Entries from a Werewolf Lover's Diary

Submitted into Contest #65 in response to: Write about a vampire or werewolf who moves into a quiet suburban neighborhood.... view prompt

47 comments

Thriller Suspense Drama

June 19, 2240


Three days after.


Our town is hollow, lost without the soft music of the werewolves' howls, some of which were yours. We're not allowed to say it anymore, but we loved those howls. Every night, we were frozen with anticipation, waiting for the sweet melody to sing us to sleep. Every morning, we mourned its loss. Now that the howls are no longer, the town is like it was the minutes before the howling started. Numb, unsure, and worried. We are always worried.


We'd known that the zombies would come. We'd known we couldn't always live as we did. But we hadn't known this enough because we still hoped. We allowed ourselves to believe that the zombies wouldn't come, that we could stay as we were, run down and whole-hearted, a town that held dances every night when no one could sleep. Our graceful movements lit by fading candlelight, the rain echoing the rhythm of our feet. It was never too cold for dancing.


I can still see your swollen eyes that looked to me when I was dancing. Eyes that knew they should be up there on the pavilion, reflecting the fire that lit it.


June 16, 2240


They came last night.


For half-decayed creatures, they move very quickly. We'd all been restless that day and had spent it ridding our gardens of non-existent weeds, wiping away the dust from our windows, and talking about nothing in particular. 


At night came the dancing, the howling too. We'd expected to let go of a breath we'd known we were holding, but the howling only made us more anxious. Be quieter; we wanted to whisper. Be still, our frequent glances outside the pavilion said.  


In the end, we couldn't do anything to stop it. We'd endured the werewolves' cries of pain. And we'd known it was coming, but we still stood there in shock. You did too. A zombie reached for you from behind, and you just stood there, eyes on the moon, heart in your stomach. 


The zombies have had twisted jealousy of werewolves since the beginning of time. They feel trapped in a decayed body and envy that werewolves don't always have to be in their un-natural form. Zombies started hunting them when they discovered werewolves became paralyzed when they looked at the moon. We'd hoped they'd never reach us. 


And, now that they have, the only thing I can bring myself to do is write. A time diary for you. For all the time that we won't have.


June 20, 2240


Four days after. 


Election Day is coming soon. There won't be as many voters or candidates with the werewolves gone. 


Election Day is a celebrated custom in our small town. It gives us a chance to celebrate the people that help people, the kindred spirits.


I'd been planning on voting for Bach, a werewolf in her twenties who helped everyone plant a garden. She was patient with me, even when I ate the tomatoes too early and let you dig holes in the soil. You must separate the soil for gardening from the soil for amusement, she'd said. Sometimes I wonder if that relates to feelings and how you must separate your big feelings from the ones that can't hurt you. The big feelings need a fence, like the one I had to put around my garden at first so you wouldn't destroy it. The big feelings can only grow where they can't be touched.


Bach told me it had taken her a long time to resist digging in her garden, and that she'd wanted to teach other werewolves how to do the same. I did a little digging of my own because I was so anxious for the food to come. 


It's a wonder, with you and I both digging, that it came at all. But it came, thanks to the fence that frustrated me and that you had a hard time figuring out. Once you did, the game was over for you. You knew that the garden was precious, that we needed the garden.


The fence around my big feelings frustrates me too. It makes me want to create a new key, one to replace the one that I buried long ago. I want to fling open the gate and let my feeling free, but I know that, once I do, they will be ruined. You had a hard time figuring out the fence around my big feelings. You didn't understand why there was one, as you didn't understand why there was a fence around the garden. Once you figured it out, the game was over for you. You knew the feelings were precious, that I needed them locked away.


On June 1st, 2239, I moved into the quiet village. I'd been expecting to have to hide my identity, but I'd know that I couldn't stay in the city for much longer, the city, where people are awake at all hours of the night. I wouldn't have been able to be caught howling there. But in the village, with the community of people who knew people, I could howl all I wanted.


Other werewolves soon caught wind of my free howling. My joy, loud and free, and never-ending, echoed through the air. I found you in the village. You tried not to care too much that I was a werewolf, and, I think, that was better than if you hadn't cared at all. 


It was so freeing, the howling, the other werewolves, after all that time I spent in the crowded city. It was so freeing to recognize every face I passed; for every face I saw to recognize my face. 


But, eventually, it had to end. The zombies had been roaming about for a while. They were ready to attack.


Sometimes, I wish you'd tried to save me, that you hadn't just stood there and stared. Sometimes, I wish you hadn't had to write a time diary, for all the time we'll never have.


October 23, 2020 17:04

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47 comments

Great story!! I LOVE them! Please notify me every time you write a story! :)

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Alby Carter
18:50 Oct 25, 2020

Thanks! I will!

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Leah Dawson
16:01 Oct 31, 2020

me too

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Alby Carter
19:21 Oct 31, 2020

Of course!

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D.M. Ravshanov
16:01 Oct 26, 2020

Unique concept. I actually really enjoyed reading this. The title doesn't do the superb writing justice. I loved the twist on werewolves, and that they had this very human quality about them. The only thing that threw me off was the zombies being jealous, because when you think of a zombie, you think of a being that is brainless and blood-thirsty, without thought of who they are killing. My favorite line is "Every night, we were frozen with anticipation, waiting for the sweet melody to sing us to sleep."

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Alby Carter
19:19 Oct 31, 2020

I'm glad you enjoyed it! I hope the part about the zombies wasn't too confusing.

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Amarah Friedman
18:32 Apr 20, 2021

Great story! I think you attribute excellent motivations to your character, and I love the final lines. We may not all be werewolves, but we can understand running out of time.

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Alby Carter
17:49 Apr 27, 2021

I like the conclusion that you came to :) Thanks for your thoughts

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Philip Clayberg
20:00 Oct 31, 2020

Thank you for writing this story. I really liked it. Btw, I'm not usually a fan of stories with zombies in them, but I made an exception in your case. Your story made me wonder what happen if the werewolves fought back against the zombie invasions. Isn't there anything (or anyone) in that fictional world that can stop the invasions? Do the zombies have a weakness that the werewolves could exploit?

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Alby Carter
17:58 Apr 27, 2021

I love that my story is making you ask questions and the fact that you made an exception. Thank you so much!

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Philip Clayberg
19:18 Apr 27, 2021

Btw, you clicked on the REPLY button twice the last time. I'm replying to the first copy of your message; that way you can delete the other copy of your message without accidentally deleting my reply to this copy of it (something that I've unintentionally done at least twice since the bug first started happening). ----- You're very welcome. If a story is written really well, I often will read it despite the subject matter not being "my cup of tea" as the Brits say. But sometimes even if it's written well, certain subjects just don't int...

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Alby Carter
15:51 May 01, 2021

That makes a lot of sense. You seem like a great writer. I’ll check out your work!

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Philip Clayberg
16:39 May 01, 2021

I guess no one's told you about the REPLY button bug yet. It doesn't seem to do anything the first time you click on it, but it *did* post your reply message. If you go back to check on the thread (from the oldest message to the newest), you'll see your newest reply message at the end. But if you keep clicking on the REPLY button, it just duplicates your reply message again ... and I think you must've clicked on it a total of 14 times. I'm replying to the second copy (I meant to reply to the original message) so that you know which dupli...

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Alby Carter
15:51 May 01, 2021

That makes a lot of sense. You seem like a great writer. I’ll check out your work!

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Alby Carter
15:51 May 01, 2021

That makes a lot of sense. You seem like a great writer. I’ll check out your work!

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Vadasz Sara
19:04 Oct 26, 2020

Great story, engaging at first read but second time I engoyed it even more.

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Alby Carter
19:19 Oct 31, 2020

Thanks!

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Princemark Okibe
21:46 Oct 25, 2020

Your writing is good and your narrative skills are superb and this must be the reason I was patient to read this story a second time. This is because your story is well edited, intriguing and suspense filled BUT Your story is structured in a way that one cannot fully understand without rereading the story after the first reading. This is because the reader has to firmly separate the two voices (narrators) in their minds. 1. The time diary (written in italics) by the one still alive. 2. The normal narration (written in normal text...

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Alby Carter
19:17 Oct 31, 2020

Thanks so much for the feedback! I wish I could've had the time to edit my story with your suggestions, but I'll keep them in mind. Thanks!

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GRACE LARSON
04:25 Nov 19, 2020

Just saw this story (like super late!) but it was totally worth reading all the same! Really amazing story overall. You have a beautiful, lyrical way of writing that really makes it a pleasure to read. Can't wait to see more of your work!

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Alby Carter
03:17 Nov 27, 2020

Thanks so much for the feedback!

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GRACE LARSON
13:11 Nov 27, 2020

Any time! Love your work:)

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Leah Dawson
13:33 Nov 13, 2020

Hey so i entered the shot story contest but i was curios how do the winners recive the money

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Alby Carter
03:16 Nov 27, 2020

Hi! The winners receive money through their Paypal account. Let me know if this answers your question or not.

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15:08 Nov 03, 2020

LOVE this story! So creative, not only werewolves but zombies as well!

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Alby Carter
03:18 Nov 27, 2020

Thanks!

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Shae Greyfeather
21:32 Nov 02, 2020

Now I'm confused. The story is good but it is from the perspective of two different characters and it doesn't make sense. Not to be mean or anything, I just wanted you to know.

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Alby Carter
17:59 Apr 27, 2021

Yeah, so on my part this was not well explained, but the italics are the diary that the werewolf lover kept, and what is not in italics is the narration of the werewolf. Thank you for the feedback (:

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Shae Greyfeather
23:54 May 08, 2021

Np

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Shae Greyfeather
21:29 Nov 02, 2020

Wait, did the zombies get the main character?

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Alby Carter
17:58 Apr 27, 2021

They did

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Malady Cross
20:44 Nov 01, 2020

A few lines in and I'm hooked! Lovely usage of metaphors here, and lots of colorful descriptions. This line in particular was my favorite: "A zombie reached for you from behind, and you just stood there, eyes on the moon, heart in your stomach. " I absolutely love journal entries when done well like this. Amazing work!

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Alby Carter
21:04 Nov 01, 2020

Thank you so much!

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Rachel Macmorran
17:30 Oct 31, 2020

Lovely concept and imagery. I’d be interested to read the story from a single POV. I think in a longer form (NaNoWriMo??) the multiple POV could lend complexity, but it feels like it detracts from the essence of your short story. Excellent world-building. I’d love your eyes on my latest if you have the time. ThNks!

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Alby Carter
19:20 Oct 31, 2020

Cool, thanks for the feedback. I'll make sure to take a look at your story when I have a moment.

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Elizabeth Inkim
17:23 Oct 31, 2020

Love the world and the surrounding events! I want to see more character narrative or traits. I just feel like there's so much more about the character that we could have seen. It would have been more interesting to know more. Overall, I enjoyed how you humanized the different species, and that they didn't fall into any distinct stereotype.

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Alby Carter
19:19 Oct 31, 2020

Thanks for the feedback!

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Elizabeth Inkim
19:43 Oct 31, 2020

Ofcourse, that’s what we’re here for! Feel free to give me feedback on any of my stories, my most recent one is called “Dum Spiro, Spero”. I’d love to know what you think.

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Charles Stucker
19:44 Oct 25, 2020

Putting scrambled dates on Journal entries which are NOT in any way chronological, makes for a highly confusing first read. I have never heard of a time diary writing method. The entries are not an ordinary time diary, which tracks your time spent on different tasks so you can budget work more efficiently. All I get is someone wrote diary entries and someone (else?) tells about something which happens more than a year before the entries- as if they occur later. The entries themselves are in neither chronological nor reverse chronological or...

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Alby Carter
19:21 Oct 31, 2020

Sorry you didn't enjoy the story, thanks for the feedback though!

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