Wolf Dreams

Wolf Dreams
by Joshua D. Vesper


“That was some good food, eh Rosy?” Dr. Tony Miller asked his wife as they walked home from the neighborhood diner on that brisk autumn evening.

“Tony, you always say that!” She replied with a smile.

“No, I say it every time we go to the restaurant.” He reprimanded.

“Yeah, and we go there every night!” Rosy retorted and laughed. The young couple carried on like that for some time as they walked toward home down the street, unaware of the menacing creature in the shadows ahead of them.

Suddenly there came a guttural growl from the bushes ahead. A large shadow jumped out in front of them. The creature looked sort of like an oversized dog, yet not quite a dog. Its animal eyes glowed an evil green in the ashen light of the full moon and there was a faint hint of blood on its breath.

Rosy was starting to get scared. Sensing the fear in her, the creature let out an unearthly howl and lunged at her. The pounce was so fast that neither Dr. Miller nor Rosy had time to react. The foul beast knocked her to the ground and began to maul her viciously.

Dr. Miller jumped on the back of the beast in an attempt to save his wife, but it was in vain, for the creature had already ripped her throat out. It then threw Tony off it’s back and jumped to attack him.

In a quick defensive reflex, Tony threw his arm up as the creature tried to bite down. The beast sank its fangs into the meat of Tony’s arm. It knocked him down and began to claw at the good doctor.

In a last ditch effort to fight back, Tony reached for the ink pen in his pocket. He grabbed oftlinethe pen and with all of his might stabbed the foul beast in the eye. The creature let go of Dr. Miller and ran off, howling in pain.

Tony, in pain from the attack and becoming woozy from blood loss, somehow managed to get a call to 911 from his cell phone before losing consciousness.

A wild dream awaited him in his unconscious condition. The dream was so vivid that it seemed to Tony that it was real. He saw his beloved wife Rosy disappear before his eyes; he could smell the coppery, blood tainted breath of the monstrous wolf chasing him under a pale moon.
Tony suddenly felt excruciating pain within himself, as if he was being attacked at the very center of his being. Outward the pain radiated from deep within him and burned as the fires of the infernal regions under his skin. After a few moments of the intense torment, it stopped and he found himself in front of a four-foot mirror, staring blankly at his own reflection. All seemed well. The pain was gone as well as the monstrous beast that had been chasing him. As far as he could tell from his reflection, everything was normal.

As Tony continued staring, the image of himself in the mirror began to crack. The flesh of his mirror image began to rot and fall off. He could smell the poignant stench of the dead and decaying flesh. It was absolutely putrid.

When all was said and done, the image that now replaced his own image in the mirror was that of a huge werewolf. It mirrored his every movement for a few seconds before reaching out of the mirror and grabbing Tony by the throat.


Tony screamed and bolted up. After a few moments of disorientation, he realized he was in a darkened hospital room.

“What the hell is goin’ on!” he thought to himself as a nurse rushed into the room. She flipped on the lights as she ran over to check on him.

Light flooded the room, temporarily blinding Tony.

“Dr. Miller! Dr. Miller, what’s wrong?”the young nurse asked with concern.

“Emma!” he queried, “What’s going on? Where am I?” responding with even more confusion.

“ Why Doctor, your in Winston County Hospital. Don’t you remember?” She gently replied, “You called in saying that you and Rosy were attacked by some large animal.”

“Where’s Rosy?” Tony then asked.

At that question, Emma looked away and tried to quickly change the subject.

“Now, now, doc. Let’s get you back to bed. You need your rest.” She started spouting.

“Darn it, Emma! Where’s Rosy? Tell me now!” Tony began to lose his temper. Emma broke down and started crying.

“Dr. Miller. Tony. Rosy is dead!” she related to him the tragic news, “The paramedics found her lifeless corpse lying next to you in the street.” Emma sobbed uncontrollably.

Tony felt like he’d been sucker punched in the gut. His stomach dropped and his lip quivered as tears began to well up in his eyes. He cried out loud in a mixture of anger and grief. He felt his stomach kick and he threw up all over himself and the floor. He then began to feel dizzy and passed out again.


It was daylight when Tony awoke again. Sunlight poured into the room through a single small window on the opposite wall. The old man in the bed next to him laughed at something on television.

“Why don’t you shut up, you cantankerous old bastard!” Tony angrily snapped at him. His beloved Rosy was dead, so he couldn’t see what was so blasted funny. The old patient quickly stopped laughing.

“Wuts wron wit yuse, doc? All Ise wuza doin’ wuza watchin’ the flikker boks!” the old man retorted, “ Dere wun’t anned fo yuse ta calls me naymz!”

“Just shut up and leave me alone!” Tony replied.

“Well, jus cause yuse don wanna be boddered don mean Ise can laffat somtin funny on da flikker boks!” The old man then declared.

“I’m warning you, old man!” Tony exclaimed, clenching his fist in increasing anger.

“Yuse’ll do wut?” The old man remarked, “Boy, Is’ll kik yo butt seven ways from Sunday! So jus try n’ staat somtin!” When he finished the old man turned back to the television and immediately began laughing at the Speedy Gonzales cartoon that had started playing.

A few moments later Emma walked in again.

“Good Morning, you two.” She merrily chimed, “Time for your medicine!” Cheerfully she walked up to the old man and handed him a small cup of pills and a glass of water. She then walked over to Tony.

“Dr. Miller, Here’s some medicine for pain.” She said and handed Tony an identical cup with a Tylenol 3 pill in it and a glass of water. “Dr. Miller, you slept through breakfast!” she continued, “Would you like for me to order you some special?”

“No thank you, Emma.” He replied, “I just want to sleep right now!”

“Okay Dr. Miller. Call me if you need anything!” she then told him and turned and walked out the door.

Tony turned over and quickly fell back asleep. Again he had a wild dream. He was again chased by some unseen force under the dim light of the moon. Brief moments of excruciating pain were followed by Tony finding himself in front of the large mirror again. Only this time it was the werewolf creature staring back at him at first.

Suddenly the beast spontaneously combusted and went up in flames. The odor of singed fur and charring flesh was overwhelming. Tony felt like throwing up. He watched as the ashes of the beast began to swirl around and be blown away.

After a few minutes the monster had completely burned to ashes and the image that was left in the mirror was of Tony himself. The pallid moon had disappeared and in its place the sun was shining bright. All became calm and peaceful.

Tony woke up with a start.

“Oh, Dr. Miller. You’re awake!” Emma chimed from the old man’s bedside, “And just in time for lunch. Would you like to order some?”

“Yes.” He replied weakly as she finished up with the old man.

“Okay, doc. What would you like for lunch?” she asked as she walked toward him.

“You!” Tony whispered out of sheer impulse.

“What was that you said, Doctor?” She asked again.

“How about that Salisbury Steak!” he replied trying to hide the shock he had over what he had previously said.

“Okay Doctor.” Emma responded and walked out of the room.

“What the hell did I just say?” Tony asked himself once she was out of the room.

“Well, doc. It sounned ta Mes lika yuse wanna huut po nus Emma.” The old man piped in.

“That couldn’t be what I said, could it?” Tony then asked himself.

“Wutza matta doc?” the old man goaded, “Yuse fraid de animal in yuse gonna git owt?” he then turned over and laughed. Tony just sat there in silent horror, listening to the old man laugh and pondering on what he’d said until the young nurse had returned with his food.

After sitting the tray of food on the bedside table, the young nurse again walked out of the room and left Tony there eating. When he had finished, Emma reappeared.
“Doctor Miller, I’m here to clean and redress your wounded arm.” She told him.

“Okay.” He solemnly replied and lifted his bandaged arm for her. She quickly but unwound the gauze bandages from around Tony’s arm.

She screamed in holy terror. The doctor on duty came rushing in. There he found both Emma and Tony staring in disbelief at his arm. The arm had no trace of injury, as if nothing had ever transpired.

“But that’s impossible!” the young physician exclaimed, “I treated those wounds when you came in last night and your arm was nearly ripped to shreds!” He then stumbled backwards in shock and disbelief.

It was all too much for Tony to handle. He became lightheaded and passed out again. He once again dreamed the wild dream of transforming into a massive wolf creature. Only this time it didn’t end there. In this version of the dream he now found himself walking down a narrow white hallway toward an opening into the night. All around him on the ground were dead nurses and doctors, savagely torn to shreds. What was worse was the fact that he didn’t seem to care.

He made his way to the opening and proceeded to go blindly into the night. The air was brisk and the night felt inviting; felt free. Tony walked around under the pale full moon and the starlit sky for some time before he noticed a familiar scent on the breeze. He couldn’t place where he knew it from, but was still compelled to follow it.

After a few minutes of tracing the scent, he found that the scent belonged to a beautiful young woman who was walking down the street. He followed her from the shadows for a time, trying to figure out who this person was.

Suddenly she began walking toward him in the shadows.

“Hello. Hello. Is anybody there?” the young woman called out. Tony didn’t answer. When she got to the closest point she would, Tony stared hard at her, trying to remember.

Something took over. He couldn’t control himself anymore. He lunged out at this woman without thinking. Tony felt himself go numb and everything went blank.

He awoke in the hospital bed.

“What a horrible nightmare!” He said to himself as he caught his breath. As he did so he tasted a coppery flavor in his mouth. Taking a look at the clock in the darkened room, he saw that it was three o six in the morning.
Tony groggily got up out of bed and stumbled over to the bathroom. When he flipped on the light switch, he received another shock for he was covered in blood. Not his blood.

He began to feel faint and stumbled, but caught himself. Instinctively he ran under the shower and turned it on.

Water streamed from the faucet, splashing off of Tony’s crimson stained body. Watered down blood began swirling down the drain as Tony vigorously scrubbed to get it all off himself. But his efforts were in vain, for the nurse on duty happened to walk in as he washed. She screamed at the sight.

In a flash Tony ran and jumped through the window, slicing his arms severely. He couldn’t stop. He was running on pure instinct. The injuries on his arms healed as he ran, leaving no trace.

Tony ran until he heard no voices shouting, no hounds baying. He ran on and on, never stopping. No one in Winston county ever saw Tony again except as maybe a quick glance or double take.

The next morning’s nurse walked up to the door to the room Tony had been staying in. A police officer was guarding it.

“I’m sorry ma’am, but I cannot let you pass while the detectives are working the crime scene.” He told her in a gruff voice.

“But I have to check on Mr. Gray, the other patient in the room.” The nurse replied.

After a moment of hesitation, the guard then said, “Wait here while I inform the detective in charge of the crime scene.” With that he walked into doorway and conferred with the detective in charge. After a few minutes he returned to the nurse and said “Go on in, but only do what you have to do. And try not to disturb the scene too much!”

With that, the nurse gathered all of her things and stepped inside. As she walked toward Mr. Gray, she overheard some of the officers talking about how Dr. Miller had changed into some kind of monster and mauled Poor nurse Emma to death.

Smiling and trying to be as cheerful as could be, she walked over to Mr. Gray’s bed and greeted him, “Good morning, Mr. Gray. And how are we doing today?”


The old man responded, “ Well, frum wut de’ cops is sayin’, Is’a doin’ a lot betta’ off’n po’ ole nus Emma. Theys is sayin’ dat good ole Doc Milla’ turn in’na som kin’na monsta’ and dat he killdt hur ded!”
Feeling uneasy from his response, she quickly changed the subject.

As she got out her supplies she asked Mr. Gray, “What would you like for breakfast?”

“Bacon n’ eggs, please ma’am.” he replied.

“Alright!” she said and wrote down the order. She then grabbed her scissors to cut away the bandages on Mr. Gray’s head. “Now then,” she then said, “Let’s cut away those dirty bandages and take a look at that eye!” and began cutting away at the bandages.