“It all started small; my dog barking at the woods. I’d always just let him in, not questioning it. He wasn’t the smartest dog and he barked at things a lot…so it never alarmed me much.
Then, one night, my friend and I were on the swings at night. The night was eerie. The air was a bit too still. It was a bit too foggy; a bit too dark; and a bit too quiet. We faced opposite directions so that we were always alert.
I faced the woods. I didn’t like facing the woods because , as dark as it was, it was easy for my eyes to play tricks on me. Sometimes, we’d even go inside early because we couldn’t tell if something was a person or tree. Rumors of cults and homeless camps in the woods would go through my mind on nights like these.
We were camping out that night.
My friend looked at me, terrified. As she quickly got off the swing, I heard loud, fast footsteps approaching.
We ran to the porch and hid behind some chairs, peering over them to see what the sound was.
Nothing.
No person. No people. Nothing. There was nothing.
“Maybe it’s just paranoia.”
My friend and I went to the tent and laid down to sleep.
Then, we heard something.
“crunch…crunch…crunch”
The footsteps were getting closer.
I looked at my friend and my friend looked at me. We were terrified. She slowly put her pointer finger over her lips, careful not to make a single noise.
The zipper on the tent jingled. “Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz” It unzipped.
Then, I saw it.
I remember it so vividly.
I’ll never forget it.
It was tall…with thin, boney, long fingers and arms. Its eyes were small, piercing, and soulless. It had the biggest, most fake, ear-to-ear smile…and no nose. It was skinny. No; Skin and bones. It didn’t have much hair; maybe a few visible strands.
It reached into the tent, waving its long, boney hand, looking for something frantically.
It grabbed her by the hair and quickly pulled her out of the tent. She let out the most heart-wrenching, blood-curdling scream I’ve ever heard to this day.
She was reported missing the next morning. I’ve been in and out of psychiatric hospitals since then. Partially because of the trauma and partially because people thought I was crazy. When the police asked me what I had seen, I told them exactly what I saw that day. But nobody believed me. I was put in a ward and marked as “psychotic.”
It’s been 3 months since she went missing. I just recently got out of the hospital. They found her body…arms, hair, and face all ripped off.
I quit going outside at night after that. What was that thing? What did it want? And where is it now?
These are all questions that will remain unanswered. Although, deep down, I know it’s still out there…lurking, waiting for its next victim.
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This story was made by Natalie W on 3/29/24.