I walked through the woods one night. It was late, past midnight but I don’t remember by how much. I couldn’t sleep that night. I couldn’t sleep most nights during that time. I remember lying in bed next to him and I just couldn’t stand to be near him. I felt an immediate need to get away. So I threw on a sweatshirt and some shoes and started walking.

We live in a rural area. Our backyard opens up to a nature trail. It’s really lovely, honestly. When we found the house I dreamed of bringing a baby back there one day but that was back then, now I try to avoid those woods. Something pulled me towards it that night. I wouldn’t be able to explain it and even if I tried I don’t think anyone would believe me. I went into the woods and walked for a while.

I don’t know what I was thinking about. I don’t even know if I was able to keep my mind occupied. I think it was just blank, a clean white page with no words. It felt good to not have to think. It felt freeing to be out in the woods in the moonlight alone. Except, I wasn’t alone.

I hadn’t ever really walked too far into the woods before that night. I used to explore further and further each day when we first moved here. Then after it all happened, I stopped altogether. That night I had gone further than I had ever gone before. I found a clearing in the woods and I moved some branches so that I could look.

There was a group of people standing in a circle. They all wore dark robes and I couldn’t see any of their faces. There was something in the middle of the circle, I wasn’t able to quite make it out right away but it looked like it was a lump of something. The people were chanting something, not loud enough for me to hear it. When the chanting stopped, one person moved forward into the circle and knelt down. When they stood up again and rejoined the circle, the lump in the middle was beginning to burn. I leaned forward slightly to get a better look. The fire was growing bigger and hotter and I could see some of the faces. They were all older than me. I recognized some of them from the grocery store or the post office. One of them was even my neighbor.

Then, the screaming started. I jumped backwards at the sudden noise in the silent night. The lump in the middle of the circle that was on fire was screaming. I once again leaned forward and moved the branches. I could see the lump was a bag of sorts. It was wiggling excitedly. There was someone in the bag. These people were burning someone alive. I watched with wide eyes as the lump continued to scream and wiggle and the people just stood there still in a circle and held hands.

Eventually, the screaming stopped. Without thinking, I walked out into the clearing. I stopped just outside the circle.

“Is there a person in that bag?” I asked everyone. They were all silent. “Is there a person in that bag?” I repeated my question. I locked eyes with every single person in the circle and still no one answered me. I walked to the lump in the bag and found the charred zipper. I grabbed at it and it burned my skin but I needed to know. I needed to see inside the bag. I didn’t recognize the person inside the bag but they were definitely dead. I stood up and looked again at everyone. I stopped when I saw Linda, our mail lady. I walked up to her.

“You just killed that person.” I said. Slowly, she nodded. “Can you do that to my husband?” I asked her. She nodded again.

  10/29/2019

We were all hanging out one night in the treehouse my dad built me when I was a kid. Back when it was first built it was the spot for all of my friends. We had stock piles of snacks, drinks, games, comics, and we even had a couple pornos stashed up there. After a year or two it got old though, no one wanted to hang out in a tree house anymore. So we retired the hang out spot. A few years after that, it became cool again. We were up there almost every day after school. Now instead of snacks and games we had cigarettes and beer but the vibe was still the same, just a couple dudes relaxing after school. It was all I could have hoped for.

So anyway, we were all up in the treehouse drinking a couple forties and smoking some cigs. My parents were cool but they weren’t that cool. We had to keep an eye on the house every so often to see if someone was coming. We usually took turns as look out but this one particular night we had drank a little too much and our look out duties fell short. It wasn’t super late but it was dark out and my parents had gone to sleep. We were just finishing up our second forty each when we heard the back door open. It was a mad dash to hide the empty bottles and put out the cigarettes before either my mom or dad would be approaching.

“Will?” I heard my mom yell up. “Are you guys still up there?”

“Yeah,” I cleared my throat, “Yeah, we’re still up here.”

“It’s getting late. You should come down and get inside.” She said it in a way that made it clear it was not just a suggestion.

“Okay, we’re coming.” We started to descend the stairs. I was first with my two friends behind me. I don’t know if it was the nicotine that had my head spinning or the forty I had just chugged but I lost my footing and ended up falling the whole way down. I hit the ground with a thud and moaned in pain.

“Will? Oh my God are you okay?” My mom ran over to me. It was dark and she only had a small flash light to inspect my injuries. It was clear right away something was not right with my leg. It was bent at an angle that was entirely the wrong way. My friends made it to the ground without falling and both cringed when they saw my leg.

“Holy shit dude!” I couldn’t tell who said it. My head was swimming in alcohol and adrenaline.

“Okay, let’s get you to the hospital.” My mom said.

A few hours later I had sobered up and was in a lot of pain. My mom was not happy when I admitted I had been drinking but she stayed quiet about it. The leg was definitely broken but they said it was a clean break so they just needed to set it in a cast for a couple weeks and it should heal pretty well. I might need some physical therapy after but that was dependent on how good it was at healing. After my leg was put in the cast they sent us off with a brand new wheelchair and a hefty bill. As soon as it was just my mom and I she really reamed into me about the drinking. I was grounded for the next three weeks and the treehouse would now be subject to random searches. There goes our hangout spot, I thought. We’d find a new one though. Teenagers drinking beer always find a way.

A couple weeks with the cast on and it started to get really itchy. The doctor said it’s not an uncommon thing to happen. He said not to try and scratch it but I couldn’t help it. I was dying. My leg felt like it had a million little pins and needles poking into it and if I didn’t itch it I would literally go insane. I used a ruler mostly to get in underneath the cast and scratch the fucking daylights outta my leg. It felt so good when I finally got it I couldn’t stop. I kept scratching and scratching. Finally, my leg felt okay enough and I stopped. Every so often it would itch again and I’d grab the ruler and have at it. I didn’t think anything bad was gonna happen just from scratching my leg.

Not long after, there was a smell that came from underneath the cast. The doctor also said that there would probably happen. I wasn’t worried or concerned about it since the doc said it was normal. After a couple days, the smell got worse and worse. Soon it smelled like raw chicken after sitting outside in the sun all day. I couldn’t stand the smell of it. I tried to spray deodorant down under the cast but it wasn’t helping. Then the spray would drip down my leg and make me itch even more. It was torture. I couldn’t stand it anymore. I was so thankful when we finally went back to the doctor’s to get it taken off.

We had an early morning appointment that day. We got there twenty minutes before and sat in the waiting room. They called my name after we waited forty minutes which is just how doctor offices go I guess. My mom wheeled me back into the room. There was a small saw on the table. The doctor came in not long after and got everything set up.

“Alright, Will, you ready to get this thing off?” He asked me.

“More than ready.” I told him.

“Try not to move much when I’m sawing the cast otherwise I might get your freshly healed leg and that would not be good!” He said cheerfully. I started to get worried. The doctor leaned forward to get into position and caught of whiff of the cast. “Phew, good lord, boy! That sure is pungent.” I apologized embarrassedly.

He got to work with the saw and not more than ten minutes later he had cut the cast the whole way down. He put the saw on the counter and grabbed both sides of the cast and pulled it apart, freeing my leg.

The smell that wafted out hit our nostrils aggressively. Vomit rushed to my mouth from the bombardment. I looked down and saw maggots crawling all over my leg. I couldn’t hold the vomit back anymore and I it shot out of my mouth.

 10/29/2019

I never really fit in with anyone else. No one really talks to me at school. I’m just the loner kid with no friends. I eat lunch in the library with Mr. Nepum, at least he’s really nice to me. We talk about books all the time. I love to read. Mr. Nepum said he’s really impressed by my ability to read so fast. I just don’t have anything else to do so why not get lost in a world that doesn’t reflect my own? But, yeah, I’m finally a senior in high school ready to graduate at the end of the year. I don’t know yet where I wanna go to college but I got into some really great schools. I’m kinda nervous about going to college because, well, what if I don’t fit in there either?

So one day, I was walking to the library with my lunch and Jeremy stopped me. He’s the hottest guy in our grade and he’s never spoken a word to me in my whole life. I got really scared at first because I thought he was just going to make fun of me like the popular kids usually do but he didn’t! He stopped me and looked me in my eyes and he said, “Sam, right?” I think I nodded my head in response but it’s all a blur at this point. He then said, “Cool. See you around, Sam.” And walked away! See me around? Jeremy wants to see me around?? I couldn’t believe it! I turned and watched him walk away and at the last second he turned back and winked at me. I can’t make this up, I swear. I was floating on clouds for the rest of the day.

A week later, Jeremy stopped me, again. Our winter formal was only a day away and it was always my least favorite time of year. Everyone was talking about what they were going to wear to the dance and who they were taking and it seemed like I couldn’t get a break from hearing about the stupid dance. When Jeremy stopped me he asked me if I was going to the dance.

“Oh, um, n-no I don’t usually go to dances.” I told him with my head down. He cupped my chin with his pointer finger and thumb and gently pulled my head up.

“Do you wanna go with me?” He asked me.

“Go? W-with you? To the- to the dance?” I stammered. He smiled.

“Yes, with me. Would you want to go to the dance with me?” He reiterated. I took a deep breath.

“Yes.” I replied. I shocked myself at how confident I sounded.

“Good. I’ll see you there.” His eyes lingered on mine for what felt like forever and eventually he ripped his gaze away and walked to class. The realization of what just happened came crashing down on me. I was going to the dance with Jeremy! Oh, God, what would I wear?

The rest of the day I internally freaked out about the next night. I had nothing that was winter formal appropriate. So after school, I drove off in the direction of the mall. I was determined to find something that would completely wow everyone. I didn’t want to be the loner kid anymore.

I looked all over the mall for a dress. I had this grand vision of a white Cinderella gown complete with the sparkly glass heels. I knew it was a lot but it was going to be my first and last winter formal. I wanted to look and feel like a million bucks, especially with Jeremy on my arm. I couldn’t find the dress I wanted anywhere. The last store I had to look in was the one where all the popular kids shopped. I was dreading going in there for fear I’d run into someone from school. As soon as I walked in I saw my fears had been correct. Amy and Stephanie were in the store and saw me as soon as I walked in. I bee-lined to the dress section and tried to shrink myself down as much as possible in hope of avoiding confrontation.

“Well, well, look what the cat dragged in.” Amy said to me. My heart shrank.

“You’re the last person we expected to come in here.” Stephanie said. I kept looking through the dresses, not wanted to engage. “What are you doing in here?”

“You’re not going to the dance tomorrow night, are you?” Amy laughed. My face reddened. “Oh my God, you are going to the dance tomorrow night!” They both laughed now. “Who is dumb enough to commit social suicide and take you?” She asked. “Is it Roy?” Roy was the nerdiest guy in our school. I was starting to get annoyed.

“For your information, it’s not Roy.” I said finally looking up at them. “Jeremy asked me.” I felt my face grow even hotter.

“Jeremy?” Amy raised her eyebrows.

“Like, Jeremy, Jeremy?” Stephanie asked.

“Yes. He asked me today at school.” I told them both. They started to laugh hysterically.

“No way, that’s so mean! Why would Jeremy do that to you?” Amy said between cackles.

“Aw Sam, sweetie,” Stephanie said with what I assumed was meant to resemble kindness in her voice, “Don’t go to that dance. Trust me. Jeremy is only playing a game with you, having fun. There’s no way he’d actually want to go to the dance with you.” They tried to pull it together and stop laughing but their mouths kept twitching. I felt tears threaten to come to my eyes. Without saying anything I turned on my heel and walked out of the store.

Were Amy and Stephanie right? Was Jeremy just playing a game? The way he looked at me seemed genuine, like he really wanted to go with me. On my way out of the mall I saw something in a shop window out of the corner of my eye. It was my Cinderella gown. The one I had pictured in my head so perfectly, how had I walked right past it? I stood in the corridor and stared at the dress. Screw it, I thought, I’m going to that dance whether or not Jeremy is my date. I marched into the store and bought the gown.

The next day I made it through most of the classes before I saw Jeremy. He called out my name.

“Hey, Sam, I’ll see you tonight, right?” He asked me. His eyes seemed so kind. I didn’t want to believe it was a joke.

“Tonight…riiight.” I said. “Y-you do want to go with me don’t you?” He laughed softly.

“Of course I want to go with you, I asked you didn’t I?” He replied.

“Yeah, it’s just….” I paused. “Amy and Stephanie said this was just a joke?” I cringed at myself for how stupid I sounded. I saw his eyes harden.

“They said that?” I nodded. “Those stuck up cunts. Listen, no this is not a joke. I want to go to the dance with you. I swear I’m not dicking you around. Please, will you go with me?” I stared at him and slowly I nodded. “I’ll see you outside the school at 8.” He leaned in and kissed my cheek. When he pulled away he walked off without turning back.

The time moved slowly for the rest of the day. I was counting down the minutes until 8 PM when I would see Jeremy outside the school and I would have on my Cinderella dress and he would look very handsome in his suit and we’d go inside together and show Amy and Stephanie that this wasn’t a joke. I felt revitalized. I wanted to walk inside the school with confidence and prove I could be something more than what everyone knew me as. When the final bell rang I practically ran outside to my car and sped off. I wanted as much time as possible to perfect my look.

I finally finished getting ready just in time to be able to meet Jeremy outside the school. I pulled my car into the lot and took a deep breath. It was now or never. I got out and started to walk towards the front doors. I hadn’t realized I was holding my breath until I let it go once I caught sight of Jeremy. God, did he look handsome. When he saw me his whole face broke out into a smile. I found myself smiling back.

“Wow, Sam, you look incredible.” He handed me a single red rose.

“Thank you.” I held the rose in my hand. “You look very handsome.” I told him. He thanked me and offered his arm to me. I hesitated a little bit and Jeremy noticed.

“This isn’t a joke, Sam.” He said. “Let’s go inside and have the time of our lives.” He was right. I grabbed his arm and we walked inside.

Half way through the dance I spotted Amy and Stephanie. Jeremy and I were out on the floor dancing and when we left to grab drinks, I saw them both walking towards me.

“So, are you having a good time?” Amy asked me. Stephanie smirked.

“Yes, I am. Jeremy and I are having a lovely time.” I steeled myself.

“Enjoy it while you can because I think Jeremy is ready to move on.” Stephanie jerked her head in the direction of the drink table. I looked over and saw Jeremy standing there with Tara. Tara and Jeremy had dated for most of our high school experience and they broke up when they found out they’d be attending different colleges. A slow song had started playing and I watched Jeremy put down our drinks and pull Tara onto the dance floor. I fought back my tears.

“Told ya.” Amy said. She winked at me and they both walked away. I felt like I had deflated. I watched Jeremy and Tara dance and silently allowed my tears to fall. They spun in a circle and when Jeremy was facing me he smiled at me. I couldn’t stay any longer and watch this happen. As I ran out of the gym I heard Jeremy calling for me. I ran to my car and yanked open the door. I started the engine and drove away.

As I was driving down the road my phone started to vibrate. I looked at it and saw an incoming call from an unknown number. When it finished ringing I got a notification I had a new voicemail. I held it to my ear and listened.

“Sam, it’s Jeremy. I don’t know why you just ran off like that. I know it probably didn’t look good, me dancing with Tara, but she told me her dog just died and I thought she’d feel better if we danced for one song. I should have told you first, I’m sorry. Please come back to the dance. I was having a really great time and-“

Before I could finish listening to what Jeremy had to say, I lost control of the car and slammed into a tree at full force. I felt my body being tugged forward but my seatbelt dug into my chest and kept me inside the car. The air bag deployed and knocked me backwards. I woke up some time later, I had no idea how long it had been. I got out of the car and walked to the road. I could see police lights speeding towards me. I waved my arms back and forth to get their attention. They pulled off to the side of the road where my car was wrapped around a tree. I walked back to the car and waited for the police to join me. When I got close enough to my car I saw something inside the driver’s seat. I walked closer and in the flashing red and blue lights I saw myself, with blood dripping from my head, still as a statue.

  10/29/2019

A woman sat on her couch and watched the news. She had just gotten her Christmas decorations down from the attic and she slowly went through them. She opened a box and picked apart the contents taking each object in her hands and letting her mind wander back to where ever she had obtained said object. In the background she heard the news reporter speaking and her ears perked up.

“A man was found murdered in his home last night off of Sarah Street. Officials are saying he’s the latest victim of the Nut Cracker, a Christmas time serial killer who has been active only in the month of December for the last three years. People are urged to lock their doors and not go outside at night alone. We’ll have another report on the Nut Cracker coming up at six. Back to you, Josh.”

“Thank you, Evan. In sports this weekend…”

The woman tuned out after they had finished talking about the town’s infamous serial killer. The Nut Cracker had been killing for three years, just like the report said. Back in 2015 the first murder was a shock to the community. There were four more that December, each one worse than the last. The police were beside themselves. They didn’t have any leads to go off of and each murder was so different from the last. When the New Year hit everyone expected more murders to happen. People were running to the local hardware store to buy every lock they had. It was a small town and everyone was convinced they’d be next.

There were no more killings, though. Not in January, not in February, not in March, and so on. People started to get comfortable again. The police thought it must have been someone from out of town who was around for Christmas and then they left after and the killing stopped. The people of the town were free to walk around at night again, to leave their front doors open. When the next December came people had tried to forget about the previous year’s murders. They were on guard but not completely frantic like the year before. The first murder that year happened in the first week of December. The killing was different though. The police suspected a copycat killer trying to imitate the original. They were wrong, it was the same killer. They had just honed in on their craft, figured out how they wanted to kill.

The first year the murders were crude and bloody. One of the victims was stabbed, one was suffocated, and the others were killed in different ways. There was no real rhyme or reason to the method. It seemed impulsive with no pre thought out plan whatsoever. The second year was when it all started to come together. Each murder was the same. The police were certain now that they were dealing with one killer. The killings more than doubled the second year going from five the first year to fifteen the second. Whoever was killing the town folk was on a rampage.

The details about the murders didn’t come out at first. The police thought if they gave people the details it would just cause more panic so they kept it all hush hush. Eventually it came out. Each person who had been murdered had been male. None of the houses were broken into indicating that they had let the killer into their home willingly. They were all found naked, duct taped to a chair, with their testicles removed. From what the forensics could determine it was a dull knife that cut off the testicles, one at a time. Only one testicle was found at the crime scenes, always sitting on the kitchen counter and always smashed open like a grape that you squish between your fingers. Because of this detail the reporters gave the serial killer the name the Nut Cracker. The people in the town didn’t appreciate the morbid humor but unfortunately the name stuck.

The next year was much the same. The killings started up again in December and each victim was male with the testicles removed and one crushed and one missing. The missing testicles have never been recovered. The third year there was twenty victims. Then in January the killings stopped altogether. People were no longer letting their guard down. All year round they looked at their neighbors with side eyes trying to figure out which one of their own had been murdering every year.

The woman didn’t give in to the hysterics. She kept her head down and didn’t engage in anyone’s questioning or accusations. There had been quite a few over the years. The police would come knocking on someone’s door from an ‘anonymous tip’ AKA their neighbor snooped and thought they might be the Nut Cracker but nothing of any value ever came from these. The killer was still at large and now that it was another December people were even more frantic. The woman stayed out of it all. She couldn’t be bothered. All she wanted to do every December was decorate for the holidays. She loved this time of year even if there was a serial killer living in the town.

She opened up another box and looked down into it lovingly. It was all her Christmas ornaments she had collected over the years. Some of them were from her childhood and said things like ‘Baby’s First Christmas’. Some of them were her school time crafts back in grade school and were badly glued together and nearly falling apart. She knew she should throw them away but she felt nostalgic for them. Underneath those were her favorite ornaments of all. She kept them separate in another box so they wouldn’t break. She opened the box and pulled one out, holding it up to her face. She peered into the glass ornament and the blood glistened from the dim lights that hung on the tree.

  10/25/2019

Can I tell you a secret? I think someone’s trying to kill me. Actually, I know they are since they told me point blank they would kill me if I ever told anyone about this. But I have to tell someone.

I’ve always felt…different than everyone else. In high school I was the kid who didn’t fit in with anyone, not even the misfits. I was the one lone wolf and no one wanted to be friends with me or talk to me. I got bullied. Not a whole lot, but you know, enough to make it mean something to me. I always wondered what was wrong with me. There’s just something that makes people think I’m a werido and a loser. But that’s why when I’m online I can be something…else. People don’t know me as me, you know? They don’t know Calvin the weird guy who doesn’t have friends. They know C.C Andre, the esteemed smut writer.

I know what you’re thinking: a smut writer? What the fuck is that? I write stories about sex. People having sex with each other, people having sex with household objects, people having sex with animals, animals having sex with animals, etc. Basically anything that can have sex with something else, I’ve written it. I get people emailing me requests for stories all the time. I don’t actually want to write about someone fucking their pet dog but people idolize me. They tell me how great my stories are and how rock hard they get when they read my words. That’s all I’ve ever really wanted. I feel like I’m almost needed, you know?

I know, I know. It’s fucked up. I decided recently I was going to stop writing them altogether. And I swear, I was going to but then I got an email from someone. It was an anonymous email, most of them are, but that wasn’t the weird part. I’ll just copy and paste what this person sent me:

“C.C. Andre,

I hope this email finds you well. I have a request for you to write a story. I’ve attached a file to this email. Watch the video. Memorize the video. I would like for you to transcribe every single detail. I mean, every single detail, down to the last hair. I am entrusting you to not share this video with anyone else. I hope I wouldn’t have to threaten you but if you do share the video I will know, and I will kill you.

I am willing to pay any price you name. I look forward to hearing back from you.”

None of this was really strange to me. I mean, sometimes people send me pictures of their furry suits to use as reference but no one had ever sent a video before. I had just assumed it was a at home porno some couple made. I opened the link without thinking twice. What I saw on that video…it was…it was something else.

The video opened up in the woods. There were trees all around, you couldn’t see past the thick bunches of leaves. The camera was shaky. Whoever was holding it seemed nervous. You could hear their heavy breathing. They walked further into the woods and eventually came upon a clearing. They put the camera down on a tree stump and stood in front of the lens. The person was a man and seemed to be in his early forties. When he got in front of the camera he stopped for a couple seconds. He looked like he was listening for something. When he was satisfied with whatever he was waiting for he began to undress. He slowly unbuttoned his shirt and folded it. He started a pile of his clothes next to him. Next, he took off his jeans. He too folded those and added it to the pile. He waited for a second before taking off his boxers. I could see his boner through them already. I didn’t know what to expect from this. Maybe he was just in the woods alone and filming himself jacking off? Also not the most unusual request I’ve received. Finally, he took off his underwear and released his throbbing cock. It sprung over his boxer’s band with full force. He added those to the pile.

Once all the man’s clothes were folded neatly and he was stark naked in the woods, he slowly got down on his hands and knees. He stayed in that position for a long time. I waited five or so minutes before I started to skip ahead to see what would happen next. I finally saw motion behind him, in the woods. The leaves had moved just slightly. I played the video and waited again. I saw a hand or…a paw or something move the leaves. I couldn’t see a face. The hand receded back into the woods. I could hear a sound. It was like a grunt or like a snort. It sounded almost pig like or a noise only an animal could make. The man in the video heard it too and a grin broke out across his face. He started to work his cock in his hand, pumping up and down at a fast pace. The grunt happened again, closer this time as if whatever was making the sound was behind the camera. The man looked up at the camera and moaned. It sounded more like a battle cry than a moan. There was a noise then that sounded like a bark. The man immediately stopped touching himself and looked down at the ground. Nothing happened for another ten minutes. I waited and waited but there was no more noises and the man was as still as a statue. I almost thought the video had frozen because of how still he was. Eventually though, whatever was standing behind the camera, whatever had been making those noises started walking towards the man. I don’t know what that thing was. I can’t tell you with any confidence or surety but I can tell you what I saw.

The thing was huge. I’m talking seven or eight feet tall kind of huge. Mother fucker was big too, at least a couple hundred pounds. I thought it was a bear at first with all the hair it had. It was covered head to toe in brown hair. The hair looked a little straggly. It seemed almost like a combination of human hair and fur. I guessed it must have been a furry suit someone created. Kinda weird, but again, nothing I haven’t seen before. The weird part is what happened next. The creature or the man in the furry suit or whatever the fuck that thing was mounted the guy on his hands and knees and started to fuck him. When I say it started to fuck him, I cannot emphasize this enough, it fucked him. I could have sworn there was something wrong with the file. The thing moved faster than any normal human could have. It continued for forty five minutes. I’m not kidding. I watched every single fucking second. I tried to see if there was some kind of loop happening but it wasn’t on a loop. It was real time happening for forty five minutes. Eventually the guy started to bleed basically everywhere. There was blood streaming down from his ass, blood was coming out of his eyes and nose. Halfway through, he wiped his face and saw the blood covering his hand. He didn’t seem worried or scared he fucking smiled. He took his bloodied hand and started masturbating with it. I was disgusted. I couldn’t watch another minute yet I watched the whole thing. Then I watched it again, and again. I had to make sure I was actually seeing what I was seeing.

When the creature was done fucking the guy it, I’m assuming from the insane growl it let out that it had come inside the man. The creature moved backwards to remove itself from the man’s ass and put its hands on the man’s waist. It flipped the guy onto his back and with one swipe it opened up the man’s midsection. His intestines spilled out of his body and the man screamed. He screamed and screamed. The creature grabbed the intestines and shoved it into the man’s mouth to muffle his screams. The man continued to scream through his own organs and tried to shake the creature off of him. But like I said, this thing was fucking huge, there was no way this man could buck it off. Eventually the man stopped screaming and he stopped fighting. He lay still and silent. The creature pulled the intestines out of the man’s mouth and put them in its own mouth and started to eat. It slurped it up like it was a plate of fucking spaghetti. When the creature was done it got up off the man and walked to the camera. I could finally see its face. It looked like the combination of a dog and a human. It picked up the camera and looked right into the lens. It growled one last time and the screen went black.

I don’t know what the fuck any of that was. I watched it over and over trying to decipher it but I couldn’t find any indication that it was a hoax. I started to do my own research. I felt like a fucking fool googling this shit. I looked up any creature I could think of and in my mind I’ve come to a conclusion. I think…that video is of big foot fucking a dude. I don’t know who sent it to me or how they got their hands on it but I can’t just fucking sit here and do nothing. This needs to be seen it needs to be researched. If anything, I need to know if it’s a fake so I can sleep better at night. I can’t be the only one who’s seen this.

I just heard someone open my front door. I think they’re coming for me. Please, I need you to watch this. I might not be alive anymore by the time you’ve finished watching and if you don’t hear from me send this to everyone you know. Reporters, bloggers, your friends, everyone needs to know the truth.

  10/24/2019

“Legend has it if you hear a baby crying between the hours of 2 AM and 4 AM it’s little Tabitha crying for help and if you fall for it, you’ll find Tabitha wrapped in a blanket with black eyes and when you look into her eyes you DIE.” Ryan whispered everything but screamed the last word. Everyone jumped except for Nicole.

“Oh, please. That’s the most ridiculous campfire story I’ve ever heard.” Nicole guffawed. “2 AM to 4 AM? What a ridiculous time frame! By the way, all babies cry between 2 and 4 it’s just like what they do.”

Ryan rolled his eyes. “It’s a STORY, Nicole. It’s not actually true. We’re just having fun, God. Why do you have to ruin everything we try to do?” The others in the group watched with wide eyes.

“Oh, I ruin everything? Well fuck you, Ryan. Fuck you all.” Nicole stood up and stomped up the steps. She left the front door, passing Ryan’s parents on the way.

“Leaving so soon, Nicole?” His mom called to her. Nicole stopped and slowly turned around to face Mr. and Mrs. Levy.

“Your son is a piece of shit.” She told them. Mrs. Levy’s jaw dropped. Mr. Levy tried to hide his laughter. Nicole turned back around and finished storming out of their house. She walked to her car and got behind the wheel. She felt tears start to well up in her eyes but she quickly blinked them away.

“Fuck them. I ruin everything? It’s not my fault they do dumb shit and I call them out on it. Fuck it. Whatever.” She tried to convince herself she didn’t need them and they were shitty friends anyway but she had a feeling she just did something she couldn’t take back easily.

Nicole drove back to her parent’s house and she unlocked the front door as quietly as she could. Her mom would go mad if she woke up Nicole’s sister. Emily was only a couple months old and if you woke her up she wailed until sunrise. Nicole tip toed upstairs and shut her door. She knew how to close the latch without making a sound. Nicole undressed and got into bed. She picked up the book that was on her nightstand and opened up to the page she had saved and started to read.

Nicole was reading for a while when she heard Emily start to cry. She unlocked her phone to check the time. It was 3:03 AM. Nicole couldn’t believe she had been reading for that long. She didn’t even feel that tired. Emily’s crying got louder.

“Ugh, mom will get it.” Nicole thought to herself and continued reading. Twenty minutes went by and Emily still cried. “How can mom not hear this?” She wondered. Nicole was starting to get annoyed with the crying and decided if Emily didn’t stop in ten more minutes she would go and check what was wrong.

Ten minutes went by and the crying continued. Nicole couldn’t even concentrate on her book anymore. She was too distracted by her little sister’s wails.

“This is ridiculous. Where the fuck is mom?” She asked herself. Nicole slammed the book shut and got out of bed. She walked over to Emily’s room and slowly opened the door and poked her face inside the room. Her sister was lying in the crib, wrapped up tightly in her blankets.

“She probably got tangled up and couldn’t undo it. That’s why she’s crying.” Nicole convinced herself. Something in the back of her mind was sending out warning signals. She tried to ignore them as much as she could and walked towards Emily. The closer she got the faster her heart started beating. She stood next to the crib and looked down at her sister. The blanket had covered her face. Nicole quickly picked Emily up and uncovered her face.

“What the fuck?” Nicole asked out loud. The baby in the blanket was not her sister, Emily. Panic ripped through her. Where was her sister? As Nicole was about to put the strange baby back into the crib its eyes shot open. Nicole glimpsed at them and furrowed her brow. She lowered her head to get a better look. The eyes were as black as the night sky.

     10/24/2019

“So when did you first start noticing, um, your hair?” The doctor asked.

“It was a few weeks ago. I had gone in for a haircut and when the lady snipped the first chunk I screamed from the pain.” The woman explained.

“Mmhmm.” The doctor mused. “And what’s been happening lately?”

“Well, doc, my hair…It um…It’s got a mind of its own.” She admitted.

“And by ‘it’s got a mind of its own’ you mean…?” The doctor prompted.

“I mean, it’s got a fucking mind of its own. Every time I try to cut it the same thing happens, I’m in so much pain I can’t do it. It feels like I’m slicing one of my fingers or toes off. The one time I did do it I bit through the pain and chopped it all off. The next morning, it was exactly the same length as it had been before I cut it. About a week ago, I noticed it…It moved on its own.” The woman was haggard. She had bags under her eyes so large the doctor bet she hadn’t fully rested in weeks. If she was sleep deprived it would make sense why she’s seeing her hair move on its own accord.

“And when was the last time you had a full night’s sleep?” The doctor asked.

“What does that have to do with anything?” The woman asked defensively.

“Well, if you’re sleep deprived you may be seeing things that aren’t actually happening.” He explained. “I could prescribe you a sleeping aid to get you rested and back to normal.”

“I’m not seeing things that aren’t actually happening. This is real. I saw it. I was in the kitchen cooking and my hair wrapped around a drawer and pulled it open. It grabbed a spoon for me and handed it to me.” She said. The doctor couldn’t hold in his laughter.

“That may have been what it looked like but you and I both know that hair isn’t alive. It doesn’t have a brain or neurons to fire in order to give it direction. You need sleep and you’ll feel better in no time.” He scribbled a prescription on a piece of paper and handed it to her. “Get this filled immediately. Take the rest of the day off, pop two of those with a glass of water and you’ll be out cold.”

“I can’t sleep.” The woman said weakly.

“This will help you.” The doctor said.

“No, you don’t get it. I can’t sleep. If I sleep, I’ll die.” She told him. He tilted his head to the side in question.

“You’ll die?” He asked.

“I went to bed the other night. I had been having issues with my breathing when I slept. I would wake up in the middle of the night gasping for air. I went to the doctor they told me it was sleep apnea. They gave me a mask to wear when I sleep and said it’d go away. I put the mask on the next night and it happened again. I thought it just needed some getting used to so I tried again the next night and the next night and each night for a week. It happened every night.” She paused and took a deep breath. “So I got a camera. I installed it in my room to watch what was happening to me while I was asleep. The next day I watched the footage. In my sleep, my hair was wrapping around my neck and cutting off my airway. I’d wake up gasping for air and then pull my hair away from my neck. It happened multiple times every single night.” She looked the doctor in the eyes. He noted they looked almost feral. “My hair is trying to kill me.”

The doctor didn’t know how to respond. He was only a physician. He didn’t know how to properly handle psychotic breaks. He softened his eyes and looked at the woman. This poor woman, he thought.

“Listen, I think you may be better suited talking to someone with more experience in this area.” He started. “I can give you some excellent referrals to psychologists or even a clinic where you can check in and stay as long as you like.” He patted her knee in what he hoped was a comforting way.

“A…clinic?” She was confused.

“I can take you right now if you’d like, it’s the building next door.” The doctor offered.

“You think I’m crazy?” She scoffed. “You don’t believe me. You FUCKING BASTARD.” The woman knocked the containers of Q-tips and tongue depressors on the floor. They shattered and glass covered the floor. She was breathing quickly and loudly. “I am not fucking crazy.” She said. The doctor watched her for a minute before speaking.

“Okay, you’re not crazy. I’m not suggesting you are. I’m going to go grab a broom and sweep up this glass. Can you wait here?” He asked her. She nodded. The doctor left the room and the nurse sitting outside the room raised his eyebrows at him.

“Call security.” The doctor whispered urgently. “She needs to be taken next door.” The nurse understood the meaning behind those words. He picked up the phone and dialed the number. The doctor went to grab the broom and dustpan. He needed to buy time before security got here. He walked back to the room and opened the door. The woman was sitting. She seemed to have calmed down.

“Let’s get this all cleaned up, shall we?” The doctor said cheerfully.

“I’m sorry. I really am. I just…I know what I saw I know what’s happening. I’m not crazy.” She reiterated.

“We’ll help you, don’t worry.” He said as he began to sweep. When he got all the glass, Q-tips, and tongue depressors into a pile there was a knock at the door. Two security officers opened the door and grabbed the woman’s arms before she had time to react.

“What is this? What’s happening?” She asked with a sense of panic.

“Relax. They’re bringing you to the clinic next door. I think you’re a danger to yourself and others and you’ll spend the next 24 hours under observation by our excellent team of psychologists.” He explained.

“You mother fucker.” She looked at him in the eyes. “You’re going to kill me. Do you understand? I’m going to die tonight.” She yelled at him as the security officers dragged her away. The doctor left the room and looked at the nurse.

“Slow day, huh?” The nurse joked. The doctor laughed and picked up the folder on the desk. He walked into the next room where another patient waited for him. The woman left his mind before he even opened the door.

The woman was checked into a room and was put under sedation. The whole time she warned the nurses that if she was put to sleep her hair would suffocate her and she would die. Under no circumstances could they give her something to knock her out. They didn’t listen. They strapped her into the bed and injected her arm with something that made the woman feel warm all over. It felt like she had peed herself. She asked the nurse what that was but her words were slurred. The exhaustion plus the medicine had knocked the woman out immediately. The nurses left the room and locked it behind them.

There were security cameras in each room in case a patient started knocking their heads against the walls. The security guard on duty that night had had a long day. He was a single dad of two kids, trying to make ends meet. He had run around all over getting his daughter to soccer practice and his son to chess club. He was trying his hardest and the night shifts weren’t helping. Around three in the morning he had fallen asleep at the desk. It wasn’t a rare occurrence for him, he fell asleep most nights on the job. Thankfully nothing bad had ever happened on his watch.

If the guard had been doing his job and was watching the screens he would have seen slight movement in the camera in the bottom middle. The woman had been knocked out cold for hours. Her hair started to move. It wound itself around her neck, looping around three times. Slowly it started to tighten. The woman woke up with a start, gasping for air. She tried to pull the hair away from her neck but her arms were strapped at her sides. She struggled to rip free of her bonds but she was unsuccessful. The hair could sense it would not be deterred and tightened its grip. The woman stopped making noise, no longer having a working wind pipe through which to send noise through. It took a long time for her to die. When blood no longer pumped in her body, the hair untangled itself from her neck and lay down at either side of her head. It made a noise that sounded like a kitten purring.

  10/17/2019

We never thought the nuclear threats were serious. That was our first problem. Our second problem was not being prepared in case they were serious. It’s been fifteen years since the war happened. I was only a kid when the bombs dropped. I’ve been trying to survive ever since but I feel my time is coming soon.

It was a Tuesday. I’ll never forget it. There had been back and forth talk about this nuclear bomb threat for years. It was always like a dick measuring contest but with weapons of mass destruction. I was only ten years old, I didn’t know anything. My only responsibilities were going to school, coming home from school, doing school work, and going to bed. I didn’t pay attention to the news, what ten year old pays attention to the news?

When the sirens went off we were in science class. Science was my favorite subject. We were learning all about the cells in our bodies. When everyone kept talking about nuclear weapons I thought they meant the nucleus in our cells. I had no idea what it actually meant and what the long term consequences would be. We were taking a pop quiz. I had just finished mine and got out of my chair to hand it in the Ms. Brindy. She took the quiz and I watched the paper move from my hands to hers. I looked up at her and she smiled at me. Then the sirens started. I covered my ears before the paper had fully exchanged ownership and it slowly fell to the ground. I was still looking at Ms. Brindy. She was just as scared as I was. I remember thinking, but this is the teacher, why is she scared? Shouldn’t she not be scared?

The sirens wailed again and again. After a few minutes, they stopped. Everything was silent besides the slight ringing in my ears. I looked around the room and saw my classmates, all confused and scared.

“Don’t worry, kids! It was…um…It was only a fire drill! Finish up your quizzes.” Ms. Brindy told the class. I finally walked back to my seat.

Not even five minutes later the first shock wave hit. The actual bomb was too far away for us to feel the rumble of the earth but the shock wave had whopping power behind it. It shattered all the windows and threw us all to the ground. I started to cry and I wasn’t the only one.

“Kids, get up, we’re going in the hallway. Get in your tornado positions. Against the wall, hands covering heads, and heads down. Now!” I didn’t understand. What was happening? Was this a tornado? My classmates and I filed outside into the hallway and did as we were told. We saw the other classes in the hall doing the same thing. We sat with our heads down for what felt like hours.

Another bomb dropped. This time it was close enough for us to feel the shake. I had only felt one earthquake in my life up until that point and that’s exactly how it felt. The whole building moved and our desks fell to the ground with loud bangs. Parts of the ceiling fell on our heads. Minutes later we felt another shock wave. This time it was hot. It burned my skin slightly turning my arms raw and pink. Everyone was crying now, even the teachers. No one knew what was happening or how to handle the situation. We sat in the hallway for the rest of the day without any further incidents.

I remember getting up and walking to the window at some point. My feet crunched on the shattered glass as I gazed into the world outside. There was a thick fog, I couldn’t see very far in any direction. The things I could see were covered in ash. It had even coated some of the classroom. I ran my finger across the windowsill and my finger was covered in the ash. I looked at my finger as my mind tried to make sense of what was happening.

It wasn’t until much later that we finally got the details. This is all from word of mouth so I can’t be certain it’s actually even the truth. The dick measuring nuke contest that was all over the news had moved into the next stage. We were not the first to launch our bombs but we did release them in retaliation. I don’t know what the rest of the world looks like or even the rest of the country. We found an underground bunker and a small group of us have been living in here for the last fifteen years. Unfortunately, we were all exposed to the radiation for too long. We didn’t react quickly enough. We’ve already lost a couple of us and I think it’s my turn next. I’ve been coughing up blood the past week. I feel weaker than I have in the past decade and a half. I’m lucky to have made it this far.

My advice to you? Make sure you’re prepared. Anything could happen. Prepare for the worst.

  10/17/2019

“Are you ready for your bedtime story?” She asked the two sleepy creatures lying in their beds.

“Yeah!” They both yelled back at her.

“Tell the one about Qonos, mama!” One of them requested.

“Qonos? Again?” She teased. They insisted. “Well, alright.” She settled deeper into her spot and began to tell the tale of Qonos.

“It all began a long time ago. It was before the humans and the dragons were at war with each other. A time where the humans hired the dragons to help them protect their gold or their princesses. Qonos was a fierce dragon. She mothered hundreds of babies and each one grew to be big and strong. She, herself, was one of the biggest and strongest dragons in all the land.” When she told this part of the story she puffed herself up, making herself appear as big and strong as Qonos. This elicited a giggle from both of her listeners.

“Qonos was one of the top dragons that everyone wanted to hire. Kings from all over came to her and offered her jobs with lavish pay but she refused them all. Until, one king from the Zoba Kingdom traveled days and days to speak to Qonos. He arrived one day and approached the dragon on one knee.

‘Oh, Great Qonos, I’ve traveled from the Zoba Kingdom to offer you a job.’ He told her. ‘My daughter is in danger. Her life has been threatened and I need to protect her. I’m going to lock her in a castle far far away where no one will know who she is or why she’s there. I ask of you, to go to the castle with her and kill anyone who attempts to take her away.’

‘And what is in it for me?’ Qonos asked sleepily.

‘You will have all the gold you wish for the rest of your life. I will fill your stomach with an endless amount of goats.’ He offered.

‘I have those things already.’ She replied unimpressed.

‘You will be named with the highest honors of the Zoba Kingdom. We will have celebrations in your name. You will be idolized for generations to come. Our children will learn of you in the school books.’ He said desperately.

‘There is one thing I desire.’ Qonos admitted.

‘Anything.’ The king answered.

‘I wish to be a King myself.’ She said.

‘A…King?’ He questioned her.

‘That is my final offer or your princess shall perish.’ She rested her head on the ground in a lazy motion.

‘Yes, okay. You shall rule as King.’ He gave in. ‘Just, please, protect my daughter until it’s safe for her.’

The next day, Qonos set off to the castle. She met the princess and her duty as guard began. Over the years there were multiple knights in shiny armor that had come to ‘save the princess’. If you asked Qonos, they were all fools. She burnt them alive and ate them whole without a second thought. Eventually, the King returned to bring his daughter home.

‘Qonos, the Great!’ He shouted at her when he was in range. ‘No troubles?’

‘Only a few here and there.’ Her head turned toward the pile of armor that had accumulated over the last decade. There were thousands of pieces from hundreds of men. The King looked at it and visibly cringed.

‘Well! No matter. The princess is no longer in danger. I’ve come to bring her home.’ He told Qonos. She let him by and he climbed the steep stairs up to his daughter’s room. They both returned, walking down the steps arm in arm.

‘It was a pleasure, Qonos.’ The King said. He and the princess both bowed low to the ground and began to walk away.

‘Our deal?’ Qonos asked sternly.

‘Oh, yes, yes. Well, see, I just don’t think it’ll work. A dragon ruling humans? It seems hardly believable!’ He and the princess both laughed. ‘I’m sure you understand, right?’ He waited for her reply.

‘I see.’ Qonos said.

Qonos sat there. She looked at the conniving hunk of meat standing in front of her. She should never have trusted this human but now he was going to pay.

‘We’ll be off then! Pleasure to do business with you.’ He said. He grabbed his daughter’s hand and exited the castle. Qonos waited until they had gone a small distance before making her move. She took flight with a flap of her wings and spotted the King and his princess. She flew up higher and she dove down to the ground. When she was close enough she let out a mouthful of fire aimed only at the princess. The princess was burnt to a crisp almost immediately. The King didn’t have time to comprehend what had happened to his daughter before Qonos dove down again and lapped her up and swallowed her without chewing. The king stopped. He looked up to the sky and caught sight of Qonos.

‘You cold blooded cunt!’ He yelled up at her with fists in the air. ‘We had a deal!’

She came down to the earth once more. This time she landed and stood in front of the King.

‘We did have a deal. And you didn’t uphold your end. This is what happens when you cross a dragon. Do you think this will make it into the history books?’ She didn’t allow him any time to answer before she snatched him up in her mouth. She chewed on him, making sure his death was as painful as possible. She heard his screams reverberate from her mouth into her brain. When she swallowed him, she smiled to herself. She once more took flight and headed towards the Zoba Kingdom. She had some business to take care of. The end.”

“Isn’t that how the war started, mama?” She heard one of them pipe up.

“It is. We can all thank Qonos the Great.” She replied.

“I hate the humans.” The other one said.

“Good night.” She said and kissed each one on the forehead. As she walked out of the room, she saw them both exhale deeply, a small ball of fire leaving each of their mouths.

   10/17/2019

Caroline was babysitting on a Friday night when the first snow of the season hit. It was a bad storm. It’d only been snowing for maybe an hour and already a foot had accumulated.

“Can we go play in the snow?” Mike asked her.

“It’s night time, Mike. You can play in the snow tomorrow!” She tried to make it sound like tomorrow would be way better to play than tonight.

“But I wanna play now.” Mike said with a pout. “Please?” He begged.

“Fine. We can go outside but only for a little bit.” Mike jumped up and down. She rolled her eyes and laughed. It was funny how something so simple could make a kid that happy.

It wasn’t too late, only around eight or so. She told Mike to go upstairs and put on his warm clothes and then she would help him put on his snow pants and snow jacket. He ran upstairs faster than the speed of light. As Caroline was putting on some boots, her cell phone rang.

“Hi, Caroline!” Mike’s mom said through the phone. “How is everything?”

“Hi, Mrs. Hanoby! Everything is good. This snow is killer, huh?” She replied.

“Unfortunately, yes. That’s why I’m calling, dear, I don’t know if we’re going to make it home tonight. We might just find the closest motel and book a room.” She said. “Would you be able to stay over tonight with Mike? We’ll pay you double your normal rate.”

“Of course I’ll stay with Mike! You two just stay safe, okay?” Double her normal rate? Wow. That was an opportunity she wasn’t going to get often.

“Thank you, sweetie.” They said their goodbyes and hung up the phone as Mike was running back down the stairs.

“I got on my warm clothes! Let’s go outside!” He yelled.

“Snow pants and snow jacket first, you know the rules.” Caroline told him and motioned for him to sit down at the kitchen table. She put one of his legs in the snow pants and pulled. “Your mom just called.” She started, putting his second leg in the pants. “They won’t be coming home tonight because of the snow but I’m gonna stay with you all night so you won’t be alone.”

“That’s cool!” Mike said not even listening. His mind was already outside playing in the snow. Caroline finished putting his snow clothes on him and she tied a scarf around her own neck. She opened the back door and they both walked into the fresh snow. It was dark out. The only light was from the back porch. It made the snow look that much more beautiful and serene. Mike ran out into the backyard.

“Not too far, Mike! Stay where I can see you in the light!” Caroline yelled to him. He retreated towards the porch a little bit so she would be able to keep an eye on him. He dropped to the ground and started to make a snow angel. Caroline watched him for a little longer before she walked over to where he lay and dropped to the ground herself. She started to create a snow angel of her own. They both lay in the snow with faces turned upwards and watched as the flakes fell to the earth.

They were laying there for a few minutes before she heard something rustling in the trees. Her ears perked and she sat up, eyes searching for what caused the noise. Mike didn’t seem to hear it or notice Caroline’s sudden attention; he kept his eyes on the sky. She heard a rustle again to her left and her head jerked in the direction. Caroline saw a flash of fur. There was some kind of animal out there and she had a bad feeling about it.

“Hey, Mike, let’s go inside now.” She said with what she hoped would be enough sternness in her voice to not get push back.

“But I’m having fun.” Mike whined.

“Yes, and we’ll have more fun tomorrow but right now it’s time to go inside.” Caroline said without taking her eyes off the trees.

“We’ve only been out here for like a minute though!” Mike’s voice increased in octave and he kicked his feet in protest. “I wanna stay out here longer.”

“Stop whining, Mike. This isn’t a joke. Go inside.” She looked away from the trees to look at Mike so he would see how serious her face was. “Now.” She said through clenched teeth. When she looked back she had lost sight of the animal. Mike started a rebuttal but Caroline shushed him quickly. Her ears were at full attention for any kind of noise.

Caroline heard a low growl coming from her right. She slowly turned my head and looked over and saw glowing yellow eyes. The sound of her heart beating drowned out the growl instantaneously. She was frozen. She saw Mike turn his head and look at the animal.

“A doggie!” He yelled. Before Caroline could react Mike had gotten up off the ground and started to run towards the animal. She reached to grab his jacket but the slippery material only ran through her fingers.

“Mike!” she yelled after him. The sudden movement of his run had startled the animal and it jumped out of the brush and lunged for Mike. She watched as the animal collided with Mike and they both fell over. The animal opened its jaws and bit Mike’s neck. Mike screamed and she saw the blood pouring out of the bite. “Mike!” she yelled again. The animal gripped Mike’s neck in its mouth once more and with its mouth full it pulled upwards, ripping Mike’s neck wide open. The warm blood that ran out of Mike met the snow with a low hiss and steam began to rise. Mike gurgled and tried to slap the animal away but what could this small child do?

Caroline couldn’t move her body. She was completely numb from both the temperature and the events unfolding before her eyes. She watched as Mike finally took his last breath and the animal continued to feast upon him. Tears began to silently fall from her face. She prayed the animal would be satisfied enough and walk away without giving her a second look. She also prayed for forgiveness for having such an awful thought. Alas, she was not so lucky. The animal raised its bloodied snout and looked directly at her. She let out a sob and that was enough for the animal to charge her.

    10/16/2019

This is the seventy fifth time I’ve woken up on today. It’s October 10th, 2019 and I’ve lived this day seventy four other times. You’ve seen the movie Groundhog’s Day? Where he wakes up the same morning and relives the same day? Think that, but not quite.

You see, this is the seventy fifth time we’ve all woken up today. Every morning the newspaper reads October 10 but the news is different. Everyone’s phone, computer, tablet they all say it’s October 10th. The computer wizards of the world have all looked into it and no one can figure out why it’s happening. They’ve written codes to debug the issue but none of the codes have worked. Nothing has worked. So we live in a perpetual state of October 10th.

It’s not the same day like in that Bill Murray movie. The days have continued to change and we all act as if the calendar is working so nothing’s really been affected too drastically but it’s just…strange. The events in the days are different but the weather, the sunrise and sunset, that’s all constant. It’s been a 68 degrees each day, sunrise is at 7:06 AM (for us East coasters), and sunset is 6:30 PM. The day has just been stuck on a loop.

At first we all thought it was some fluke. Some mistake someone had made in the computers, a Y2K type thing. After the first week or so, some of us started asking questions. I became very active in a dark web conspiracy group. We believed that this loop of October 10th happening on all our computers and phones was a fluke but not our own fluke. Our codes and programs were all fine; we had our best people on it checking it. We tried new codes, and nothing worked. There couldn’t be any problems on our end. This is where it gets a little…abstract, so stick with me.

Have you ever heard of what people call a “glitch in the matrix”? They’re little things on a day to day that happen that you can’t really explain. You know the feeling you have when you get déjà vu? Or maybe if you look at the clock every day at the same time? The things that make you feel like all of this is just a simulation?

We think this is finally proof we actually do live in a simulation. Something happened in the program of the simulation to put us on a loop and whoever is running said simulation hasn’t realized yet. Maybe they have a couple hundred thousand other simulations running simultaneously and that’s why they haven’t noticed. Maybe they’re testing us to see who can figure out what’s happening. Maybe they themselves are gone from existence and we’re destined to live October 10th again and again. The details are still up for debate but it’s a pretty solid consensus between all of us that this life is in fact, a simulation.

So at first, I freaked out. Had panic attacks every day when I finally realized what was happening. My life and entire purpose for being felt absolutely meaningless. If we lived in a simulation then nothing mattered, nothing was of any importance. I became incredibly depressed. I wasn’t able to get out of bed. I attempted suicide. It was bad; I was in a very low spot.

One day, I woke up and I felt okay. I don’t know what changed. Maybe whatever is in charge of the simulation needed me for something and couldn’t let me die quite yet. Maybe there’s purpose even if this is all one big experiment. I’ve learned to accept this. I’ve taken it as my role to inform you, the public, about what’s happening.

Don’t close your eyes to this. Don’t just pretend like it’s a mistake. This is no mistake. Today is October 10th; yesterday was October 10th and tomorrow will be October 10th. I want you to join our forum. We need more people to be asking questions and open up this discussion. We need your voice. Look closely at this post and you’ll know where to find us.

    10/16/2019

“Sarah’s one of my best friends! I would never do anything to hurt her! It wasn’t me! I didn’t do anything!” I yelled at the cop who was sitting in front of me. My hands were trapped in cuffs that attached to the table with a long metal chain. They were cold on my skin.

“Why don’t you just start at the beginning?” The words should have been a question but felt more like a command.

“Fine.” I said. I took a deep breath and retold the story of what had happened earlier that day on the playground.

Sarah and I went to the playground behind our apartment complex. We went there at least four times a week to play. Usually it was just the two of us there but this time there were some older kids, too. We walked passed them with our heads down hoping to slip by unnoticed.

“Hey, where are you two lovebirds going?” One of the kids yelled at us.

“We’re just going to go on the swings.” I yelled back. We kept walking to the swings and got on without further interruption from the older kids. We had been swinging for a couple minutes when the one kid who had yelled at us came over.

“Do you wanna see something cool?” He asked us.

“Yeah, sure.” Sarah and I stopped our swings.

“Only you, kid. Not the girl.” I looked over at Sarah. She shrugged her shoulders, started to swing again. I followed the kid to the other side of the playground where the rest of them were gathered around a circle, looking at something on the ground. When I got close enough I saw what it was.

“Is that a gun?” I had only ever seen one on TV, never in real life.

“Yeah, sick right?” He asked me. I nodded. “It’s my dad’s shotgun. I took it while he was sleeping.”

“Whoa.” I couldn’t think of anything else to say. I was awestruck.

“We were gonna run around in the woods and play hunter, do you wanna play too?” He asked me.

“What’s hunter?” I had never heard of that game.

“You all run around like wild animals and I have to hunt you down. When I say BANG YOU’RE DEAD then you have to lie down on the ground until everyone’s dead.” He explained.

“Well why do you want me to play?” It sounded fun and I wanted to play but it felt like a trick.

“The more people the longer the game lasts.” He shrugged. “If you don’t wanna play you can just go back to your girlfriend.” He teased and the other kids laughed.

“Sarah’s not my girlfriend.” I defended myself. “Fine, I’ll play.” Everyone cheered.

We walked into the woods behind the playground. We didn’t go too far, I wanted to be able to see Sarah still and make sure she was okay. I didn’t know if she would be mad at me for leaving to play with the older kids but if she stormed off I wanted to be able to see it.

The game started and my blood was pumping. I was running around trying to avoid getting killed. I kept hearing “BANG YOU’RE DEAD” over and over again. I tried to keep count of how many kids had already died so I knew how many were left but I was excited I just couldn’t remember.

I realized it made me an easier target when I was running around so I decided to hide. I walked over to the tree line behind the swings so I could watch Sarah and I crouched down low to keep hidden. It felt like I was hiding for an hour before I heard a stick break near me. I jumped so much I thought I may have given away my hiding spot. My hands started to sweat and my breathing was loud. I heard another stick closer to me. I felt the sudden urge to pee but I held it in. I heard a noise that sounded like a chk-chk and then I heard a really loud BANG. My ears were ringing and my head was swimming as I tried to make sense of what had happened. Off in the distance I heard the older kid yell “BANG YOU’RE DEAD.” I stood up from my hiding spot and looked over at Sarah.

Sarah continued to move up and down on the swing but where her head used to be there was a big hole that the sun was shining through.

  10/15/2019