Faith on the Fringe - A Wilderness of Words

Tom slipped into the forest, letting its shadows shield him from the relentless pack, his own inner beast, and the painful truth. Yet, high above in the treetops, something else searched—a hidden soul whose presence he could feel. This personality followed him, alerting the hidden world that he was near, like a raven seeks the prey for the wolf. He rushed through the shadows, trying to fly once again but falling horribly short. In his human form, he was painstakingly slow. He longed for the shift, but now, after his encounter, the thought was nauseating. He wanted the strength and speed, the freedom of the werewolf, but now he feared those attributes were a façade. He could wield its power at will, but if he allowed himself that freedom, he would be geolocated and overtaken by bigger, scarier things than he. Tom's frantic escape soon slowed as he focused on something ahead. Shining warmly in the waning daylight was a strange light. Emanating a welcome glow amid the darkened t...

  Ben rummaged through his backpack and found a couple of granola bars. He tossed Tom one, and the two ate while Tom continued his story.   The forest swayed under the mighty wind. Sharku’s voice rose over the drumming rain, “You’re ready, Thomas.” Tom shifted in his chair, both excitement and dread overcoming him. “When do we leave?” he asked. “Right now,” answered Sharku from the window. They boarded a small float plane and traveled over the great forest and around mountains that scraped the sky. Tom thought he saw something like a tower piercing through the clouds, but it quickly vanished as they changed directions. He grew hungry and cold as the day turned to night and back to day again. The pilot landed on a glassy lake, and the surrounding landscape was frost-bitten and foreboding. “Get out.” Sharku looked at Tom with a menacing scoff. He surveyed the distant shoreline and noted the ice-cold water between them and it. Tom feared the old man more than the cold, so he took...

  Ben stared motionless at the man kneeling before him. Finally, he holstered his pistol and pulled an extra set of clothes from his backpack while keeping one eye on this man-beast. He was older, rough, and weathered with a thick red beard. He glanced at Ben, “Thank you.” There was an awkward silence as Ben searched for the words. He couldn’t process the town that appeared in the middle of nowhere, or the fact that there was a WEREWOLF being escorted through this town, not to mention the pack of werewolves he had been attacked by last night. Now this – this man in front of him. It was too much.   It – he spoke, “We should get out of here if we don’t want to find ourselves on the menu again.” Ben leered at him, then plopped down on a rock. “We?” He replied. “We aren’t going anywhere. You’re not even human. Why did – why… sigh.”   The man shook his head. “Okay, we’re gonna talk first. My name is Thomas Brown. What’s yours?” Looking off into the woods, he ...

 The beast’s yellow eyes blazed. It roared, thunderous and primal. The crowd braced, holding their ears as the nauseating sound overtook them. Two strongmen were flung through the air as they tried, unsuccessfully, to control the animal. Others jabbed it with their sharp spears, shotguns blasted at it, but to no avail. As the creature overcame its captors, Ben saw his chance to escape. Jumping from the ground, he bolted away from the parade, racing toward his truck, sprinting for his very life. His fumbling fingers jammed the key into the ignition, and the engine roared to life. Knobby tires dug into the gravel as he peeled out onto the road he drove in on. He kept one eye on the rearview mirror, checking for any sign of a pursuer, man or beast. Remembering the canyon ahead, he began to scan for a spot where he could dump the truck and still keep it hidden— no way I’m getting trapped in that canyon. He drove on, studying the dense foliage for any sign of an entry. There—a g...

  Ben Holland gripped the wheel of his old pickup, the engine’s rumble the only sound cutting through the stillness of the countryside.  Sunrise painted the sky in cotton-candy swirls of pink and purple, and the coffee was still steaming. There were lots of nice homes dotting the landscape, as well as abandoned homes and buildings that were beyond repair. Nevertheless, it was a much more peaceful setting than Fairchannel, where he had moved from. That place was a concrete jungle. It wasn’t a typical inner city; it was a post-war zone. Swiss cheese, skyrises, and bomb-pitted streets were the norm, despite its name. The government had not begun reconstruction as it had in the cities to the west, such as Cira. He took another swig of coffee. The heat spread through his chest and settled low in his stomach, a familiar burn that chased away the morning chill. I suppose I oughta call Em. He pressed the button on the steering wheel, “call Emma.” It was definitely old tech. There were...

  Long, drawn-out howls echoed through the deep forest, ricocheting off trees. Fear flooded his senses as the sound—like an air raid siren, a primal warning—reverberated to his core. Run. It was all he could think of, all he could do. “Aah,” he held his hand over the stinging pain in his side, then felt the handle of the blade sticking out. He looked at his shaking hand, dripping in bright red blood… “Ben, wake up. You're dreaming.”   He rolled his head over and gazed at Emma, his beautiful wife. Exhaling, he crunched up his face as another sharp pain shot through his abdomen. She caressed his hand, "You need to try not to tense up, baby. “I know, I know. It’s just… like I was still there,” he replied. “If you need to talk about things, you can talk to me, or you know, the department provides a therapist.” Ben rolled his eyes at the word ‘therapist’ and took his hand back. “There’s something out there, Em and the kids, they’re still going missing. That old man took maybe one o...

  I gazed at my reflection in the mirror and saw a bulging muffin-top belly. I had spent the entire summer hiking and eating healthily, yet it still stubbornly persisted. Our most recent hike through the Allegan State Game Area spanned a challenging 14 miles, and it left my son Gabe and me feeling confident that we were ready to take on the moderately difficult Pictured Rocks section of the North Country National Scenic Trail. We rose before sunrise and broke camp in the pitch-dark morning of the Upper Peninsula. The Alger County Transit shuttle was waiting for us in Munising. It took us to the beginning of the trail at the east end. The driver kindly went a little further to drop us off at Sable Falls. Starting toward the falls, we had a pep in our steps and a song in our hearts. The foliage was wet with morning dew, but we welcomed the feeling; we were in the wilderness, and it would be amazing.  Upon arriving at the visitors center, we were already wiping the sweat from our...