This is me, not supposed to be a scary picture, but might be.
I was afraid of the dark
when I was a kid, and afraid of foxes, too. Consequently, I slept with a
nightlight surrounded by all my toys (I didn’t want to hurt any of my toys’
feelings if I left one of them out.) Pop used to tell me I made straw men and then
got scared of them. I had no idea what he meant when he told me that back when
I was a kid. As an adult I realize he was just saying I let my imagination get
a hold of me. I’m grateful for it now because what else is a fiction writer
except a person whose imagination takes them someplace…and sometimes that place
might get scary.
I wanted to write a short
story for a Halloween anthology by Prairie Rose Publications, but I’m not into
vampires or terrifying ghosts so what could I write with a western flavor
involving my Wilding family? Slowly, my imagination began to open into an idea
that just might work…sort of a Steve Erwin meets Jurassic Park kinda thing.
THE BEAST OF HAZARD (1940’s Wilding short story)
Buy Link: AMAZON
Joe and Lola’s youngest child and only son, Joey
Wilding, has transformed the family ranch into a veterinary clinic where he
treats anything from house cats to cattle. He meets a circus performer who
finds herself in desperate straights.
A Terrorized Town…A Killer Beast…And Deliverance
Excerpt:
Joey walked through the woods to
take the shortcut back home. Even in the half-light of approaching night, he
could find his way back to the Wilding ranch. He sensed rather than saw
something move just on the other side of the old pond. He kept his eyes and
ears alert as he made his way through the low brush.
Something’s following me. Menacing and
dangerous, it seemed to stalk him from somewhere beyond the bushes. Without a
gun, he only had a knife to protect himself. His best option was to pick up his
pace without running to get back to safety. Running would draw attention to him
and whatever it was that shadowed him, it would identify him as prey.
And then he heard it growl. The ground practically
shook beneath his feet with its deep, low pitched sound. Never, in all his
life, had he heard such a sound. If death made a noise, it would sound like
that. Heart pumping adrenaline made his hands shake, but he knew not to let it
show. With every ounce of will he possessed, he put one foot in front of the
other until he reached home.
All Wilding Books
are available on Kindle Unlimited
Diverse stories filled with
heart
