Chapter 1
On the other side of the towering mountains, there lies a beautiful meadow valley known as Lowwind Valley. It is said that the grass is always green here, and, perhaps, it is. It never storms here as all the storms always hit the other side of the mountains. Despite these wonderful conditions…not many have come to live here, but that’s good. I like the peace…the quiet…
Who am I? Ehhhh, just a fairly average guy who lives in the valley. My name is Zishy Kraln and I live all alone at the south end of the valley by the woods. There’s a house next to mine, but that place has been empty for quite some time now.
Down here at the south end of the valley there is a lake with a river that runs up to the north end of the valley. I like to go swimming there, but even that gets boring eventually. During the summer, sometimes some other people come to swim in the lake. I don’t mind; after all, it’s not my lake.
It’s winter, currently. Winters here are extremely mild. Though, occasionally, some snow will break past the mountains. As I said, though, it typically doesn’t storm here.
What do I like doing? I… Honestly? I never really thought much about it. Every day is the same, pretty much… Aside from full moon nights.
Believe it or not, Werewolves exist. I’m not talking super handsome beings with incredible strength who will steal the hearts of every woman. I’m talking massive brutes. Massive, slobbering, ever-hungering beasts that shred their clothing off just by being insanely large.
They will break into your house and eat whatever they deem edible. They will break into your barns and eat all your livestock. They will leave behind massive trails of destruction. Then? When the sun rises? BOOM! Gone.
They can never be punished for their crimes because nobody knows who the Werewolves are. Even if they knew who the Werewolf or Werewolves are, who would want to confront such a volatile being? Nothing good ever comes from Werewolves and everyone here hates them. Imagine being a Werewolf…and hearing people unknowingly talk poorly of you…and never being able to tell them that, deep down inside… You hate Werewolves too.
Oh, by the way, I’m very much single. Nobody wants to date me. Nobody has even shown the slight bit of interest in me. Maybe I’m a bit TOO average. However, I am open and willing to try dating if ever someone expresses interest.
Do I have a specific type of girl I’m most interested in? At this point? No. I’ve been single for so long, all I want is a woman who appreciates me as a person. She could even be what most people would consider ugly, but if she would love me, she would be the most beautiful person ever to exist.
Today is the morning after a full moon. The Werewolf, or, maybe, Werewolves, made their rounds last night. By this point, everyone in Lowwind Valley knows to lock everything up once a month. However, the Werewolves are getting clever.
Up north, near the river, there is a marketplace. That’s where I’m at currently. There’s not very many people living here, so we don’t have many actual buildings in the marketplace. We’ve been using mostly carts to sale stuff.
One of the buildings that does exist here is the library. All the books in the valley are free to read, all we require is that you bring them back. I’m over at the clothing cart. Why? I’m buying myself some more pants.
Unfortunately, I have a tendency to…uhhh…rip my pants… So far, I have been lucky. Nobody has ever caught me with my pants torn. I currently have a sweater wrapped around my waist, covering my currently ripped pants.
“Back again to buy pants?” the salesman asks, grinning so wide I can see his gold tooth towards the back of his mouth.
“Yeah… You know me… Seems I can’t stop ripping my pants,” I say.
“Zishy, my guy, it’s alright. We all have our flaws… It’s just that your flaw happens to be incredibly embarrassing. HAH! Anyhow, you’re pretty much single-handedly keeping me in business, so…for all I care, you can keep shredding your pants,” the salesman says.
“Thanks for the words of encouragement…” I say, grimacing.
“You keep buying pants, I have to keep buying wool to make pants from, the farmers keep on sheering their sheep, the other farmers keep on growing food for the sheep… The chain is important. YOU are important,” the salesman says.
“Hmmm, what color pants should I buy this time?” I wonder out loud.
“Probably something that goes with most of your outfits, but who am I to judge? After all, I chose to make pants in fun colors, may as well sell them,” the salesman says.
“You know what? I think I want those orange pants today,” I decide.
“Ooh, playing it risky, huh?” the shopkeeper asks. “I like that! It’ll look horrible with your striped shirt, probably!”
“Yeah, well, knowing me, they’ll likely get ripped again,” I say with a shrug.
“True, true…” the shopkeeper says. “By the way, did you hear the news?”
“What news?” I ask.
“There’s a new person moving into the valley soon,” the salesman reports. “Rumor has it, this valley’s about to get a little bigger…”
“Really?! I did not hear about this…wow… A new person… Shouldn’t someone tell them about the…you know…Werewolf problem…?” I whisper.
“No. We don’t want to scare them off before they have settled. We could use another person around here,” the salesman says.
“Where, exactly, are they moving in?” I ask.
“You know that empty house next to yours? Yeah, you’re getting a new next door neighbor,” the salesman says with a chuckle.
“NEXT TO ME?!” I exclaim, dropping my money. “HOW DID I NOT KNOW?!”
