He fought the feeling with every ounce of his strength. A feeling that he was about to die. That his species would end. And his world would be over in an instant. Extinct.
He despised the humans. He thought maybe he was one of them, or maybe not. But he knew that it was they who brought this suffering on him. He was subjected to unthinkable pain only because of them.
The experiment had gone horribly wrong. What originally started as an attempt to create a fully grown human being out of nothing but the very best DNA, turned into a living nightmare. He was the nightmare. Someone had contaminated the DNA with strands of dog hair. The scientists had thus managed to create a beast; a human-like life form with animal features. They realized what had happened only twenty days into the experiment; by then it was too late to pull the plug.
The experiment went on for a month. The scientists watched as the transformation took place; recording every moment for future playback and making copious notes of the creature’s every movement. The sample evolved into a blob-like embryo in their glass incubator; it was specially fabricated so they could watch as it happened. The blob developed limbs, a musculature followed by human like bone structure. They watched as the skin grew in, barely covering up the grotesque life form. In due time, the figure developed facial features, hair, teeth and male genitalia. The creature’s face was human for the most part; with the addition of sharp canines, a snout like nose and silky hair. The scientists watched as his muscles developed; they observed that this creature was very strong. By the end, the creature could stand and walk upright, but he seemed subdued by all the attention he was receiving.
He didn’t know why he existed. They called him wolf. He liked to see the fear in their eyes as they walked into the room. Their stares of amazement were fodder to his ego. He was after all, partially human. But he knew he was more than that. He hated being caged, chained and fed raw food. He felt uncomfortable in the clothes he was forcibly dressed in. His taste and intellect had developed manifold. As the months passed by, so did his animal desires. He was superior to them all; he had mastered the English language within two months of hearing his first words. He abhorred that they did tests on him every day, as if he were a mere object only meant to be studied. He grew stronger day by day and began to resist confinement, and he grew violent as the days progressed. Their response was simple; they began to tranquillize him.
He decided to bide his time. He knew escape was near; he just had to wait for the right moment.
Thirty five days later. The moon shone brightly in the night. The light in the gallery stirred up something within him. It was as if he was responding to a natural urge; somewhat like a reflex. He began howling; he felt extremely agitated and was growing restless in his cage.
The scientists knew that they couldn’t control him anymore; they would now have to end what they created. They injected something into his bloodstream. The substance made him drowsy and alert; all at the same time. The neurotoxin was aimed at slowing down brain activity, which would eventually turn him into a vegetable.
He fought the feeling with every ounce of his strength. A feeling that he was about to die. That his species would end. And his world would be over in an instant. Extinct.
But in the next instant he felt relieved. Whatever they gave him wasn’t killing him, only making him stronger. He felt his muscles growing larger and larger by the second. He felt strong; free. The humans were going to pay. They were the ones going to be exterminated.
His chest expanded in fury. The shackles broke under the strain, the bars too soft for his superhuman strength. Vengeance was his for the taking.
* * *
The boy watched as the lights to his home went dim. He ran over to the front porch, only to look at the building right across the horizon. His mommy had told him that scientists did all kinds of cool stuff in there; and he’d seen the lights flicker there before. Wow! He started imagining all sorts of things. No one was home; his parents were out leaving him under the non-existent supervision of the baby sitter. She apparently had better things to do; like make long distance phone calls to her boy friend across the country. The lights went off; the emergency generator kicked in. He could now see the building across from him in pitch darkness; almost as if someone had flipped a switch. He gazed in awe at the moon, which shone brightly above. He heard a long howl which scared him to hell. He clutched a wooden chair and stood there, frightened. He saw a figure walk up towards him. His limbs froze. As the figure came closer, the horror in the boy’s eyes grew by the second. The boy couldn’t take it anymore, he wet himself. The monster was going to get him.
The “monster” put his hand on the boy’s head and spoke, “So you’re going to be the boy who cried wolf”.
Mihir Kamat 