And Puppy Dog Tales

Chapter 2

"It is said by the Roman poet, Publius Ovidius Nas, that Lycans originated from King Lycaon, whom served meat to the gods. As punishment, for his folly, Jupiter transformed Lycaon , by turning him into a werewolf. In this form, he could continue his unnatural desire of eating the flesh of mankind without offense to the gods."

Professor Liam, stood before the class, with a small remote controller in his hand. He had dimmed the lights of the classroom earlier and with that, the drunkenness of sleep had begun to take over the class. Slaughtering the masses in instant slumber.

I looked over to my right at Ashley, her head would bob up and down. A little spittle trailed down the side of her mouth, dribbling along the edges of her desk. The sheen of wetness could be seen forming into a small puddle.

A few others had leaned their heads against the palms of their hands or just flat out laid against the hardness of their wooden cubicles. The clicking of the remote's button, for the slideshow, alerted me of Professor Liam ending his lecture on the beliefs of various fables. Of which he argued that they were based off some diluted truths. To which of course, I had to be the thorn in his side, arguing that all of the fables and wives tales were just that, tales to frighten children for sport.

My hand raises up, not missing the way his eyes rolled or even how he pretended to ignore me.

"Yes, Ms. Carrie? What part of my lecture would you like to dispute this time?" He huffed out a breath while taking a seat by the door.

"Well all of it. I mean there has been proof that these supposed creatures were in fact just cannibals in costume. Its impossible for a species to transform from human to animal due to the moon's phase."My raspy voice, was becoming a little shaky now, as it had garnered some attention from the sleepy hollow class. Their heads could be seen raising from their desks, hands swiping down red and tired looking faces. A cough was heard from my side, letting me know that Ashley had received all of her beauty sleep.

"I mean come on. Its a clear depiction of one suffering from bipolar schizophrenia at its peak. Animalistic behavior of this nature,caliber, only proves that, that particular individual or individuals, are mentally unstable and in need of immediate confinement and psychological assessment and or assistance."

Yeah that sounded good, I could see myself behind a desk listening to others rattling off about their demons as they laid across my couch. Waiting for me to give them my diagnosis.

"You are majoring in Psychology Ms. Wilks? Yes?" At my nod of agreement, " Well it would seem you have all the answers. No need to ruin the glamour of my seminar for the sake of your ego. I am the one with the doctorates degree and I can assure you,a lot of books are nothing but recordings of actual happenings. You think, just because you have read and studied on something that it makes you an expert. I can assure you I have experienced, firsthand, outside of these schools walls, and or the even smaller town, more than your little imagination could retain or fathom." He stood up, his weight causing the chair to slide against the floor. The soft padding of his steps carried him towards the light switched, that was flicked on with annoyance of his finger tips.

He turned around to face the class, his broad shoulders threatening to tear the seams of his shirts. He walks across the floor then slightly leans against his desk, arms crossing over his chest. Hand still holding the clicker for the overhead projector.

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen, I thoroughly enjoyed you this semester and wish you all a very meaningful Fall break." The students, began to applaud, sleep forgotten as backpacks began to unzip and the scattered papers on their desk disappearing into them.

"You are all dismissed, grades will be posted shortly." His eyes landed on mine, tints of blue mixed with green. They were only hidden by the bodies that hurried past his form to head out the door.

I was the last to get up, nervous that I had attracted his attention. Before my feet could reach across the threshold-

"You do well to remember that experience trumps book knowledge any day Ms. Wilks."