Hello! This is my first fiction novelette and I am excited to improve it with the assistance of beta reader feedback. It has been composed using Scrivener. I have been proof reading in 6” x 9” paperback style PDF export, but happy to provide other formats if this doesn’t suit.

Thank you in advance and I genuinely look forward to hearing from you.

- - - Blurb - - -

'Lycanthropy' follows Edmin, a teenager and inhabitant of an isolated, boreal settlement. His small, austere community is surrounded on all sides by a dense forest that houses their greatest threat: hungry, fearless wolves. To cope with their ever-present danger, dwellers cling desperately to The Fables - stories and songs that, when shouted, appear to ward off potential attacks.

Undeterred by grave warnings from family and acquaintances, Edmin yearns to know what lies beyond the settlement, frequently journeying to the 'forest edge' that encompasses his home. Keen for him to be useful to their struggling society, Edmin’s father gives him an ultimatum - find a meaningful vocation, or join him in his agricultural work.

Desperate to avoid a life of field labour, Edmin’s embarks on a perilous quest for answers; one that unearths concerning revelations about the settlers, their fables, the wolves, and the true nature of the forest.

- - - Content Warnings - - -

Profanity, peril, gore, death.

- - - Feedback Type - - -

I’m primarily looking for honest, top level feedback about the reading experience. I’m keen to hear, in your own words, what you thought of the story, how it made you feel, whether you enjoyed it, and what you ultimately feel it’s actually about. Additionally:

• What are your thoughts about the main characters?
• Were any parts weak or laborious to read?
• How do you feel about the pacing?
• Was the dialogue believable?
• What do you think of the ending specifically?

- - - Opening Scene - - -

“You’ve never been to the forest edge?”

The question, posited so directly and curtly by Edmin, cut through the meandering, adolescent conversation and elicited a momentary silence between him and his younger brother Roland.

The two boys were laying on their sides, concealed within one of the many deep valleys carved across the vast, maincrop potato field. From every peak, billowing rows of lush, waxy leaves competed for the afternoon sun’s pale glow. The combination of straining foliage and the heavy recess of the ditch turned the crop into a common hiding spot for the siblings. The soft soil turned to a comfortable cushion under enough rest and the field provided as much protection from daylight as it did the attention of adults eager to delegate manual labour to those whose knees and elbows were not stiff and inflamed. Their younger sister Piper, who had been sitting idly nearby, now looked up at them, recognising the kind of pause that accompanies a contentious topic.

“No, I haven’t… why would I?” Roland replied.

“Why not?”

“I don’t think people just do that. It’s dangerous… and what’s the point?” Roland’s tone was defensive, as if his answers were counting against him in some way.

“Mum says we aren’t supposed to go there,” Piper chimed in, looking nervously to Roland for some sort of approval.

“Are you not at least curious?” Edmin continued, ignoring her.

“Have you been to the forest edge?” Roland countered.

“Yes. A few times.”

His companions’ genuine expression of surprise made Edmin think this was perhaps not a wise thing to admit. Roland’s pale, slender face simply stared back at him; his unkempt, dark mop of hair illuminated only by gently moving fragments of daylight from underneath the calmly swaying vegetation.

“How is it not fascinating?” Edmin enthused, only to be met with two continued, and now slightly confused, stares. “We’re surrounded by forest and we just spend all day in the settlement doing chores and looking after animals. Nobody stops to think what could be beyond.”

“What about the woodcutters? They do that.” Roland replied.

“They just cut down trees. That’s necessity; they’re not exploring. Aren’t you curious about what’s really out there?”

“Well, nobody goes into the forest because of the wolves.”

“I know, but you just have to accept that they’re a part of it. They’re a part of the forest.”

Piper now looked equally confused and concerned.

“Okay, so?” Roland scoffed, “if you go into the forest the wolves will eat you. It doesn’t matter what you think of them. You’ll just find more forest and then get eaten. That’s it.”

“So you’re telling me you’re not curious. At all?”

Another silence pushed onward as the conversation, yet again, came to an abrupt halt. A slow wind passed through the field channel, bringing with it the faint and familiar aromas of cooking root vegetables and lean meats from the homestead in the distance.

“What’s it like?” Piper’s small voice suddenly spoke up.

“The forest edge?” Edmin’s gaze moved to her big brown eyes and inquisitive round face leaning out from behind Roland.

“Yeah,” she shifted to be closer to the conversation.

“It’s incredible,” Edmin replied, deliberately ignoring a look of almost disbelieving scorn from Roland, “it’s difficult to describe, but it’s not like anything you’ve ever—”

“I want to see it!” Piper blurted out, which surprised even Edmin.

“Sure,” Edmin replied casually; a cool response that seemed to push Roland into almost outright anger.

“What is wrong with you?” he snapped.

“She wants to go,” Edmin responded, with an open handed gesture of incredulity. “she wants to see the forest edge!”

“Yes! I want to see the forest edge!” Piper was now fully wrapped up in the kind of excitement that only an emotionally pliable thirteen year old could muster.

“No!” Roland interjected, “the woodcutters will see us. They’re out gathering winter fuel right now. They will see us and then they will tell mum,” the latter consideration was thrown in Piper’s direction.

“They’ve never seen me,” Edmin interjected, “the settlement is over a thousand strides from the middle barns in all directions. There are only eight woodcutters and they always work together. I heard they’re out by the mills today. If we go the other way, through the wheat fields, nobody will be there.”

“Right. And what about the wolves?”

“I have my fable book!” Piper replied.

Edmin resisted the urge to physically display his contempt for Piper’s little book. Making fun of it now would certainly hurt the cause.

“This is a bad idea, seriously,” Roland appealed to Edmin’s common sense.

“Yes, well,” Edmin smiled, meeting Piper’s excited stare, “we don’t give a fuck, do we?”

“No, we don’t give a fuck!” Piper responded, gleeful in the liberation and camaraderie suddenly afforded to her by the use of profanity.

Roland sighed, looking down and running his fingers in small lines through the crumbling soil.

Another calm breeze pushed past the three of them, exuding a pregnant pause in which both Piper and Edmin sat, waiting for Roland’s reluctant approval.

“Are you sure you want to go?” Roland’s head tilted over to look at piper, who nodded without hesitation.

“It’s not far,” Edmin added, “I was her age the first time I went to the forest edge. We’ll be back before anyone notices we’re gone.”

- - - Preferred Timeline - - -

Ideally 2-3 weeks, due to its short length, but please let me know if you’d like a little longer!

- - - Critique Swap Availability - - -

100% open to a critique swap, but just novelettes or short stories for now. Will happily consider anything slightly longer.