Attack of the Were-Squirrel

There was a perfect half moon giving just enough light for Marissa, Mychala and Frank to see their way on Old Fordham Road. Frank had suggested this shortcut home because they would all be late getting home,  otherwise. From off in the distance came a long low squeal-like howl. Marissa and Mychala looked at each other with wide eyes, "What was THAT?"

"A were-squirrel," Frank said in an ominous voice.

Mychala gulped and asked "What in the world is a were-squirrel?"

Frank started walking a little faster. Nervously, he began to explain the origin of this horrible beast. "Back in the olden days, when the Indians still lived around here, the settlers made some trouble. So a medicine man from one of the tribes cast a spell on the meanest settler in the area. This guy was named Fordham something - or something Fordham. The curse was that whenever there was an exactly half moon, Fordham would change into a squirrel and roam the night..."

"Riiight," Marissa was unconvinced. "So he's like a werewolf - except a squirrel?"

"It's true! I read it in an old folklore magazine."

"Yeah, and I'm the Queen of England..." Marissa rolled her eyes and scoffed.

"No, I think it's real, Sissy. I remember hearing about that, somewhere." Actually, Mychala had heard about the legend of the Wendigo when she was at the library once. Wendigo are much different than were-squirrels, but that's a story for another time.

Finally they came to the curve in the road that meant they were almost home. Something scurried across the road just out of sight ahead of them causing all three to jump back.

Mychala was the first to voice the obvious, "THAT freaked me out!"

Frank and Marissa started laughing and Mychala joined in. But the laughter was cut short by a viscious squeal and a medium-sized furry beast that looked somewhat like a squirrel, flying through the air and landing on Frank's face. It was over quickly. Frank's screams of agony quickly ended and the beast turned its attention toward Marissa and Mychala.

Marissa screamed in fear at the hulking squirrel, blood dripping from its sharp little teeth. But Mychala was even more frightened - having once opened her window in a moving vehicle, she caused a car flag to fly off that likely killed a squirrel on the side of the road. So her screams were filled with her secret fears of revenge from the squirrel community. Mychala sometimes imagined that the squirrel she may have accidentally killed was the Mayor of Squirrelville or a famous squirrel entertainer. She had always been somewhat careful around squirrels because they might still be looking for the killer of that poor dead squirrel.

Neither girl hesitated for long, though. They both turned and ran as fast as they could from the were-squirrel. Luckily, it did not follow them, probably content with the meal Frank would provide. Later that night there was no sign of Frank or the were-squirrel when Marissa and Mychala returned with the police. No one believed their story. Frank was officially declared a runaway, but Marissa and Mychala knew the truth. And the were-squirrel was probably still out there along Old Fordham Road...

{Author's Note: This was a silly story I came up with for Marissa and Mychala several years ago because Mychala had killed a squirrel when she opened the car window and the Colts flag flew off and killed a squirrel on the side of the road. True story- maybe not the killing of the squirrel, but it was near the flag and it was dead so you never really know. Plus there was some discussion about "first-slurp-of-the-blob" (aka- "red shirt" for Star Trek fans) characters in shows with established characters because they want to kill somone off with the monster of the week but the writers like the main characters so they need someone else. Thus the Frank character.  Also it was around Halloween and I thought it would be cool to do a "scary" story starring the girls...}