Only 350 words is hard. Lol. I pared it down to 350 exactly.

Show Me The Shorty!
Username: Naisou
Entry:
The woods could be a dangerous place, especially at night. Full of creatures who hunted and killed without thought of mercy. The week surrounding the full moon being exceptionally perilous for those caught unaware.

Going for a run was cathartic though, shedding the burdens of reality and focusing on the simple push and pull of straining muscles. When the need for release came, it didn't matter what perils the full moon held. I was strong enough. Smart enough. Or so I had always thought.

And I needed this run, a bone deep need so strong that the panicked pleas my mother uttered fell onto deaf ears as I ran. The rhythmic thud of my feet hitting the soft earth, breaths condensing in the cold night air, heart beating against my ribs. These were what I focused on. Not the colicky cries of my baby sister or the slurs thrown from villagers as we passed.

The anger swelled up again, pushing out behind my eyes, clawing into my brain. Anger at our poverty, our fathers death, the unbridled hatred shown to us. I ran faster. Branches scratching, snagging, trying to slow my frantic pace.

Pain bloomed in my haunches, overwhelming me, dragging me back to the present. The metallic smell of blood sharp in the cold night air.

Drunken shouts of triumph flooded my ears, the heavy, uneven fall of feet rushing forward, snapping the undergrowth.

Panic flared bright, snarls tearing from my foaming lips as I fell. My skin rippled, fur bristling as I attempted to change. Unwilling to let the men have my pelt as a souvenir. The silver bullet lodged in my leg prevented me from succeeding, boiling my blood within me.

"It's tryin' change back."
"Finish it quick! Human skin ain't worth 'nuthin."

A knife flashed. My last thought was of my mother and sister. Would they survive? Father butchered and now this. My pelt to be hung on a wall.

I should have known not to go into the woods during a full moon. When the monstrous humans came out hunting for elusive silver manwolf pelts.




A Quickie!
Username: Naisou
Entry:
Don't close your eyes
For if you do
The shadow man
Will come for you.

Don't go to sleep
For when you wake
The shadow man
Your soul will take.

But if your soul is stained
And darkness lives within.

Don't be afraid
For then you'll see
The shadow man
Will welcome thee.