I went out running one night during finals week, the stress from lack of sleep had begun to get to me. Running always helped calm my mind, and give me a much needed burst of energy. I ran along my usual route, down the river road for a ways, then passed the music school and around the hill by the science museum. I stopped to catch my breath around some statues that happened to have some benches in front, perfect for stretching out my healing hamstring. It was a frigid night, but I only wore a long sleeve shirt and shorts, knowing the stimulation from my run would warm me up fast. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, and even through the light pollution the stars were out strong. Although the city had a reputation for being dangerous, I never had any unpleasant encounters, and felt comfortable on this lonely cold night. I could see my breath clearly, and the moon was crystal clear, hung up in the sky behind some pine trees.
After a few moments a bus came to a slow stop on the corner to the back of me, I did not notice up until this point that the intersection was actually on a bus route. The lights lit up on the bus, and one man stepped off. From the looks of him, he was drunk (he had a paper bag with some sort of bottle he was sipping out of) and he also appeared to be homeless... or, he at least had on the usual garb. A cheap orange hat that he wore above his ears, a long brown overcoat, a sweater with some obvious holes in it, sweatpants with various stains, and ragged white sneakers. He stammered and was about to walk in the direction opposite of me when he glanced over and noticed me looking. I did not want to appear rude and talk off running, although I admit i wanted to. I needed to get back within twenty minutes to continue writing, but I figured I would wait a few seconds, if he wanted to ask me for some money I would politely decline and get on with my jog.
"Crazy moon tonight isn't it?" He said, with a raspy gargle complimenting his deep voice.
'Ha...it certainly is.' I said. The tone of my voice flat, in the way that insinuates a closing one off statement.
"It makes me want to howl like a wolf...HAHOOOOOOOOO."
This admittedly skipped my heart for a moment. It was startling, was this man crazy or just intoxicated? For the first time I realized how alone we were. I had not seen another car drive passed, only the bus. The street corner was rather desolate, a wooded section behind the statues and benches, and across the street a large cemetery.
'Yeah, it is rather full up there.' I said nervously, letting out a little forced laugh.
"That's a great stretch your doin', I used to run a lot back in my day, tore one too many man muscles though." He said with another sip from the brown bag, followed by a big grin.
'Oh yeah, I was just stretching for a second, going to get on my-'
"You know you kind of look like that wolf boy from that movie...what is that fucker called...the one with the vampires? Yeah you look like the lead guy, the one that stupid chick is so in love with. HAHOOOOO." He howled again, taking more steps towards me. At this point, he was only fifteen feet away or less.
'Oh...thank you, I guess.' I said, not correcting his harmless mistake. I put my leg down and glanced at my watch.
Up close I could see the man looked to be in his late forties. He was black, far above my height, about six foot three, and even with all of his winter layers on I could tell he had a strong muscular build. His hands were large, gripping the bottle in his hand, partially covered by gloves with cut off fingers.
"You know I always thought that wolf fucker looked gay." He said next.
'Hah, well, I suppose he has the look. I'm sorry I can't chat any more, I have a paper I need to get back to.'
