Creeps, true stories from Reddit (Second book)

Milk and Cookies

"I'm here," he said, pressing his forearms against his creaking knees to get to his feet, "to keep a promise, an old, old promise. I come here every week because that's all I got left. Ain't much left in the world for me, no wife, no kids, no job. But a man's gotta be true to his word. If he don't got that little bit left, well... then he ain't much of a man, is he."

I had to nod to keep him going. He gestured at something behind him, shifting out of the way to let me see. A pair of pale doors jutted out from the junk, looking so much like the entrance to some ancient crypt. The old man pulled one of the doors open, the shriek of the hinges carrying through the still night air.

Even from a distance, I took in the thickness of that door. I quickly closed the distance between us. The man placed the milk and cookies behind the threshold of the door and pulled it shut. He reached out a hand in greeting and introduced himself as Miller. He didn't say if that was his first or last name.

"Back of a refrigerator truck," he said, giving the door a slap. The dull smack again reminded me of how thick the walls were. "I guess you're curious as to why I'm here every week. It's a long story, and one I haven't told to many people. I'm old now, ain't got many years left. My bones ache in the rain and it hurts more and more every day. Guess it's worth telling."

His voice seemed to gain strength, a rich baritone instead of the weak, cracked sounds earlier.

"This was back in the old days, before the Second World War. I never served of course, too young then. I must have been nine maybe ten years of age. We didn't have all these newfangled toys and computer thingies..." he pronounced the unfamiliar word slowly, his jaw working around the edges of the syllables, "that you have nowadays. "Back then, we'd play wherever we could. Cowboys and Injuns, Cops and Robbers. No television either. That was for the rich folk. This yard has been here longer than I have. We had forts on hills of trash, played soldiers, everything kids ought a be doing. That day was hide and seek, and old one game but a great one for a place like this."

"I wasn't a big kid. Didn't win at most of the games we played, but I was going to win this one. I'd seen this big ol' refrigerator unit here before, right on the edge of the yard back then, and I knew exactly wheres I was gonna be hiding. I was small, yeah, but I was a fast 'un. May not look like it now, but I got away from the pack of them even before the count had reached twenty. Didn't want no one else to hide in here with me."

"It was dark in there. Cool, too. Before I closed the door, I could see that some of the junk had made its way into the truck unit over time. Last thing I remember seeing was that one line of daylight before I pulled this here door shut. At first, there was nothing but the sound of my breathing, bouncing off the walls. I imagined that I would always win at hide and seek from then on. I counted breaths and heartbeats till I got bored. Then I realized that there wasn't a handle on the inside."

I could see his hand starting to shake as he remembered that old fear. He clenched his fists to stop the shakes, and when the balled fists themselves started quivering, he put his hands in his pockets.

"It took me awhile to realize the game was over. I'd been in the dark for a long time. Too long. I threw my entire weight at the door. I hit the walls till my hands were bloody. I screamed till my throat hurt."

His Adam's Apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed at the memory.

"Then I sat to wait. I must have fallen asleep. How can you tell if you're asleep when you're all alone in the darkness? You can't, boy. You can't. I got thirsty first. Then hungry. It's the only way I knew time was passing. I felt the hope go out like the sun setting. I yelled in that dark place. I called out to God but he didn't answer. I would've called out to ol' Nick himself, if I had dared. I cried. For hours there in the dark I cried, the sound bouncing offa those thick walls, till the air was filled with the sound of tears and sobs. I thought I was going to die. You ever been close to death, boy?"