Reality Bites Read Free Page A

Denny was, not to put too fine a point on it, getting the περιττώματα beaten out of him. And one of the men still had hold of the girl.
    Tamar looked up at the sky for inspiration.  The moon came out from behind a cloud, a full moon. It gave Tamar an idea.
    The fight stopped abruptly as she let out an unearthly blood curdling howl that shattered several nearby shop windows. Every head turned; Tamar concentrated and lengthened her ears and teeth. Her eyes glowed yellow in the street light.
    She let out another howl.  She was beginning to enjoy herself.  She decided to really let herself go.  She let out another shattering howl and fell forward onto her hands, shaking her head from side to side, like a maddened bull.  Then she snarled.  Her shoulders grew and lifted into haunches and her entire body mass trebled.  All this time, of course, she was growing hair all over her body and face. She looked totally fearsome.
    The entire street was, by now, frozen in a horrified tableau – Denny included. They looked as if they would never move again.
    Tamar gave one last howl and bounded forward toward Denny.  The men shrieked and ran. Denny did not even flinch. He turned to the terrified girl.  ‘Run, I would,’ he told her. Then he realised she was going to faint. ‘That’s enough Tamar,’ he said sharply. 
    Tamar whisked round like a dog and charged a small group of onlookers (they deserved it, she felt).  That was enough for most of them; they scattered, like cockroaches , she thought, and screaming like banshees.
    The girl fainted gracefully into Denny’s waiting arms. It had been a long night; she was probably tired.
    * * *
    ‘What the bloody hell was that?’  Denny exploded when they got home after depositing the unconscious girl at the nearest outpatients.
    ‘What?’
    ‘What do you mean what ?  You turned into a bloody werewolf .’
    ‘Not really , it was just a glamour.’
    ‘I don’t give a rat’s danglies. If you were going to use magic anyway, couldn’t you have been a bit more subtle?’
    ‘The thing is…’
    ‘I mean for God’s sake, Tamar, people saw you,’ he raged. ‘You might as well have just flown over their heads.’
    ‘No, I couldn’t have done that.’
    ‘What’s the difference?’
    ‘Well, for one thing, people can’t fly…’
    ‘People don’t turn into werewolves either.’
    ‘Oh yes they do.’
    ‘I mean for … what ?’ Denny skidded in mid-fury.
    ‘It’s true.  Werewolves are real. Okay, so it’s not usual, I admit, but I couldn’t think of anything else that wouldn’t expose me for what I really am.  I mean when I saw the full moon, it was like a gift.’
    ‘If you say so.’
    ‘You’re still angry aren’t you?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘Yes you are.  I know what’ll cheer you up.’
    ‘What are you doing?’
    She clapped her hands and then opened a door that had not been there before.  Through the door was a beautiful garden.  It had a pond, fir trees surrounded it, there was a maze somewhere in the distance and the lawns were “Bowling Green” perfect, bordered by a riot of beautiful flowers – unusual in November.
    Denny pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes, reminding Tamar of a look her mother used to give her.
    ‘I meant a real garden, at the back of a real house, with weeds and insects.’
    ‘Ingrate! Okay, we’ll look for somewhere.  In the meantime,’ she gestured to the garden, now slightly more untidy and jungly, ‘try it out.’
    ‘Um, can I have weeping willows?’
    ‘No sooner said than done.  Well I’m going out.’
    ‘Again?’
    ‘I won’t be long.’
    ‘Where are you going?’
    ‘Same as usual.’
    ‘Oh, right, need any help?’
    ‘Not this time, anyway aren’t you due at work?’
    ‘I hate Monday morning.’
    ‘So give up your job. It’s not like you need it anymore.’
    They had had this discussion before.  Denny refused to give up his mouldy job on the grounds that it would be immoral to live on