Ralph

Ralph was lost. Truly lost in this part of the world where people spoke in foreign tongues, cows didn’t moo but crowed, and the shoes worked like metal contraptions. Yes, he was lost. He wandered from saloon to saloon trying to find a good place to settle down and have a few drinks, but in everyone he went into there would be guys with dark eyes looking at him over their card hands. In some there would be men with guns standing in a corner probably discussing some bounty, and then in one the place was in ruins. His guess was that it was the remains of a bar fight. 1

There were about seven saloons in all in this place. All of which Ralph found himself unwelcome. He ended up walking to the poorer section of town where he found several women who were more than happy to give him a few drinks, and a little more than that too. These scantily clad women with their high heeled boots and their seductive eyes made him think of Asha. That was the major reason why he went home that evening with one of the girls with long blonde hair and dirty brown eyes. That night he did not sleep on the streets. 2

The next day he awoke in an unfamiliar bed, in an unfamiliar place, with an unfamiliar woman. He did not even know the name of the woman who had provided him with a roof for the night. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and made his way to where he thought the bathroom might be located. The bathroom was small, barely fitting the shower unit, but it would do. He could not be picky. He washed his face with the dirty water that ran out of the faucet and found himself staring at a forlorn figure in the mirror. 3

Who was that man? Whose dark blue eyes were those? Whose shaggy brown hair? What about those gritty fingernails and tobacco-stained hands? Ralph continued to wash his face and used his finger to brush his teeth. The woman did have toothpaste; a commodity that Ralph had to go without for sometime now. His yellowed teeth smiled back at him as he went to work. First he brushed the top and then he brushed the bottom. By the time he finished he could hear the woman stirring in the other room. It was time for him to leave. He snuck quietly into the bedroom and grabbed his pants, pulling them on as he grabbed his shoes from the corner where he had thrown them. Going into the kitchen Ralph pulled on his shoes and saw left over noodles lingering in a bowl on the table. He quickly wolfed them down and left the tiny apartment. 4

Back outside Ralph was confronted with the reality that he was alone again. Where was he to go? He didn’t know but he knew he had to get out of here and soon. He maneuvered his way through small streets, large boulevards, and back alleys only to find himself on the outer fringes of the town. He debated turning around and going back the way he had come. Going back towards everything that he knew, but did not particularly love. He decided that it would be a fool hardy move to go back to all the chaos and fear that he had wanted to leave in the first place. It was best to put his heel to the ground and continue moving forward towards a horizon that he would never reach. 5

Ralph placed one hole-filled shoe in the dirt and followed it up with the other. His feet carried him away from the town and its inhabitants, towards a wilderness that seemed even wilder up close than from afar. The cemented sidewalks suddenly gave way to packed dirt and sparse cacti. The crooked buildings fell away to a vast wasteland. Everything was drastically different here, and he wasn’t sure if he would be able to survive. His feet didn’t agree with any of his thoughts and kept him moving. The sun was not yet overhead but he could already feel sweat trickling down his back between the shoulder blades, soaking through his shirt. Sweat ran down his brow and he wiped it away every so often with swift motions. 6

The noodles had not been enough to satiate him and by the time noon came his stomach was rumbling. He need not worry about that. He was to be fed soon enough. He could already feel the sweat on his chest and back being soaked up by his hair. A little after noon he saw birds circling overhead. They seemed to sense that any moment now he was going to drop and fall to the ground either from fatigue or from hunger. Perhaps even from thirst if he didn’t get some water before the day was out. It was also at this point in the day that his feet started to hurt. There was no time to rest them, he had to continue walking. 7

A few weeks ago Ralph might not have thought he would be able to withstand such torment, but ever since his gang was locked up he found that he could do things he never thought of before. He robbed an old lady shortly after Rod was taken, and that was something he had never done before. He had knocked over a bank when Ferol had been killed in a shootout, and he had knocked over another one when Griggs had been caught by the police. From both heists he had nabbed only a combined total of $1,000. Didn’t banks have money anymore? 1k was still more than others could dream of, but if he had been traveling with a full crew he would have gotten more. There is only so much money that one man can run away with. 8

If had a full crew then he might have been traversing this deserted patch of land with a horse too. Danny had been the horse keeper and in a way he had also supplied the food and the brains. Too bad Danny hadn’t been smart enough to escape from the ten policemen who had surrounded him. The last thing Ralph had seen as he had escaped from that incident was Danny standing there with a stupid grin on his face, and the sound of the handcuffs as they rattled in the streets. 9

After pulling those two banks jobs and the old lady robbery, Ralph wasn’t sure if he still wanted to do this. Almost getting killed was not on his list of things to do. Asha had been the last one to go. She had guts, but the cops had more. He missed her, he had been the closest to her, but he didn’t think he could stay in that place. Not to visit her. Not to visit anyone. He was always on the move otherwise he would be on the inside with them and didn’t make things any better for the lot of them. No, it was best he keep moving. 10

Capitol City. A large city with lots of promise. Promise for what? Riches or a an opportunity to lead a straight life? Ralph just didn’t know. He supposed he would have to wait and see. As he thought again of the city and it’s promises one of the birds let out a shriek, bringing Ralph back to the present. Suddenly he became aware of how hungry he was, and how bad his feet hurt. His hairy arms, legs, and torso itched liked crazy. Twilight was falling and he would have to find shelter as well. He could do nothing now, however, and he just kept walking. 11

When the stars and the moon came out to play and the sun had settled down for the night, Ralph felt utterly exhausted. He found a bunch of rocks and patted down the earth, then he curled into a ball and fell asleep. He awoke in the middle of the night, or what he thought was the middle, to the sound of howling. A sharp pain pierced his belly, and his spine arched. It felt like a thousand razors blades were peeling off his scalp, and every inch of his body itched. Pain after pain filled his body and it went on like this for five minutes. He felt himself transforming. His hands and feet formed into paws with sharp claws ready to puncture anything they saw fit. His clothes were torn off as his torso got larger and his brown hair covered every area. A tail sprouted from where no tail should sprout on a human. His ears became pointier and were able to pick up the tiniest sound from off in the distance, and his muzzle picked up all the smells in the dark. His dark blue eyes became the eyes of a dog and his instincts immediately kicked in. 12

The howl he heard before came again only this time the dog named Ralph did not wonder what it was. He knew it was a coyote and he headed off in search of it, his stomach growling, and his mouth dripping saliva in anticipation of the food it was soon to consume. The night birds circled above as the hunt began. 13