Muzzle On My Neck

The last encounter was a scary one too. I rubbed my eyes and reached for my cell phone. I looked at the clock and it was almost one in the morning. "Sigh..." Maybe I should just try to sleep and will see, how I will feel in the morning about it.

I woke up tired, I barely crawled out of my bed. The weather was OK. It was raining a little again during lunchtime. Should I stay home or go outside? Meh,... later I probably decide to go again into the forest anyway.

I thought I wouldn’t meet that creature anytime soon. Well because I caught a glimpse of them every several years, so I was pretty sure safe for now. They will do their best to avoid any people or me again.

Before entering I made a deep bow like always and then just walked directly inside. The air was clean, great, and fresh. You could smell the soil, the trees, plants... everything. I loved it! But I must admit, it was a little chill, so I pulled my jacket tighter on me.

I was slowly walking, because I was worried I would slip on the wet leaves. Also, I focused for that same reason mostly on the ground.

That shadow... I froze!

This was a bad dream. I lifted my sight. He was standing on his hind legs in front of me. This never happened to me before. I always saw one or two after few years... not the next day. He dropped on his all fours and began to sniff the air.

My knees were already shaking and the chill ran down my spine. He made a step forward. My heart started to race like crazy. The werewolf made few more steps towards me. I panicked. I took my chance, turned in one move and I ran. I know this triggers predators to hunt, but I couldn't help it.

I didn’t get too far. I slipped on the stupid wet leaves and fell to the ground like a rotten apple. I hit my head on some stone and for maybe twenty seconds lost my consciousness. I woke up laying on my stomach and this thing standing over me.

His paws or hands or whatever it had, were placed on both sides of my head. I suddenly felt his wet nose running through my hair. I was just beyond horrified. He was sniffing me, but I wasn’t sure for how long he would do it, until I would become his snack.

I didn’t try to scream. If there were more like him, I wouldn’t stand a chance and for sure I won't let them know, it's dinner time. He slowly moved his nose down to my lower back. I felt that unpleasant feeling going simultaneously down the spine, when it did that. Will he bite me into two pieces?

Then he came back to my neck area. It was unsettling. It somehow flipped me with his muzzle on my back. I needlessly protected my face firmly with both my arms. I could see him through the small space between them. It was a huge animal, probably around eight feet or 2.5 meters tall.

His head was as big, as my whole upper body. I was sure, this time it was my end. He poked my stomach with his nose and moved his muzzle up. I released my arms a little. My fear already made them numb. He unraveled them with his nose. My hands felt on the ground stretching out from my body.

I lay there without any protection,... in the mercy of this huge beast. He looked into my eyes and then lowered his upper body... moved his head to the side and placed one of his pointy ears on my chest. Was he listening to my heartbeat? I was so scared I could hear it without any problem, even more, when I was holding my breath.

He returned back to my face. We were touching each other with our noses. I felt like candy compared to the size of his muzzle. It was huge and full of sharp teeth. Then out of nowhere, he took a long lick from the lower left side of my neck to my cheek. Wanted he know, how I taste?

He stood up, looked around, and then casually walked on two legs to the side of the road. He did bend over and was plucking something. I touched the place he licked before and then looked at my hand. It was blood. I think I scratched my jaw when I fell down. I didn’t notice it until now.

I slowly sat up and wasn’t moving my eyes from him. He turned to me. I knew I shouldn't move a muscle. I should behave like last time. He came back with something in his paw and placed it not so far from me. It was Ribleaf,... herb known for healing wounds. That creature had some knowledge about herbology? I really was perplexed.

He sat down like a dog with a little distance next to me. So now I figured out, that he didn’t plan to hurt me. At least for now. He was probably just curious about me a mere human. I must admit, I never ever thought, I would get so close to a werewolf.

I carefully reached out to the plant, took it, and pressed it on the scratch. He laid down with his head on his paws and just watched me. I did the same, laid down on my side, and watched him back. Starting a staring contest...

...I woke up!

How the heck did I fall asleep next to a werewolf? I must have passed out from all the stress and exhaustion. What time was it? He was already gone and I was covered with dry leaves. Where did he get those from?

It was getting dark and I was all muddy. Lucky me, nobody will notice how dirty I am by the time I will be back down in the village. When I was leaving the forest, I turned back to check, if he wasn’t somewhere watching me. He was nowhere to be seen and I just went back home.