The Howling

Three men sat around the campfire finishing up the stew Cookie deftly prepared in a pot over the fire.

The restless horses snorted and stomped under a nearby tree as the sun was meeting the horizon and quickly slipping away. A mournful howl interrupted the peaceful evening.

"Man, I hate hearing those things howl," said Sherman, as he nervously looked around the horizon. "Makes it hard for me to sleep out here."

"I like hearing them. Makes me feel safe," said Billy, as he whittled away at a tree branch, his knife easily shaping the chunk of wood.

"Safe? Are you crazy?" asked Sherman. "I find my gun the second I hear them wolves or coyotes."

"No need to be afraid, Sherm. They're just talking," said Billy. "Plus, it might just be Little Boy."

"Little Boy?"

"Yeah. Old man Walkin's wife, Susan, never went anywhere without her dog, Little Boy. Ugliest thing ever, in my opinion, but she loved that albino German Shepard.

"One evening, her and the dog didn't come back from her ride. She was born on the ranch and there wasn't a place here she hadn't explored, so no one had any idea where she might have gone that day. That night it stormed like the dickens, as though the heavens were crying for her. The storm was too much, so they had to wait till morning."

Billy dusted off his pants, grabbed a handful of the wood shavings and tossed them on the fire. He watched them quickly be consumed and then continued his story.

"Shortly after daybreak, they found her horse, Blue, out in the north pastures, which in hindsight he probably was frightened by the storm and that's how he got there. They searched till nightfall mostly in the north and didn't find her.

"The next day, they searched the eastern part of the ranch. They could hear a pitiful howl which was Little Boy. He wouldn't leave her side as the vultures were waiting. Susan was gone and Little Boy was heartbroken," said Billy. He shook his head and frowned.

"All the old people swear, that he is out there somewhere...," said Cookie.

"I think so too. And that's why I feel safe when I hear the howling," said Billy. He tossed the howling dog he carved to Sherman, pocketed his knife and made his way to his bed roll.

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WC prompt 10/21

Use in your story or poem the following sentence, bold it for tomorrow's judge:

All the old people swear, that he is out there somewhere...

Word count: 397