I’ve never been back to the woods again. “Monsters aren’t real,” my mom used to tell me that, but after this very one encounter I realised she might have liked to me. I still don’t know what I saw or heard and what it was. This is my story.
The wind howled as the silver moonlight filtered through the thin clouds. Stars sparkled and dotted in the inky night sky. I cuddled under my bed with my wife and embraced her sleeping body. Lying down, I sunk into the freshly washed sheets and stared at the dark ceiling of my house. I dozed off letting my mind slip into the dream realm.
I was awoken by a sharp yelping and barking. “Must be Bailey…” I mumbled and rubbed my blurry eyes thinking that he just wanted to do his business. I peeked out the frosty window, it was near Christmas so the temperature was rather cold. Shuffling, I made my way down the stairs and spotted Bailey barking furiously out of the window. He was growling and pacing around with boundless energy.
I glanced at what he was barking. Nothing. Shadows danced around the nearby forest as Bailey continued to yelp and bark at whatever he was looking at. I pushed open the main door and Bailey bolted out in lightning speed, he speed off to the forest as I watched his shape consume and disappear in the creeping darkness.
I chased after Bailey in a desperate attempt to return him home. Bailey must have entered the woods because I found myself soaking with sweat and panting in the middle of five skeletal trees that loomed over me. I scanned the area in search of my dog when I heard it. It was so clear. “Martin? What’re you doing?” It came from behind me and sounded like my wife. Whipping my head around, I was stunned to see nothing.
“Martin? Martin what’re you doing? In the woods so late at night?” the voice said again but this time it sounded metallic and raspy. It came from deeper into the woods now. I blinked and furrowed my eyebrows in puzzlement. Pulling out my flashlight, I turned it on emitting a strong beam of light chasing the shadows away. And that was when I saw it.
I didn’t see the full body of that creature it was just horribly hideous. The creature was hairless and bald, it had human-like fingers but they were way too long to be human. The legs of the creature were crooked and disfigured, it looked as though they were all broken. It was skinny for all I could tell. My eyes were fixed on that thing with terror. The last thing I saw was its face. It was bald, its face was long and didn’t seem to have any mouth of nose. Just eyes. Many many eyes around the creature’s face. This entity let out a shriek which turned into a cackle, it sounded as though it was laughing.
I ran like hell back to my house and hid under my covers only to see my wife sleeping soundly. Till today, I haven’t seen this creature or whatever the f**k it is again.