This started about 3 long weeks ago, while I could still sleep for more than 30 minutes before jolting awake with paranoia. I sat on my porch, slowly and methodically rocking back and forth on my chair.
I lived in the country for the silence it provides, for the calm nights I can just drift away into my own reality, right there on my porch without a care in the world. But that night, as I closed my eyes and let sleep take its toll, something felt wrong.
Some people will start out stories stating simply that they “felt like something was watching me”. But as the sun finally tried to rest after a long day, it honestly did feel like something was different. It’s quite difficult to describe, but unlike the other nights, I sensed something out of place. It might’ve been that the birds stopped singing their songs, or maybe the fact that the air turned almost ice cold, sending shivers across my skin and, quite literally, my spine.
I opened my eyes, and my attention was immediately drawn toward the thicket of trees that blocked the horizon from my admiration. There wasn’t enough light for me to see behind the clusters of trees at the front of the forest, but just enough for me to briefly spot movement.
Yes, in that instance, it could have been the wind. Except that there was not a living soul that dare make any sound louder than a squeak. You might think that I got worked up over a little movement in the woods. But I’m a grown man, and just the sight sent my mind back into childhood. I had the urge to run inside, to cover myself in blankets, and the only thing that stopped me was my own dignity.
Something came over me, and I yelled out into the treeline. Not anything in particular, I just yelled. After, I immediately regretted it. Two bright lights, or eyes, appeared in the darkness and stared a hole into my forehead. I was frozen in fear and my legs wouldn’t respond, wouldn’t move, wouldn’t run. Even today, I still can’t forget those eyes. And just as quickly as they appeared, they were gone, leaving me staring at the empty spot where they once resided.
With that, my first night of terror ended. The next morning, in the comforting safety of the sun’s light, I went to search for anything behind the immediate trees at the front of the forest. After a reasonable amount of searching, I found what I was initially looking for: tracks.
They seemed to be the typical wolf tracks that I found every once in a while, but there were differences in these ones. The most noticeable attribute was their large size, more than 2 times the size of the largest tracks I’ve ever seen before. The less noticeable feature is how deep they were in the dirt. This…wolf had to have been over 450 pounds.
That night, I had a dreadful feeling of danger in every dark shadow of the night. I sat on my porch, my eyes darting and my heart beating faster with every movement that didn’t softly and methodically follow the wind. With every chirp, or crack, or growl, came more paranoia, and the only way I could try to compensate was to dig my fingernails deeper into the arms of my chair.
The sense of safety I previously had on my porch was now gone, a complicated feeling of dread having replaced it. All this time, I had not once taken my eyes off of the treeline, I didn’t dare give it a chance to advance. I had not picked up on any sort of clue that it was there, but my paranoia had already gotten the best of me. I slowly reached for my rifle, which I had previously leaned against the wall behind me. As my fingers gently touched the barrel, it showed itself. It gently opened its light yellow eyes and stared at me once again through bushes and trees alike. I made a quick firm movement to grab my rifle.
The eyes didn’t move, and neither did its body. I could just barely make out an outline of it, but only because it was unnaturally still and not moving with the wind. With unsteady, shaking hands, I aimed at the eyes, placing the barrel between them. I slowly inched my finger toward the trigger, hesitating to go farther, waiting for the gunshot. I closed my eyes as I finally jerked my finger back. A loud crack sounded, as birds flew away and the stiffness in my body left. I opened my eyes to a calm night. The eyes were gone.
I sat back in my chair and hesitantly set my rifle down. I sighed as common sense overtook the paranoia, and my mind settled for the explanation of “It was simply a wolf.” I was tired, probably because of the lack of sleep I had gotten last night. As I drifted off into sleep, with my blurry vision I tried to look toward the bright yellow stars that shined down on the forest. I started to relax, until a thought came over my head. I swore that the newspaper had said the forecast was cloudy for tonight. As realization came over me, I jolted up to look at the treeline, only to see dozens of eyes staring right back at me.
Author’s note: Hi! This is an idea of a story I would absolutely LOVE to continue! Rate fairly, and comment suggestions, feedback, and tell me if you would like to see me write more! Bye!