The Reader's Request Book [REQUESTS CLOSED]

The Lunar Cycle - Full Story

"A dog?" the nurse laughed in disbelief at the statement. Shaking her head, she stared at the near perfectly symmetrical rows of puncture wounds that line the unfortunate patient's right forearm, a proportion of which were now precisely and carefully closed with stitches. "You're telling me a dog gave you this bite?"

The pale skinned, ginger-haired, green-eyed Englishman nodded. He was hoping that the nurse wouldn't notice the fact he was aggressively gritting his teeth and unwittingly flinching every single time the surgical needle pierced through his skin to pull the inflamed flesh together. He didn't quite know if it was better or worse to watch as the thread gradually pulled the injuries together. However, he had quickly discovered that whenever his gaze remotely landed on the nurse at his side, she would immediately start up a conversation which quite frankly he did not have the patience, energy, or tolerance for.

Baz understood that the nurse was simply trying to be polite, but her sickly-sweet, caring nature wasn't quite suited for a grown man. It was understandable, considering that the lanyard clipped to her burgundy scrubs stated that she was from the paediatric ward within the hospital. This type of overly cheerful and friendly nature would pander to children who in turn would be greatly reassured within a highly stressful and scary time for them. At this moment in time, however, Baz just wanted the ordeal to be over and done with as soon as possible, and the frequent breaks that the nurse took to converse with him were causing this night to become longer and longer.

With this in mind, the green-eyed man had resorted to staring at the clock which hung above the door to the treatment room. Compared to the rather bland and basic interior which consisted of white and grey tonal ranges, the clock was the most interesting feature. The majority of the structure was a deep, ebony black, with slithers of metallic silver coating the hands and the numbers. Furthermore, a series of eight circles adored the clock in an octagonal pattern, filled with varying amounts of gold paint. Baz had quickly worked out that these were supposed to represent the lunar cycle, with a completely empty circle at the bottom of the clock representing a new Moon, and a completely golden circle at the top of the clock representing a full Moon.

"Ryan?" the nurse called out.

"Huh?" the Englishman jolted slightly, his head snapping back towards the nurse. "Oh, sorry, did you say something?"

"I was just asking if you know what kind of dog gave you this," the woman explained, smiling as she pushed the needle through her patient's skin once more – a fact which Baz found rather disturbing considering the circumstances. "My family own a St Bernard, called Barny, whose absolutely massive. He's like the size of a small horse, according to my little brother," the nurse chuckled. "He's one of the biggest dogs I've ever met, and. Don't get me wrong, Barny is the definition of "gentle giant," and would never even dream of doing so. But even if he did close his entire mouth around someone, I still think the bite marks would be smaller than this."

"I don't really know what it was," the ginger-haired man admitted, recalling what was one of the most terrifying moments of his entire life, something that was very literally a near death experience. It had happened after a long night at a bar and nightclub local to his hometown, in which he and one of his best friends (who was ironically also called Ryan) had spent their time partaking in the weekly pub quiz with a large serving of nachos swamped within salsa, guacamole, sour cream, chilli con carne and cheese, with bottomless Pepsi Max to wash it all down. As nostalgic as the event had been, it was clear that the pair had long since become unaccustomed to the intense and energetic atmosphere of a bar's nightlife, so the two had decided to depart at around half past eleven. However, as they made their way outside into the cool night breeze - along with other likeminded individuals as well as small groups of smokers - the pair had heard a shrill, female screech, followed by a loud, deep, "What the f***!?" as a couple that had been walking in front of the two Ryans split apart, each diving to the side.