The thing in the Woods, Dennis Gordon [reading in the dark .txt] 📗

                                                                               Chapter One                                                                                                                           Though the words that mark these pages from this point onward will no doubt be met with incredulity by any eyes that may fall upon them and though they will not hold up against any rational or sane scrutiny it occurs to me that I have little choice but to ignore that immutable truth and accurately record recent events in as great a detail as I am capable.
It is not lost upon me that events of this nature could, and indeed will, fly in the face of conventional wisdom and the church.
It is my fervent hope that there may come a time during the course of history in which this record poses no threat to obstinately held beliefs or religious dogma and therefore be viewed as it is intended.
For after much solicitude I have arrived at the conclusion that this force of nature is indeed ancient in the extreme and bares no resemblance to any creature ever recorded by man. And though I fear that this fauna hails from beyond this earthly realm naturalists the world over would no doubt trade their souls for naught but a glimpse of this creature.
Yet as for my part I could have found myself peaceably in my grave having never been the wiser of it’s existence.

It has occurred to me that this ….. thing may well precede even the great behemoths of pre history and, may the lord forgive me for this blasphemy, even God himself.
I can in no way convince myself that this is the creatures first encounter with man. I believe that there must be accounts of others who have been tragically acquainted with this creature and if I prove unsuccessful in my efforts to destroy it I can only assume that it will again know the taste of human misery and blood.
Perhaps my accounts may later be compared to others and provide some insight to any soul who may be so unfortunate as to have this curse visited upon them as I have. To the best of my knowledge it is singular in its existence and due to its unnatural, or perhaps supernatural, origins has no need of mate or progeny.
It may well be immortal by man’s Mayfly existence and mans exquisitely inadequate and no doubt pedestrian understanding of time. Our arrival in this world has indeed been recent by comparison and I have at some cost come to realize our place in it is most certainly not assured. Though two weeks ago I would have railed on to the contrary until I was blue in the face were someone to contest man’s absolute mastery and dominance of this world.

Hubris has undone greater men than I and if this record is to thrice serve as requiem, epitaph and warning let me say that I was wrong. We are helpless prattling infants in this world and indeed this universe. And I can only hope that we survive our ignorance, as well as arrogance as a race for I have accepted the fact that I will not survive it as a man. I pray that God is watching over us diligently for if his attention is diverted for even the briefest of moments I fear we are doomed.

All around us there exist forces far beyond our ken and in the absence of divinity I fear we will fall into shadow and perish from this earth for all time.

August 24th 1832

I glimpsed the creature today but for an istant. Yet that moment saw me frozen in terror and seemed an eternity. Until that very moment I had afforded myself the juvinile luxury of chance. The remote chance that it was all but a dream and no more real than the desert mirages of water on the arid sands of the African desert plains. Mirages too can do harm, as soldier after soldier would be driven mad at the sight of life giving water that did not exist. Yet harmful those mirages proved controlable. Or at least the desires they created were. But this is no mirage. No illusion that can be dismissed by pure force of will. It is all too real. And I can no longer assuage my fears with such childish notions.

Publication Date: 08-07-2017

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