotes more than anythin'. You get spooked by somethin', sweetie?" She's so casual, not looking at me, just asking an innocent question - it's a little creepy, to be honest.
"Yeah, I just... thought I saw something in the woods," I say slowly, looking at the screen door again. "I'll... go finish chopping that wood."
"All right," she responds carelessly.
The wolf is still sitting there when I step outside, and it visibly perks up when it sees me. They don't normally have wolves around here, according to Hope, but she knows something she wasn't saying, and this wolf is acting intelligent and... well, I'm a little crazy, maybe.
"What do you want?" I ask it, mildly irritated. It stands and repeats the little walking away and looking back act from earlier. It almost looks like it's-- "Are you waiting for me to follow you?" I ask cautiously.
I could swear it grins at me when I ask that. I risk a glance back at the chopping block, the screen door, the door to the barn where my shotgun is. I should keep working, or go inside, or at least bring my gun with me if I'm going into the woods with what appears to be a sentient wolf.
Instead, I sigh and start trudging up the slight slope to the trees. "If you try to eat me, I'm not going to like you very much," I grumble as I catch up to the wolf and it starts trotting along a few feet ahead of me. It doesn't bother replying. Probably because me not liking it isn't the scariest of threats. We walk for a good ten minutes through the trees, sunlight shining through the leaves just starting to turn red and orange and gold as autumn gets into swing. And then we hit... a wall of fog and shadow. It's the only way to describe it, really. There's a distinct line drawn between the sun-dappled woods I'd been starting to enjoy and the dark, foreboding woods ahead. I stop walking about five feet away from the unnervingly obvious border, and the wolf stops with one paw in the air, just about to step in.
"No way," I say, shaking my head and taking a step back. "No fucking way I'm going in there." The wolf puts its paw down and lets out a soft whine, like a sad dog asking its owner not to leave. I'm not much of a pet person, but even coming from a huge menacing wolf, that sound makes me feel like shit. "Don't start with me!" I protest. "That's creepy unnatural shit right there. I am not some dumb blonde horror movie extra, okay?"
How a wolf manages expressions is beyond me, but it gives me the most reproachful look I think I've had levelled at me since I was a little kid. It trots over to me, gently takes the sleeve of my shirt in its teeth, and tugs slightly.
Okay, whatever it is, it's clearly urgent. Maybe they're running behind with their human sacrifices and are trying to get back on schedule. I really should have brought my gun.
I chew my lip for a moment, weighing my options as quickly as I can. On the one hand, ominous forest with sentient wolf leading me into it, while I'm in a strange small town with a mysteriously charitable bar owner. On the other hand, a sentient wolf who clearly urgently wants me to follow it, that has shown no sign of wanting to harm me, who might need help. I'm not generally much help unless the the problem can be fixed with a bullet or three, but I'm not totally heartless.
I lock eyes with the wolf. "Promise you're not leading me into some sort of trap?" I ask sternly. The wolf, to my surprise, bobs its head in a nod, then resumes its gentle tugging on my sleeve. "I am fucking asking for it," I mutter to myself with a sigh. "Okay. Lead on, I guess."
The wolf lets go of my sleeve and trots ahead, waiting for me to catch up at the edge of the darkness. It comes up beside me and shoves its head under my hand and just stands for a moment, and I mentally breathe a sigh of relief - it doesn't want me to get lost in the darkness. Which is good, because my sense of direction is shit outside of a city. I steel myself, feeling an unnatural chill coming from the shadows, tendrils of fog reaching out to wind around my feet.
"Well," I say, to myself more than the wolf, "here goes nothing."
I step forward, and the darkness folds itself around me.
Rating: PG-13 (she says "fuck" a couple times...)
Characters: Tuesday, Hope, Star
Word Count: 1524
Summary: A girl and a wolf walk BEHIND a bar...
Notes: Written for
origfic_bingo, prompt: holy place. ...I still have no idea what's going on.There's something about this place. This town is different, somehow, from all the places I've stopped in before. It's nothing I can really put my finger on - on the surface, it's no different from a hundred different small towns scattered across the country, without a single chain store or restaurant, where all but a few of the kids leave as soon as they hit 18, whether they've graduated or not, where everyone knows everyone else.
"We've got some firewood needs splittin'," Hope tells me when I cautiously poke my head into the bar the morning after I arrive. I hadn't been planning to stay the night at all, and all I really want is to catch a ride out this morning, but when she says it, I just nod, return my bag to the small barn out back, and start splitting wood.
It's a little harder than I would've expected, physically, but it's relatively simple, and it makes me feel a little better about accepting the space to sleep last night. I'm doing them a service that they would've had to do anyway, clearly, given that the hatchet and chopping block look well-used.
At some point I stop to give myself a break. My arms and back ache, and I've broken a slight sweat even in the chill of the autumn morning and the shade of the building. There's a rustle in the woods out back, and I look over instinctively, expecting to see nothing, or maybe a deer. Instead, the thing that stares back at me from just behind the tree line is a wolf, pure black and larger than I thought wolves generally were.
"Shit," I hiss under my breath, my eyes darting over to where the hatchet sits on the chopping block, a good ten feet away from where I'm standing. I should be able to make it to the hatchet before the wolf gets to me, if I go first and it isn't faster than I think it is. I can't remember if wolves generally attack and eat people. This one is big enough that I feel it's a distinct possibility. Then again, if it's trying to decide whether or not to eat me, a sudden movement, seeming to be fleeing, might make up its mind and set it on me.
It stares at me, its eyes surprisingly intelligent, or seeming to be from a few yards away. All my muscles are starting to protest from how still and tense I am, but I don't move. Movement could equate to backing down, in wolf language. I don't know, I'm not an animal expert. Eventually, it huffs a little, almost like it's chuckling, and turns to trot back into the woods. Three or four strides in, it turns around to look over its shoulder at me, staring intently.
I don't move. My life might not be the greatest, but I'm not suicidal. The wolf takes two more steps into the forest and turns around again, staring at me. I could almost swear it's starting to get impatient. I still don't move.
"You got any of that wood ready to bring in?" I hear Hope call from the kitchen, her voice drifting through the screen door, and glance over instinctively.
"Uh... yeah, just a sec," I call, and turn back to the wolf. I'm startled to find that it's come back to the edge of the tree line and is sitting there with its head cocked, looking for all the world like a really large dog. "Just don't try to eat me, okay?" I ask it quietly, and start inching over towards the pile of wood. The wolf doesn't seem any more inclined to attack me when I move, it just keeps watching me with that curious-puppy expression. I cautiously collect an armful of firewood and back into the kitchen, not taking my eyes off the wolf until I'm inside.
"Thank you, darlin', put it right there by the stove," Hope says. I deposit the wood where she points me, and glance a little nervously at the screen door.
"Do you guys get wolves around here often?" I ask after a moment. Though Hope has her back to me, I can see her head lift sharply, and she stops moving for a moment. Then she's back to fixing whatever it is she's making as if nothing had happened.
"Not generally. Get coyotes more than anythin'. You get spooked by somethin', sweetie?" She's so casual, not looking at me, just asking an innocent question - it's a little creepy, to be honest.
"Yeah, I just... thought I saw something in the woods," I say slowly, looking at the screen door again. "I'll... go finish chopping that wood."
"All right," she responds carelessly.
The wolf is still sitting there when I step outside, and it visibly perks up when it sees me. They don't normally have wolves around here, according to Hope, but she knows something she wasn't saying, and this wolf is acting intelligent and... well, I'm a little crazy, maybe.
"What do you want?" I ask it, mildly irritated. It stands and repeats the little walking away and looking back act from earlier. It almost looks like it's-- "Are you waiting for me to follow you?" I ask cautiously.
I could swear it grins at me when I ask that. I risk a glance back at the chopping block, the screen door, the door to the barn where my shotgun is. I should keep working, or go inside, or at least bring my gun with me if I'm going into the woods with what appears to be a sentient wolf.
Instead, I sigh and start trudging up the slight slope to the trees. "If you try to eat me, I'm not going to like you very much," I grumble as I catch up to the wolf and it starts trotting along a few feet ahead of me. It doesn't bother replying. Probably because me not liking it isn't the scariest of threats. We walk for a good ten minutes through the trees, sunlight shining through the leaves just starting to turn red and orange and gold as autumn gets into swing. And then we hit... a wall of fog and shadow. It's the only way to describe it, really. There's a distinct line drawn between the sun-dappled woods I'd been starting to enjoy and the dark, foreboding woods ahead. I stop walking about five feet away from the unnervingly obvious border, and the wolf stops with one paw in the air, just about to step in.
"No way," I say, shaking my head and taking a step back. "No fucking way I'm going in there." The wolf puts its paw down and lets out a soft whine, like a sad dog asking its owner not to leave. I'm not much of a pet person, but even coming from a huge menacing wolf, that sound makes me feel like shit. "Don't start with me!" I protest. "That's creepy unnatural shit right there. I am not some dumb blonde horror movie extra, okay?"
How a wolf manages expressions is beyond me, but it gives me the most reproachful look I think I've had levelled at me since I was a little kid. It trots over to me, gently takes the sleeve of my shirt in its teeth, and tugs slightly.
Okay, whatever it is, it's clearly urgent. Maybe they're running behind with their human sacrifices and are trying to get back on schedule. I really should have brought my gun.
I chew my lip for a moment, weighing my options as quickly as I can. On the one hand, ominous forest with sentient wolf leading me into it, while I'm in a strange small town with a mysteriously charitable bar owner. On the other hand, a sentient wolf who clearly urgently wants me to follow it, that has shown no sign of wanting to harm me, who might need help. I'm not generally much help unless the the problem can be fixed with a bullet or three, but I'm not totally heartless.
I lock eyes with the wolf. "Promise you're not leading me into some sort of trap?" I ask sternly. The wolf, to my surprise, bobs its head in a nod, then resumes its gentle tugging on my sleeve. "I am fucking asking for it," I mutter to myself with a sigh. "Okay. Lead on, I guess."
The wolf lets go of my sleeve and trots ahead, waiting for me to catch up at the edge of the darkness. It comes up beside me and shoves its head under my hand and just stands for a moment, and I mentally breathe a sigh of relief - it doesn't want me to get lost in the darkness. Which is good, because my sense of direction is shit outside of a city. I steel myself, feeling an unnatural chill coming from the shadows, tendrils of fog reaching out to wind around my feet.
"Well," I say, to myself more than the wolf, "here goes nothing."
I step forward, and the darkness folds itself around me.
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Date: 2012-01-19 04:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-19 04:22 am (UTC)