The Decision

The Decision

The tall man standing at the edge of the Haunted Forest looked directly at Siggford, waved, and disappeared. Perhaps the villagers were right in advising him to take the long route around the forest instead of cutting through it. Siggford hesitated. He could feel the warmth of the morning sun beating on his back. As he brushed his sandy blond hair off his forehead he found he was already perspiring. Watching the dense forest in front of him, he considered his options. He could travel through the forest in a day, or take three days to walk around it. Shaking his head and rolling his eyes he set out towards the forest. He stayed up too late listening to the villager's tales of these woods. Someone probably made up the stories to discourage curious children from wandering off and getting lost in the trees. Entering the forest he felt uneasy, but nothing seemed unusual as he wandered on through the morning.

Around noon he found a stream meandering through a clearing where it ended in a pond. The clear water sparkled invitingly in the sunlight. It reminded him of a diamond he'd seen once. He stooped at the edge of the pond and reached in with both hands to cup the water when he realized what had been bothering him all morning. With his hands poised half way between the pond and his mouth, he strained to catch any sound. He could hear the stream running into the pond, but that was all. As he looked up from the pond a chill ran down his spine as he found himself face to face with the biggest man he'd ever seen.

Now why would he call that creature a man? True, it stood on two feet and had hands and a face which resembled a man, but that thing was not a man. It was covered in matted brown fur from head to foot with what appeared to be blood strewn liberally throughout its body. It smelled like a dead animal. Its mouth was closed, but two sharp teeth stuck out over its lower lip. The black eyes stared at Siggford, but they held no thought. Only emotion. It leaned back its head and howled a howl that shook the ground. Or was it just Siggford who was shaking?

Before he could move, or even react, the creature grabbed his arm and started pulling him out of the clearing and back through the forest.