I work construction, well, to be exact I’m more of a day laborer; I don’t have any particular skills in any trade. Because of this I usually end up doing all the grunt work, they need the jobsite cleaned, they call me. The pay isn’t bad and honestly I don’t really have the desire to work anywhere else, I’m one of those people that sort of just let my apathy embody me although I have daydreams of being someone important someday I just don’t know how. Needless to say the days are long and tiresome; especially during the summer, that’s when I wish I possessed a bit more motivation to find another job, but, by the time I get home I’m already in zombie mode and the only thing I can think of is cracking open an ice cold beer once walking through the door, that was until I found the strangest object on the jobsite.
The day was like any other, I was walking around the site doing my best to stay hidden, passing the time on my phone but unfortunately my boss found me. He needed me to dig a ditch outside something I wasn’t looking forward to since the excruciating sun would be showering down it’s harsh heat on me. I tried to play dumb and told him I didn’t know how to dig but he didn’t buy the excuse, I could feel all of my enthusiasm for the day escape me and I reluctantly searched for a shovel.
Sweat cascaded down my face as I dug my shovel deep into the earth, with each thrust I could feel my energy slowly slip away and I even contemplated the idea of quitting. I was about 5 feet deep when my shovel hit something hard, the sound echoed in the narrow trench startling me causing me to fall back, twisting my ankle in the process.
“Dang it!” I screeched out with irritation.
My eyes cautiously crawled over to the obstruction that my shovel had hit and at first I couldn’t see it; most of it was still buried in the soil and initially I thought it was rock but something about the way the thing protruding from the ground glistened in the sunlight sparked my curiosity. I kept digging doing my best not to break or damage the object and soon I saw what it was and to my horror it was a fossilized skeletal hand, the remains of some poor soul. I didn’t know what to think I just stared down at it for minutes trying to process what I was seeing, the most terrifying part was how large it was; it must of belonged to a man at least 7ft tall if not larger. If the person was alive they could have easily crushed my head with one clench of their fist. I couldn’t explain it but a sense of disquietude crept it’s way into the forefront of my mind, a part of me told myself just to bury that thing deeper; that something like that how no business being unearthed. But, the other side of me knew this was something special, an artifact of a time lost and as I balanced the two thoughts I heard my boss coming and I quickly picked up the skeletal hand and stashed in my tool bag.
That night I sat on my couch in my living room drinking an ice cold beer as my dog sat next to me panting, I placed the horrid hand on my coffee table as if were some master center piece. Both me and my dog were lost in our own bewilderment as to the origins of where this thing came from, well, at least I was; I’m pretty sure my dog had no clue to what was going on, but, I did find it odd that not even he wanted to get close to the frightful thing. That’s when I leaned over to pick up the unusual hand gripping it tightly and as I inspected the mystifying object closer I could feel a slight wave of euphoria engulf my senses, the light headiness nearly caused me to faint, I could hear my dog barking with such thunderous intent, but for whatever reason I couldn’t let go as if the hand had me imprisoned somehow. After what seemed like hours I finally released it, subtle shockwaves still reverberated throughout my body as I fell back unto my couch, darkness slowly inundated my vision and I passed out.
I woke up the next morning tired and sore as if I had ran a marathon, I arose to my feet with a heavy cloud of haziness swirling around my head, I rubbed my eyes intensely trying to get my bearings that’s when I nearly tripped over the monstrous hand.
“What the…?” I yelped out loud still lost.
That’s when the most horrifying revelation presented itself to me, the hand, was no longer just a hand, rather; it had a new bone growing out of it; it now had a forearm. I didn’t know what to think, how was this possible, I scratched at my head not sure if I was remembering correctly maybe it always had it. I was late for work so I pushed all of my trepidation into the back of my mind, leaving the ghastly arm on the floor.
As the day progressed my body pains only sharpened; especially my arm, I coddled in a sling for most the day; which was the perfect excuse for me not having to dig. Now I’m one of those people that don’t like going to the doctor so I downed aspirin after aspirin throughout the day hoping my arm would feel better, but, the pain kept getting worse in fact, my arm was starting to bruise. I left work early, I just needed some rest; by this point I couldn’t even move my hand it was as if it were paralyzed.
Arriving home I planned on collapsing unto my couch and hibernating for hours but to my dread there it was the hand, it wasn’t on the floor where I had left it, it was now on the couch. I could feel pricks of horror engulf my mind as I quickly thought of my dog, perhaps he had moved it and as I called out for him, he was nowhere to be found. My mind was racing practically million miles an hour trying to figure what was happening, that I didn’t even digest the fact that the hand was now a full arm. My eyes widened with absolute terror, I didn’t know what to think, or what to do so I did the only thing I think most rational people would of done and that is I threw the hand away in the garbage. I needed that thing as far away from me as possible, I figured let someone else deal with it.
This all happened weeks ago and my arm continued to bruise it’s virtually dead and I don’t know what happened to my dog, perhaps he ran away or maybe something worse. I don’t know if I did the right thing by throwing that horrid arm in the trash now that I think about it I’ve should buried it back where I found it, but it’s a bit it too late; I haven’t left my house in days my entire body is now bruising and I can hardly move, I can only imagine how much more that monster has grown.