Welcome to Story Quest, a weekly podcast where we bring your stories to life!
In this episode we bring Ari’s story – The Not So Scary Werewolf- to life.
If you have a story idea, you could be like Ari and have it turned into a Story Quest. All you have to do is send us your story idea here. We know you have the best imaginations and together we can create the most brilliant stories!
That’s just what Ari did. You can watch the story they suggested come to life below, plus they tell us all about the inspiration behind the story at the end.
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Read along to The Not So Scary Werewolf!
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The Not-So-Scary Werewolf
âWerewolf? Youâre more like a CARE wolf!â – said Snap and howled with laughter – the smaller wolf cowered in terror as Snapâs menacing fangs snarled in her face and then turning, she began to run.
The small wolf was called Willow and she lived in a pack in the Grimstanding Gallow Woods. They are a very spooky place to be and absolutely none of the villagers from nearby Little Tinkling would ever dare to set foot into the gloom of the trees, and certainly not when it was a particular time – and that time was FULL MOON.
When the moon was full something very bad happened. The pack of wolves would magically transform into WERE wolves – terrifying giant creatures with a blood thirsty appetite and fangs the size of knives.
Snap, who we just met was the leader of the pack and to be honest even when the moon wasnât full he was a pretty horrible character. Erasmus the wise old wolf had in fact observed that Snap was only in charge because all the other wolves were afraid of him. Willow (who we also just met) was the smallest of them all and the most terrified of them all. She wasnât just terrified of Snap, but she was terrified of the dark, loud noises, noises that were almost TOO quiet – tall looming things, small creepy things and she was especially afraid of HUMANS. Which is a bit problematic when once a month youâre meant to turn into a human chomping monster. Even as the night fell on those days and she felt herself growing and growling and slaveringâŚ. She always ended up whimpering and hiding in the undergrowth until she went back to normal.
Now in this story something strange is going to happen, and then after that something awful is going to happen. Letâs start with the strange bit.
It was full moon and all the other werewolves had galloped off to terrorise the villagers and as usual no one noticed that she wasnât amongst the pack. She sighed and paced, annoyed at being gigantic and slumped into the moss sadly. She was lonely.
Suddenly she heard a cry – a wail – it was a human child! What on earth was a human child doing in the woods at night – on the night of the full moon too!
I have to be honest and say her mouth did start to water and she licked her lips instinctively but then she felt revolt. For Willow, looking at a human made her feel the same way YOU might feel if you looked at a plateful of mouldy old sausages covered in flies. She was pretty sure sheâd be allergic to humans if she did eat one. But the cries made her ears pick up and she realised that the child was on their own – they must be lost!
Curiously Willow slinked out of the shadows to see – a little girl, no older than 7 was stumbling in the dark – and Willow could see that she was heading in deeper – towards where the pack slept – and theyâd be back soon. There was no time to lose. With a soft whimper Willow cautiously walked towards the girl who jumped at the sound – and then held out her hand and gingerly touched Willowâs furry head. It was so dark that the girl couldnât tell that sheâd just done the extremely dangerous move of patting a WERE WOLF on the head, and instead stopped crying
âItâs a dog! Are you lost too?â
I mean⌠I suppose in the dark you MIGHT confuse the smallest werewolf for a very large dog, if said werewolf was behaving itself bur even still thought Willow, this kid canât be very clever. Clever or not, she knew however it was important to get the child to safety and so Willow carefully guided the girl away from the woods, the girl never letting go of Willows scraggy fur. Once near to the houses with the bright lights from the cosy fires coming through the windows the girl could see that she hadnât just been taking a stroll with a friendly dog⌠Sheâd been on a walk with A WEREWOLF!
But⌠Although she jumped a bit, she quickly smiled.
âYouâre not bad like the others. I can see that. Thank you for helping me!â and with that Willow was amazed to be kissed on the head before the girl ran to the houses – where excited cries could be heard from her family.
Willow quickly ran back to the woods, and was soon overtaken by the returning pack.
âWhere were you?! You missed all the fun!â one of them howled. âWe scared Old Farmer Farrow off his field – before he had time to lock the barn door! Letâs just say he wonât be selling as many sausages this yearâ he cackled licking his lips.
Willow said nothing but slunk back to the pack, and had a good think about everything had just happened. Sheâd always been afraid of humans but she hadnât been afraid of the little girl at all. She was the first human sheâd ever met – maybe she had got it wrong?
It wasnât until the next full moon that the âsomething awfulâ happened.
Full Moon again and Willow once more hid her gruesome form in the undergrowth feeling scared and lonely as usual when she heard a call!
âWolfie! Wolfie! Its me! Cara! Come and play with me!â
It was the child she had rescued. What on earth was she doing back in the wood?
âIâve sneaked out to find you! Where are you Wolfie?â
It was bad enough that the child was in the wood in the black of night but what was worse that it was much much later and dawn would be rising within minutes. And THAT meant the pack would return at any moment!
Whimpering in terror, Willow trotted towards the girl who flung her arms around Willows neck.
âSee I KNEW Iâd find you! My parents said Iâd made it all up – they said a real werewolf would have gobbled me up for breakfast.â
Willow whined again and pawed at the girl – and with her enormous jaws as gently as she could tried to pull the girl towards the edge of the forest – but the girl didnât want to go home and so pulled back⌠and then the awfullest thing of all happened – the pack could be heard on the return – the sound of enormous clawed paws racing through the wood and howls and barks – Willow tried to circle the girl to hide her from sight – but it was no good. Snap – who we met at the start of the story came to a sudden halt and stared in amazement at the sight.
âAh! Breakfast in bed! How nice!â he growled, drool coming down his muzzle. He stalked slowly towards them – the girl now cowering behind willow. Itâs fair to say she wasnât the smartest kid in the village as weâve seen more than once now but even she knew when a werewolf looked peckish.
âDonât you touch her!â Willow found herself snarling.
âAre you going to stop me?â He said in a threatening purr. And then he LEAPED towards Willow. She leaped away and then doubling back found herself becoming braver and POUNCED at Snap – she wsas half his size but managed to claw at his body and as he swayed back she JUMPED up and bit into his leg. He howled and howled and then steading himself LUNGED at Willow.
The little girl was terrified but turned and ran and ran and ran. Fortunately all the wolves were cackling and howling in delight at the fight as the pair of werewolves tumbled to the ground and rolled snapping and clawing –
âSTOP AT ONCE!â – came a booming voice. It was Erasmus, the wise old wolf. He was ignored but then he shouted even louder âWe Never Fight Our OWN!â – and the pair reluctantly separated, both covered it slashes and bites.
âSheâs a discgrace to the forest! Protecting a human child?â jeered Snap.
Willow was trembling now all her courage had left. She knew what would come next. A werewolf who sided with humans would not be allowed to stay in the pack. She looked sadly at Erasmus who shook his head sadly. âIâm sorry child. You can not stay.â
The werewolfs sniggered and barked – and although she felt sad she also felt as if she didnât want to stay any more anyway.
Snap padded up to her, sneering.
âWerewolf? Youâre more like a CARE wolf! – said Snap and howled with laughter. the smaller wolf cowered in terror as Snapâs menacing fangs snarled in her face and then turning she began to run.
She ran all the way into the village – not knowing where on earth she might go. She was tired⌠so tiredâŚ
âThereâs the wolf that saved me!â came a voice – and the little girl appeared with her mother and father.
âWell bless my soul – you WERE telling the truth!â said the girlâs father.
âShe looks injuredâ said the mother. And Willow limped towards the girl, and then with a heaving whimper fell onto the floor. She was exhausted. The last thing she felt was the curse wearing away and she returned to being just a wolf, a very small injured wolf who hadnât got a home in the pack any more.
But thereâs a happy ending to this story. Cara the little girl and her family decided that Willow could come and live with them. After all most of the time she was just a rather nice wolf who liked strokes and catching sticks and doing lots of doggy stuff. Of course once a month they had to get used to her changing into a Werewolf but they made her a special cosy kennel to curl up in, until the curse passed. And if anyone asked them why they had a werewolf as a pet Cara just piped up that she Wasnât a Werewolf – she was, (do you know what she said) – she said she was a CARE wolf! So Willow might not have changed the world, but her world had been changed forever – for the better. And thatâs the end of the story about the Not-So-Scary Werewolf!
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