My dream was to move to a small snowy town. I wanted a house in the woods on the outskirts of town but not too far away. When I was 8 my family moved to Winnipeg. We lived in a small community with about 300 people. We moved to Winnipeg because my mother got a nice job opportunity there. I’m now 25 and I have lived here since. I don’t like living in the city. I would much rather go back to our old community. I loved it there.
8 months ago I won $2,000,000 on a lotto ticket. I was ecstatic! I could finally move out and live my dream! I gave my parents $200,000 each and kept the rest for myself. I started to browse the internet for houses that matched my liking. After about 2 hours I found one. It was perfect! It was located in Kenora, Ontario. It was on a secluded dirt road that led into the forest. Plus it was only around 2 and a half hours away. I was pumped! I went through the process and bought it. It was now mine!
I packed my things and headed out around 11:00 am to my new home. I arrived in around 3 hours. I unpacked my things and settled in. Around 2 months went by and everything was going perfectly. I got a job there and my parents came to visit every few weeks. I also started to make new friends there. Life could not be better!
Some time passed again. My parents just left after visiting once again. It was about 6:00 pm. I decided to head out for some dinner. I came home around 8:00 and Started to get ready for bed (My shift started at 5:00 am) I got a quick shower and put some shorts on. I laid in bed and fell asleep…I was awoken by what sounded like a scream outside my window. My eyes shot open. I watched the curtains move in the breeze as I listened to it echo in the night’s silence. It scared the shit out of me. My heart was in my throat. I started to calm down when I remembered that foxes made similar noises. “Fucking Fox” I murmured to myself. I started to drift off when it happened again. This time it sounded closer than the other. I sighed and got up outta bed. I was still a little on edge but I pushed through the fear. I peered out the window towards the tall trees. I peered around but to no avail. I looked at the hardwood floor for a second then looked back up. Behind a tree around 100 ft away I saw something move.
I gasped and then closed the window. I ran back to bed and hid under the covers. The reason for my panic was a story my grandpa told me when I was 14. He told me about a creature called a “Skinwalker”. He described it as a large humanoid creature with dark skin and no hair. It can disguise itself as an animal or human and make sounds like a scream or mimic the voice of a loved one or friend to drag you in. The only way it could be killed was to shoot it with a silver bullet. This idea was running through my mind. I stayed under the covers for about 10 minutes. There have been no screams since then. Over time I started to calm down. I had to use the bathroom so I got up and walked towards the door…I stopped moving for a second to itch my ankle when I heard a whimper outside. I froze. It sounded like a dog or some other small animal. In my mind, I thought “Stop being a pussy it’s probably just a dog or something, Skinwalkers aren’t even real you idiot!” I snapped out of my haze and continued to the bathroom. I finished in there and walked out. Before returning to bed I peered towards my front door. Something was blocking the window.
There is a porchlight so I could tell something was there. I thought that maybe it was a desk I ordered that might have shown up sometime after I went to sleep. I watched the mass for about 5 seconds when my heart dropped. I watched as the mass slowly shrank below the window of the door. I started to hear the whimper again, this time muffled by the front door. I laid my back behind the wall by the stairs and pulled out my phone. I started to dial the number of one of my neighbors, Paul. I called Paul because he is a professional hunter. He has a lot of weapons so he was the best choice. He didn’t pick up the first 2 calls but picked up the third. In a groggy, annoyed voice he said “What”. “I need help, ther- there is something at my door whimpering,” I said, my voice trembling. “Like what?” this time he sounded more interested. “Um, I’m not sure.. I think of some sort of animal,” I said. “Hold on…” I heard the phone scuffle around a bit then he spoke again. “Looks like a small dog,” he said. His bedroom window had a perfect view of my front door. “Please don’t think I’m crazy but I swear I saw it shrink,” I said feeling like an idiot. “…” dead silence. “Hello?” I asked. “Did you say shrink?”. “Uh, yeah…wh-why?”. He paused for a moment and started up again “Here’s what I want you to do, stay where you are. Try not to make any noise. If anything changes you need to tell me ok? I’m gonna grab my rifle” he said confidently. “O-Okay,” I whispered.
About 2 minutes passed. I could hear Paul moving and doing stuff in his house. Finally, he came back on. “Alright, I’m gonna open the window,” he said. I peered around the corner and looked out the transom window. I could see his window slide open. I heard him rack his rifle. “Alright,” he said. I waited about 3 seconds until Paul spoke up again. “I… I don’t see anything there?” As he said this I realized that the whimpering had ceased. “I can’t hear the whimper anymore,” I said. “That’s not good… Listen. I need you to make a decision. Either make a run for my house or I make a run to you.” he exclaimed. “Well you have the gun so could you come here?” I said. He sighed “Alright… I’m coming” He hung up the phone. About 8 seconds later I heard his front door opening from my bedroom window. It took around a minute but finally, I heard a knock on the door. Relief washed over me. I started to walk down the stairs. About halfway down Paul shouted out to me. “It’s safe to come to the door! Hurry”
I sped up and started to unlock the door when I remembered what my grandpa said. “It can make sounds like a scream or mimic the voice of a loved one or friend to drag you in.” I stopped in my tracks and started to back up from the door. I headed back up the stairs and decided to peer out my bedroom window. There in the street was Paul, not moving. I turned white as a ghost. The person at the door wasn’t Paul. It was the creature. I didn’t know what to do next but I came up with a plan. I was gonna distract the creature by throwing something behind my house. When I knew it was there I was gonna run out the front door into the street and grab Paul’s gun. When the creature comes back around I will shoot it in the head. Hopefully killing it. If Paul knew what it was he must have had silver bullets loaded. I grabbed a vase from the hallway and headed toward the bathroom again. I slowly started to open the window. I made sure the coast was clear and dropped the vase onto the ground. I heard the creature scurry away from the front deck. I quickly ran towards the front door. I unlocked it and swung it open. I made a break for Paul. His throat was sliced and there was a pool of blood around his head. I grabbed the gun and looked toward my house.
I shouted at the creature asking it to show itself. The road fell silent. After about 10 seconds I saw it galloping out from the side of my house on all fours. I raised the rifle and shot, Closing my eyes… My eyes peeled open. The creature was in a fetal position on the ground, back onto me. This thing must have been 10 feet tall. It was huge. I racked the rifle and started to approach. Slowly but surely I crept my way up towards its body. I was about 6 feet away. I raised the rifle again, this time aiming for the head. I pulled the trigger. The thing jumped up and ran away into the woods, whimpering the whole way. Finally, This thing was over. I pulled out my phone and called 911. I explained what happened, not expecting them to believe me. At this point, a few neighbors down the road were woken up by the gunshot and came to see what happened. The police arrived in about 15 minutes. Soon after that Black vans with tinted windows rolled up. Government. I knew right away why they were there. I was questioned all night. I wasn’t allowed to stay in my house for about a month. I didn’t want to stay either. The government offered to buy the house after I expressed my urge to leave. I sold it for a little bit less than I bought it for. I bought a one-way ticket to Winnipeg and got out of there.
It’s been about 2 weeks. I’ve since moved back with my parents and don’t plan on leaving anytime soon. I had to board up the windows in my bedroom because I couldn’t bring myself to sleep in there. I can’t stay home alone either or else I’ll start panicking. For now, I’m gonna stay with my parents until I get over it. I think I’m going to get a place in the city so there are no woods. It’s safe to say my dream has changed. I’m done with the woods forever.