I know. The title sounds pretty damn bold. But I trusted my grandfather with all my heart, I had known him my entire life. He had a good heart, so much so he used his own courage and bravery to become a firefighter. He was revered most in small towns in Alberta. He traveled from town to town with a few friends and helped out when he could, fires or in general. He worked in the fire fighting field for about 40 years before retiring, after that he decided to become a fire lookout.
I will transcribe some of his writings as some of it would be much of a bore to read considering today’s lingo.
According to the journal he wrote in, the event I will disclose to you all occurred in 1950. He was positioned in Northern British Columbia, he had chosen this spot specifically as it was deeper into the forest than most campers prefer to venture. He never was much of a social butterfly.
He had been radioed that a camping party had been seen heading up his way, he stated in his own words,
『”Bad fortune always finds a way to find me”』
He wasn’t very enthusiastic about having to babysit a bunch of young idiots that thought they were hot shit by coming deep into the forest to do whatever the hell young people do. Apparently, he had rigged up his own telescope/binocular system on the deck of the watchtower. He mostly used it to look at stars but it could be zoomed further out to survey the land too.
He had been lost in reading while they set up their campsite, had fun, swam etc etc. Their voices carried across the land much more than they obviously knew.
The layout from the deck of the watch tower was as so, according to my grandfather’s vague-ish drawing and description.
『”The watch tower itself was built on a small hill to the north of a medium-sized lake. To your immediate left and right, was a long stretch of forest. It hugged around both sides of the lake until about halfway on the left side, where a small clearing could be seen. The trees resumed their coverage and almost perfectly aligned with the watchtower, on the other side of the water was a larger clearing. Of course, this is where the campers chose to make their stand/chose to make their stay”』
(the latter was etched out furiously with a pencil, not enough to block what was written).
Any sounds the campers made was easily heard across the water of the lake. In my grandfather’s own words,
『”It grew increasingly annoying with each passing hour”.』
A loud screech sounded throughout the valley of echoing crickets, it emanating across the lake and reverberated throughout that tall desolate watchtower.
It was around 12:07 when he was jolted out of reading ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’ by Ernest Hemingway. He jumped out of his skin and his bedding to run over to the towers deck.
『”The annoyances of these young denizens knew no boundaries”』
Or in today’s words, holy fuck these dipshits never gave it a rest.
The explosion and bright colors of yellow and green were reflected almost poetically in the calm, silvery water of the lake.
Fireworks. Of course they had brought fireworks.
My grandfather already not impressed with these young fools, now was definitely in a sour mood. He wrote,
『”but the blaze from their rockets only last but a fickle speck in contrast to the fire that would soon consume not only them, but the land around as well”.』
Okay…
The second sound that startled this poor old firefighter, was no longer a cause from the group across the lake, but from directly to his left. He wrote that,
『”a firefighter knows when a tree is fell, and how long it can take for that to happen. This sound rang throughout my ears like a cannon, and appeared in a split second. I peered over the edge of my tower to inspect whatever had made such a noise. A large pinewood tree next to the tower had been snapped at its base, causing splinters of wood to fly off it and land audibly around the bottom of my tower. I saw nothing but a fleeting movement below, as it dashed into the heavy crowd of pines.”』
This part gets a little scratchy, and fluctuates between French and English so I’ll do my best to translate.
The thing had shattered a tree into pieces below him. He no longer felt safe in the watchtower. It scurried away as quiet as it could, but the now dead quiet of the forest made the awful crunching and guttural groans it let out far too loud for his now fearful mind. He watched in curious terror as the thing ran at speeds of what he described,
『”could only befit that of the a creature seeking out blood”』
It raced into the forest as it B-lined straight to the loud crashes made by the pyrotechnic entertainment of the campers.
He switched from his naked eye to his telescope as it rushed towards those poor souls. It let out screeches that he could only describe as,
『”the screams of a soul who knew only the most barbarous torment in hell”』
It could be seen and heard crashing into trees as it raced, the thing showing that it had no finesse in its sprint. The trees could be heard snapping and seen being felled as it ran, some shook violently as though they’d been hit by a freight car.
And that’s when he saw it. The thing passed into the clearing and he got the first glimpse of this terrible beast. It shone in the light of the moon as it scurried, the thing being covered in some brass-like metallic “armor” as he worded it. It had four limbs and used all of them to jet across the land. It did so almost unsettlingly poorly, it tripped over itself and looked as though it had broken its own neck, but yet it still flew through the clearing from it own momentum. As it did it yet again let out that blood-curdling howl-like shriek.
It dashed into the next patch of trees and could be heard again as it barreled through without much of any care for the trees and apparently any for itself.
He turned himself to look at the campers, they totaled about 9 in all. A few were looking at the edge of the tree line as they heard its screeching and the breaking of branches and trees.
It burst from the coverage of trees and rushed towards the 3 campers as they stood in shock and terror. The thing disposed of them in an instant. Using both of it’s vile claws and it’s horrid jaws to rip and tear the poor souls apart. The rest of the campers now stared in the same shock that their dear departed friends once were. The thing had reared up on its hind legs and took a deep guttural breath of air, it’s arms splayed out and claws spread wide, both mouth and fingers dripping with deep-red blood,
『”almost as to display that it was death, and death it bring.”』
As it bellowed that disgraceful belch of pure hell, the campers last firework departed the ground. It made the beast’s despicable roar all the more mind shattering.
As the firework exploded, it lit up the whole area in a bath of light and color, allowing my grandfather to see just what this thing was.
It stood around 13 feet tall(4 meters tall or 396 centimeters). It’s body was covered in what my grandfather has deemed its “shell”. It was a golden brown material, it shone with brilliance under the flare of the explosion, it covered the things “body” like its skeleton. With ribs, a spine, a pelvic bone, etc. The things inside body was seen to be a pitch-black almost gelatinous substance. It shook and quaked as they thing screamed. It showed no signs of smell or sight, only that golden maw that covered its “head”, almost appearing like a refined but dreadful bear trap. The things teeth resembling those of a creature sharper than any known wildlife he had ever seen. I quote,
『”it’s teeth represented to me that, it knew not of the hunger of mortal beings, only the lust for blood”』
It had claws with similar sharpness, they appeared to be almost like metal gloves it wore, according to his writing. A red mane of firey-orange hair sprout from the top of its head and down its spine. It flowed elegantly in contrast to the rest of its terrible appearance. It stood so tall on its bipedal legs. It was as lanky as it was tall, the things arms were too thin to belong to such a towering beast. He also noted that the thing wasn’t some immortal monster. It had punctured itself on its atrocious run through the forest. Large branches and twigs were stuck inside the creature as it bellowed with what he now described as, “painfully terrible roar”. It bled out black, almost pearlescent fluid out of its wounds.
『”The thing finally let go of its terrific scream, and looked down at the innocent souls as it stared then down with its absent but surely bloodthirsty eyes.”』
It made short work of the rest of the campers after it finished its intimidating show of power and horror. It chased the ones who ran down in seconds. For some that hid within their tents, it simply engulfed another large swath of oxygen, before spitting vile flame onto the tents. The flame according to him,
『”burned like no fire I had ever laid eyes upon. It raged a deep scarlet and black as it reduced the material of said tent and the grass around it to ash in seconds. Some of the outer parts even burning a bright white. It soon turned into what you can imagine a normal fire would look like.”』
It cut through their flesh like a flame eats paper. One of the campers even tried to fight back against the thing as it mutilated his peers. He pulled out what appeared to be a blade of some sort, and threw it at the creature. It spun and flew through the air, and cut the creature right in its chest as it sliced its fanged fingers through a camper like a knife, before forcefully spreading its fingers back out, causing what you would assume if would happen.
It stared down the last camper as he shuffled away in fear. He climbed into a small boat that the campers had brought with them, seeking refuge in its wooden enclosure. The thing stood tall on its hind legs one last time, before letting out another implacable and malign screech. As it did that same fluid-like scarlet-black flame descended upon the boat, scorching the poor soul alive in seconds. The thing choked back a moment as it did, stumbling away as it’s own crimson-dark blaze ate onto the black fluid dripping from its body. The fire climbed into its legs, and burned with some brilliance throughout its jelly-like inner form. The fire making the beast look like an effigy now as it burned.
It let out a final, weaker and more pained shriek, fire came bursting from its mouth and into a dazzling display of scarlet flame. The flame died out as the my grandfather finally noticed that the trees around the area were engulfed and overtaken by flame. The things wretched and vile fire had set the entire forest ablaze. As he turned the telescope back to where the thing stood, he saw none but a small pile of shining brass-gold bones. It’s now resting skull facing directly at him through the scope. They began to chip and soon disappeared into the rest of the blaze surrounding them.
This fire became known as, the “Chinchaga Fire”.
. . .
I read over this entry in a bar, in shock myself that my grandfather had written such things. I trusted him with all my heart and even still I don’t know if can possibly believe what has been written.
Maybe I’m too drunk to realize that sharing this info is probably a bad idea. But fuck it, my grandfather is long gone, and I might as well share what little he left for us with you guys.
Heh, but back to my drinking I suppose. Speaking of which I really picked one out this time! This bar is right up on the water and had a beautiful view of the beach. I see some young bucks out there now messing around with some sprinkler rods. Y’know those little firework things you buy and wave around?
To be young again…
I hear a firework screech as it goes up into the air, and I brace myself for the pop of its explosion. For a moment I wonder if that’s what the thing sounded like.
. . .
What kind of firework doesn’t have an explosion?