Why I Can't Sleep at Night.

The Tall Man in the Woods: Day 2

After dinner we had to go to bed Kurt slept on the top bunk I slept on the bottom. "What happened today in the woods?" I asked shakily part trying not to signal to his parents we were still awake part because I was anxious. "I don't know what you mean." He answered "Kurt you were just standing there staring at nothing. I was honestly scared." "Have you noticed anything weird lately?" His question catches me off guard. "Like what exactly?." Nothing really comes to my mind right away. "Forget it I'm going to bed" Kurt says. I lay in silence for a couple of minutes thinking of what he meant.
    I must of dozed off the sun is shining directly on my face so it's impossible to go back to sleep. Looking at the clock it is 6:45. I get up to go pee but something feels .....off. Shaking the bed "Kurt wake up." No response I try to climb the ladder but it melts under my weight and I'm sent flying to the ground. With a thud the breath is knocked out of me pain spreads through my back I wince and wine then it's gone. Standing back up looking around I'm confused. I'm in the woods right we're I found Kurt yesterday. It's still sunrise but the sun is going back down? That's when I notice it.
    In the distance there is a figure I can't see any details but it's just standing there staring at me? All of my thoughts are just questions right now not being able to discern and true form for the figure it's like someone ripped a man shaped hole in a painting and placed it on a black wall. I try letting out a cry for help but nothing comes out I am unable to move. That's when the figure starts toward me. Every step it takes makes a loud creaking noise almost like a wood floor under immense weight.
    I wake up. Drenched in sweat. I've had nightmares before but this one seemed so.... real. There's a knock on the door which almost makes me jump out of bed. "It's time to wake up!" Kurt's mother says. It's 10:00am Kurt's mom is cooking breakfast while him and I play the Xbox. "What did you want to do today Grim?" "Anything is fine really. Although I'd kinda prefer to just stay around the house it's supposed to rain today." "Oh come on what's the fun in that a little bit of mud never hurt anyone." I just said okay with a sigh. Honestly my nightmare has me kind of shaken right now. I can't shake the feeling of it.
After breakfast Kurt insisted we go back into the woods. I was somewhat scared the first time coming in here but now I'm holding onto every breathe I take. My eyes darting here and there checking my surroundings. "What's gotten into you Grim? Are you scared?"
"What? No! what's there to be scared of?" I respond acting as tough as possible honestly I just didn't want to be made fun of. "You haven't heard the story?" I pause for a moment wondering if I really want to ask. " What story?" "Story of the tall man in the woods." I stop in my tracks and feel like I'm going to throw up. Part of me is curious harvesting doubt there's no way it correlates with my dream I tell myself. "I don't think Ive heard that one." "Whelp it goes like this." Kurt says as we continue walking towards our bases.
"A semi sorta long ago not so long ago time ago. There was a man who lived in these woods. He wasn't very social to the other townsfolk and stayed all alone in a tiny little cabin. He hunted and farmed his own food. He started his hunting season like any other but couldn't find a single animal. The deer stopped feeding the fish stopped swimming and the birds stopped flying. Hell even the squirrels stopped climbing." He pauses
"What the heck." Kurt says running towards his base. Most of his base is on the ground sticks are broken in half his leaf pile was scattered. "What happened did you do this?" Kurt asked accusingly " Why would I tear your base down? I get no benefit from that."
Kurt lunges at me knocking me to the ground " DONT LIE TO ME!" Pushing him off "Calm down bro I didn't do it. Yesterday I was working on mine and barely even saw yours." "Where is yours?" He asked still angry "Beside that big tree further down the path" as soon as I pointed in the direction he took off. Now chasing Kurt through the woods. Finally catching up to him he's starring at my base the sticks are thrown about further down the trail immediately I know he couldn't of done it he didn't have enough time. "What the hell." We both stutter. The sticks almost form a path of their own. "Should we follow it?" I ask hesitantly. Without another word we follow the make shift stick trail.
"Can you tell me the rest of the story?" "Okay I guess. Basically there were no animals in the area this went on for months. With it being winter the hunter had only survived on melted snow and tree bark. One day he saw something at night and thought it was a deer so he shot it and killed it. But when he went to claim the body he realized it was one of the village kids. Desperate he... still ate the kid..." "That's really dark and fucked." "Yeah well it doesn't stop there. The village of course started searching for the kid finding a blood trail leading to the hunters cabin kicking in the door they stumbled upon the gruesome image. They tied the hunter to his own bed and then set fire to the cabin. It's said that every fall and winter he roams the woods at night time in search for another kid to eat."
"Where did you hear a story like that?" I ask in disbelief. "Oh Roger told me about it." Roger is Kurt's Step dad he's always been kinda brash I guess you could say he would make really mature jokes around us and cussed a lot too. He wasn't ever mean to me when I came over just very unfiltered. "Honestly I'm not surprised." I chuckle trying to lighten up the mood. We reached the end of the stick trail and honestly didn't really see anything so we continued in the direction it was leading.
*Creaaaak* under us the freaking sound of a wood floor. I freeze up the sound was eerily familiar. "What is it Grim?" "I've heard that noise before." "Yeah no duh its a wood floor." He swipes his feet left and right through the leaves kicking up black dust with it too. As he's kicking he hits something with a thud and a metallic ringing noise. It's part of a burnt wooden door on the floor. "You don't think this is.." "No there is no way." I help kick some of the leaves around and sure enough the ground is blackened around the area we are standing in.
    "Roger must of built a fire out here when he camps during hunting season. No big deal" Kurt says but I can tell he's just trying to reassure his self. "Do you maybe want to go back to the house? We can play some video games or watch a movie?" "I'm not just gunna let my base stay destroyed plus..." Kurt pauses while reaching towards the ground. "I just found a new front door." Sure enough he carries the burnt door  and heads back the way we came. "What if we work in one base together instead of separate ones? That way what happened earlier doesn't happen again." I ask honestly I didn't want to be even remotely alone in these woods. "I guess so but you'll have to do tones of work."
    Before heading to his base we pick up my sticks and torn socks along the way. We arrive at his base I implement the sticks in the ground technique but this time put them deeper and then cover the exposed stick some in a mud and spit mixture. Soon enough we both make decent progress basically almost done. Putting everything we had and more into this thing we were proud even if it was just sticks mud and part of a burnt door.
    "Now it's time to work on the inside!" Kurt says enthusiastically. At this point I just don't want to think about the story and the fact we found a burnt door in the middle of the woods then proceeded to take that said burnt door and use it for our base. So I go along. We dig some of the dirt out of the base almost like a bowl shape. Kurt starts throwing leaves into the little pit we made when I have an idea. "What I'd we put the leaves in a trash bag and make bean bag chairs?" "I knew there was a reason I let you help me." We rush to the house  so excited at this new thought that we don't think about the mud we just tracked in. As we burst out the door we are brought back to attention hearing Kurt's mother screaming "KURT, GRIM GET YOUR BUTTS BACK IN HERE AND MOP THIS UP."
    It took a whole 2 hours because his mom made us clean some other stuff as-well to make sure we think twice about running into the house like that again. We bring the bags and quickly stuff the leaves into them and plop them into the base. Relieved that we had finally finished the base we lay on them with a thud and they bust open. "I knew it was too good to be true." We just lay there a moment until noticing it was getting late. Hopping out of the base we start down the path when we hear that creaking sound again.
    I don't even want to turn around but do so. It's at our base pulling the door out of the ground before I can say or do anything. "GET AWAY FROM OUR BASE!" Kurt yells and pulls a knife out of nowhere. "Where the hell did you get that Kurt?" I am astonished as he runs towards the figure but as he gets closer he slows down and then heads in my direction. As he does the figure grows taller and taller then I realize. It's not getting taller it's getting closer. I am paralyzed with fear. I can't move. Kurt runs past me. "GET AHOLD OF YOURSELF."
    Kurt yanks my collar and I fall to the ground which snaps me out it. I catch up to him briefly looking back the figure gaining on us every time I look back. The way it runs gives me a headache because it's almost as if it's just gliding across the ground. I can see the trail entrance and try to pick up my speed... I trip smacking my face on the ground. My head is throbbing I can't move but I can feel the being getting closer and closer . It's above me but I'm too scared to open my eyes. Cold air hits my face I know isn't the wind. Wanting to scream but can't even force myself to. A growl fills my ears "GRIM." Kurt yells I open my eyes and.....
    Nothing is there. I stand up looking around  nothing is there. Many questions fill my mind. It couldn't of been in my head Kurt definitely saw it too. We don't really say anything when we get back to the house. "Well there he is!." I practically jump into my mothers arms breathing heavily. "What's gotten you all wound up?" My mom asks " I just missed you that's all."