click one of the titles below.
by Clarise Samuels
“Hey there, little red riding hood, you sure are lookin’ good. You’re
everything a big, bad wolf could want—ow-o-o-oh…” Calvin sang the lyrics
made famous by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs, and he howled just like
a wolf.
Susan sighed. “Thanks, Scarecrow. Your costume looks pretty authentic.
Where’d you get it?”
“A friend of mine works in theater in the costume department.. The
sleeves and hat are stuffed with real hay which, unfortunately, is making
me sneeze. I see you went for the traditional look,” Calvin noted.
“Yeah, I had no time to use my imagination.” Susan looked down at her
red cape and her red pleated mini-skirt, which she had combined with high-
heeled, black suede boots. She was carrying a wicker basket on her arm,
and her long dark hair hung over the bright red hood, which set off her
blue eyes. The annual costume party was a big social event for the school
board, and the funds were being donated to children with special needs.
“Shall we?” Calvin offered his arm, and they entered the hotel ballroom
where the dinner party was being held. The ballroom lobby was well lit with
chandeliers, and scores of participants had already arrived for the cocktail
hour. There were a lot of witches among the women, and the men seemed
to favor vampires. It was an easy costume—a long black cape and some
waxen fangs were all you needed. A few vampires had added some black
eye make-up and streaks of gray in their hair.
The first person to approach Susan was dressed like a wolf. His hairy wolf
head looked strangely real. Susan was mesmerized by his intense eyes,
which stared out from the holes in the mask. “Ah, the fates have smiled
upon me tonight,” he announced. “A real girl in the hood.” The wolf bowed
to her.
“Excuse me, have me met?” Susan inquired politely.
“Only in myth and folklore, my child. If this were truly the fairy-tale
version, I would have already eaten your grandmother.” He spoke with a
hint of a European accent.
Susan smiled obligingly. “I’m Susan,” she offered her hand.
“I’m Anatolie.”
“Is that an Italian name?” Susan inquired.
“Actually, it’s Romanian. May I check your basket at the cloakroom?” he
asked.
“No, thank you. It’s part of the costume. Do you work for the school
board?”
“I only substitute on occasion. I got invited here tonight by a friend,”
Anatolie explained. He lifted his wolf head to get some air. “I can’t breathe.
I’m going to have to take this mask off.” Susan was intrigued by how
stunningly handsome Anatolie was—he had thick dark hair, which he
combed back severely from his forehead, and she was quite taken by his
intense, large brown eyes, which contrasted dramatically with his pallor.
His patrician nose was worthy of nobility, and he had a beautiful smile with
perfect teeth.
“Do you know where your table is?” asked Anatolie.
“Uh, I think it’s open seating,” Susan was having trouble paying attention
to what Anatolie was saying. She was gawking at him. Calvin returned with
two glasses of punch.
“Calvin, this is Anatolie, a substitute teacher,” she quickly explained.
“Ah, your beau,” rejoined Anatolie, bowing with a charming formality to
Calvin.
“Uh, no, not exactly. Old friend,” clarified Susan. She did not want
Anatolie to think she was unavailable. Calvin accepted the explanation of
his status graciously. It was true—Calvin and Susan were just coworkers
and old friends; they had gone to college together, they were both twenty-
eight years old, and they worked at the same high school. Susan taught
art, and Calvin taught drama. That was about it, but Calvin still fanned a
few hopeful embers in his heart in regard to his affections for Susan. He
handed Susan her punch.
“Excuse me, the principal would like to have a word with me,” said Calvin
politely. Susan was giving Calvin strong vibrations that he was not
welcome, so Calvin left her alone with the wolf.
Anatolie sat next to Susan at the dinner, while Calvin sat at the next table
with his chair back to back with Susan’s. Anatolie was exceedingly
knowledgeable and charming; the evening passed quickly in his company.
Susan was constantly laughing and smiling—she had not laughed so much
in one evening since she had broken up with her last serious boyfriend the
year before. Anatolie was getting a PhD in music, and he played classical
piano. He also spoke four other languages besides English—German,
French, Romanian, and Russian. He was well-versed in current events and
seemed to be a bit of an expert in world history. He spoke of medieval
Europe with such colorful detail, Susan thought it was as though he had
actually lived it. By the end of the dinner, Susan was completely captivated.
“May I drive you home?” Anatolie, always the perfect gentleman, asked as
the crowd was thinning out, and the evening was drawing to an end.
“Yeah, sure,” Susan replied. She signaled to Calvin, who was now
watching her from the other side of the room, to let him know she was
leaving. “I just need to freshen up a bit.” Susan quickly ducked into the
ladies’ room, where a fairy godmother was powdering her nose. Susan
emptied out the contents of her purse—she wanted to reapply her lipstick,
powder, and eye make-up. She sighed when she observed in the mirror
that her hair looked frizzy and flat.
“He’s a good-looking guy,” said the fairy godmother.
Susan noted the older woman had a kindly disposition, but she was
surprised that this stranger seemed to be aware of her situation. “Excuse
me?” asked Susan.
“The wolf-man is very handsome. Are you going to leave with him?”
Susan was a bit taken aback. “Well, um, no...except he just offered to drive
me home.”
The fairy godmother put her compact back in her purse. “Why are you
always so attracted to these fast talkers? They are not your type.”
Susan looked at the fairy godmother standing next to her in the mirror.
She wondered how long ago this teacher had retired. The older woman
looked eighty, yet she had an unearthly glow, and Susan saw magical
sparkles shooting at odd angles out of the fairy godmother’s body. Susan
decided it must have been the wine she had at dinner that was creating this
illusion.
“Fast talkers? That’s all I ever meet,” Susan replied. It did not occur to her
to ask the fairy godmother how she knew about Susan’s preferences.
“Hah! I have sent you so many nice guys. You rejected every one of
them. Your true husband is out there tonight, but beware of the full moon.
Remember that when wolves are ravenous, you must simply state with
conviction, ‘du-te la dracu.’”
“What does that mean?” Susan asked before she could wonder how weird
this woman was.
“It is Romanian for ‘go to hell,’” said the fairy godmother, who then left the
ladies’ room swiftly and silently.
Susan exited a few minutes later, and Anatolie was patiently waiting in the
corridor. “I just had a very strange experience,” she remarked, but before
she could tell Anatolie what had happened, Calvin appeared.
“Leaving so soon?” Calvin asked nonchalantly. The straw stuffing was
falling out of his hat.
“Yup. See you Monday morning,” Susan snapped at him a bit
dismissively, for Calvin was acting too possessive. Anatolie smiled and
nodded his head at Calvin in an elegant, princely way. Anatolie took Susan’
s arm, and they left the hotel with Anatolie toting his wolf head under his
other arm. Together they walked to his brand new Ferrari parked on the
street.
“Wow. Is this your car?” Susan asked in surprise.
“Yes, it is.”
“I didn’t know graduate students did so well,” she commented wryly.
“I come from a wealthy family in Romania,” Anatolie confessed while he
unlocked the doors with the remote control. “So, you live on Forest
Avenue next to the little restaurant called The Hut?” he asked.
“Yes. How did you know that?”
“Oh, I think you mentioned it during dinner.” Susan was sure she hadn’t.
Anatolie revved up the engine and peeled rubber as he took off.
“Whoa, wolf-man, not so fast. I don’t want you to get pulled over by the
police.”
“Ah, yes. The police.” Anatolie lifted his foot off the accelerator, and the
car slowed down significantly. “So, tell me more about yourself. Your
loves, your hates, your hopes, your dreams…”
Susan laughed. “Do you really care about all that?”
“Certainly. Everything about you fascinates me.”
“How’s that?”
“Well, I think you are my destiny.” Anatolie cast her a meaningful look as
he made a sharp left into the municipal park.
“Hogwash. You hardly know me. Why are we going to the park?” she
asked.
“I am heading to a very special place—the place known as Lovers’ Lane.”
“Oh, great,” Susan moaned. “Please. I’m not a teenager. I don’t make
out in the park anymore.”
“Then let us merely talk.” Anatoli pulled the car into a secluded area and
shut down the engine. It was suddenly very quiet.
“What do you want to talk about?” Susan inquired.
“Will you be my love for the rest of my life and all of eternity?” Anatolie
asked her.
“What? Is this a joke?” Susan retorted.
“No, I’m serious. I am deeply in love with you, and you are a rare
creature, for you have the power to transform me, to humanize me, if only
you could love me enough to do so. You are one in a million. It will take
me a hundred years to find another one like you. The last one was a
hundred years ago, and she refused, condemning me to roam the world for
another century, seeking, always seeking. I am tired of searching. Tonight
I have found what I am looking for.”
Susan was now convinced Anatolie was crazy. “I think I have to go,” she
said gently, while putting her right hand on the door handle. Anatolie
restrained her by extending his arm.
“No, please, trust me. Let us become one and unite with our blood. Do
not disappoint me.” Anatolie leaned over and buried his face in her neck.
Susan screamed when she felt his teeth on her skin. She suddenly
remembered the words of the fairy godmother in the ladies’ room, and she
screamed, “du-te la draco!”
At once Anatolie clutched his throat as if he were choking, his face turning
purple. “Who told you that?” he shouted. “How did you know that? Are
you one of us?” He opened the car door and fell onto the ground. In a
panic, he scrambled to his feet and tore off into the obscurity provided by
the trees and the bushes. Susan immediately got out of the car and ran
down the road leading back into town. An oncoming SUV flashed its high
beams at her. It was Calvin.
“Oh, Calvin, thank God. How did you know to come here?” she sobbed as
she climbed into his car.
“I followed you,” Calvin replied. “But he lost me by turning down that
hidden road in the park. Are you okay?”
“I’m okay, but he was crazy. I have no idea what he was planning.”
Calvin drove Susan to the police station and waited while she made out a
report. The next day the papers reported a stolen Ferrari was abandoned
in the park. A small article on the last page said late night partygoers
reported seeing a strange-looking beast running down Main Street, and
that at one point the creature stopped and howled at the full moon. Police
dismissed the reports because the eyewitnesses were returning from a
costume party, and they were all inebriated.
Susan questioned a lot of people after that fateful night, but no one at the
school board had seen a fairy godmother at the party.
The following year, Susan married Calvin.
FINI
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