Night of the Man
The young wolf convulsed and fell to the floor
“He’s doing it again!” said one of the wolves in the pen
“Every time it’s a moonless night!” observed another
“It can get quite annoying…!”
“Ever since that drunk fell in here and bit him!”
He turned and twisted
Yowling
His fur retracted into his skin
His paws flattened into palms
Toes into fingers
His snout collapsed into his face
A pale foetal form stretched out in the straw
Then rose uneasily
The pack despite having seen it so many times before stared in awe
Not willing to tear this “man” limb from limb
For they still recognised the scent of a fellow lupine
He brushed his short black hair back with his hand
And bid them all good night
With consummate skill
He pulled himself over the wire fence
And through the bushes to his hidey hole
Retrieving the plastic bag
And checking the time on the watch inside: 9 pm
He was going to be late
He put on the uniform in the bag
Red and blue striped
Donned the cornball hat
And then climbed over the zoo wall
It was a short walk to the all-night burger joint
And as he predicted—
“You’re late Kinsey!” said the boss
Wrapped in his greasy apron
“Yeah, yeah,” said the “man”
And he got straight to work on the grill
Across his shift at times there was an overwhelming desire
To launch his teeth into the raw meat at his side
But he suppressed it—it was not for a “man” to do such things
On his break he talked with Louise
The teenager with the blue fringe and nose ring
On the bench around the back
Taking a chance she leaned in close
And put her hand on his thigh
At three years old
He was twenty-something in human years
But human love still escaped him
And he pulled away
Ashamed
She took a drag of her cigarette
Understanding the bitter message
At half-five the working day (that was the night) was over
And he collected his wage slip
“Don’t be late again Kinsey!” barked the boss
“You’re on thin ice as it is!”
“Yeah, yeah…” he replied
Not truly caring
It was just a job after all
As he walked back to the zoo
The sun had begun to rise
A blue hem against the horizon
His skin stung as his fur poked above the epidermis
Behind the bushes he undressed with great relief
Bagging away his anthropic artefacts
He slunk above the fence into the pen
“He’s back!” said one wolf
“Where does he go?” asked another
“Who cares?!” opined a third
A greying fuzzy humanoid
He scraped into the straw and slept
A curious pup sniffed him—
“He smells like cooked meat!”
“Don’t be stupid!” said his mother
And led him away by the scruff of his neck
At midday the two keepers had the usual chat by the pen’s gate:
“He’s sluggish again isn’t he?”
“Aye…maybe we should put in that camera
…see what he gets up to at night…”
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Image Credit: HOMO HOMINI LUPUS, MAN IS A WOLF TO MAN, Acrylic on Paper, 2019 by Igor Eugene Prokop, Hungary [see singulart.com for purchase]
- Night of the Man by Harris Coverley - October 19, 2022