#41-50

First off the true origins are not known. They seem to like the hot muggy forests of Alabama, since all claims only come from small patches of their deep woods. They also seems to need an excessive amount of shade, almost to near darkness. I needed someplace special to grow and study this wondrous flora. With the normal cold weather of Oregon a typical box garden was out of the question. I was forced to create a soil rich plant in one of the university's basement. Of course I had to confirm my experiment with the on staff janitor first. I gave it a very low light lamp and planted my seed. Unlike other large seed plant this one germinated and sprouted in under 5 days. It has pitch black soft leaves. The still small plant would react slowly to the smallest of touches and would furl up not unlike a sundew. It is possible that this plant could consume small insects even at such a young age. Although I had no idea how the plant could absorb said insects. The plant required daily watering.

As it grew I was not sure to classify it as either a bush or a vine for it had properties of both. It had ever longer reaching vines, but grew taller as well. More and more black leaves sprouted forth. As it grew more I noted that it had no similarities to any known plant groups. I now suspect it is part of its own family. This might just make my career. After a month it had grown to a full foot high and stretches out in a 2 foot radius. I found that the plant does not ingest small insects like I had previously thought, but does seem to like larger arthropods. It snatches any spider or roach within its grasp, and I have been feeding it a feed cricket every other day. It can sense its surroundings through its leaves and can move it's vines quite rapidly. It first ensnares its prey then pulls it down into the ground. I currently do not know what kind of digestion occurs underground, less I dig up my magnificent plant.

It seems completely oblivious to me. I was even able to clip off a leaf without a reaction. The leaf itself retained no movement, once removed from the base plant. Strangely enough, the leaf had no veins to speak of. I even took a small sample under a microscope to ensure it was indeed a plant. It had all the normal structures, but its chloroplasts were shrunken. Could the plant be surviving under low light since it does retain very little energy from sunlight? I wish I could have studied it more, but the leave near disappeared within a day. This plant grows ever more fascinating the more I study it. Once while I was down to feed it, a small mouse tried scurrying past my plant only to become trapped by its vines and hauled down into the ground. I was shocked at this behavior and near disgusted. Another 2 months rolled by and my small plant grew into a 3 foot tall black beast. Those long vines try to grasp anything near it even myself. I can see now how it might be considered dangerous out in the deep woods.

"Dude if you don't slow down. You are gonna pass out, and I am gonna vom. And if you think I am gonna drag your sorry butt around you got another thing coming," I reprimanded him. "Fine, but I could swear it is so close," Sean begrudgingly agreed to my demands. We took a seat on a nearby rock or a breather. "So what kind of place is this supposed to be? It isn't going to be something stupid is it?" I asked him a little worried about us being in the middle of the desert. He never answered me. Instead, he shot up and started staring at something out in the distance. "Is that somebody out there?" He asked avoiding my question. I got up as well and squinted into the rocks. "I don't see anything." "It's just over there," he said pointing to the top of a hill. There was something up there, but no more than a blob of a shadow. "That ain't anything," I assured him. "Nah, it is. Let's go see what it is," Sean sprung at me. I decided to go along. Even if it was nothing. It would be a good spot to find what we were looking for in the first place.

It took a lot more effort than I bargained for, but we made it to the top. Strangely, enough there was nothing up there large enough to cause the shadow. Not even large boulders. I passed it off as nothing, but Sean wouldn't. "HELLO!" He called out across the desert. Sure enough there was not a sound in response. Nothing but the blaring sun. "Hey, I see it out there, and that figure is out there too," he said as he pointed at a strip of black out on the desert. I was just a bit unnerved that the strange blob of a shadow was out there between us and whatever that thing we were heading to. I don't know how, but that odd shadow kept just out of reach. If only I could get a little closer I could tell what it was, but it just stood out there. As we went on, I felt as though it was watching us from the distance. "What do you suppose that thing out there could be?" I had to ask Sean. "Nothing much you have to be worrying about," he eerily responded.

"What do you mean by that?" I continued questioning. "Only that you could drive us out of here if we need to. You brought us out here after all," Sean's answers were becoming more and more worrisome. "Drive? I didn't drive us out here, and even if I did how far away is it?" I shot at him. I could tell he was getting a little worried too. "Are you sure? I surely didn't take us out here, but I'm sure we can get back, when we get there," he half worriedly said. "Sean where are we going?" I half shouted at him. "I don't remember ok! I just remember it was someplace cool," Sean angrily told me. I looked up at the sky and started wondering, as the tough dry ground patted against my shoes. "How long have we been out here?" I asked again. "Geez, man. All with the questions today. We just started from before that other hill right?" Sean half questioning himself. "I know we crossed at least 3 hills already. I'm having a hard time remembering before that," I explained. Sean was deeply quiet for a while.

It must have been weeks  I had the same dream over and over. I managed to paint every aspect of him from his long boney fingers to his skull of a head. However, there was one night I wished had not happened. It was a fogged dream to which I hardly remember, but I remembered only one single thing. He came out of the shadows. The next day I had come downstairs as per usual, but to my shock the painting was completed. The horror of it. I knew then why I had never remembered his face for there was nothing there to remember. Only a clean slate of a face barely sunken in eyes and the rest was like a sculptor had cut out the nose and mouth of a wax head. What's more was she sheer fright at finding a singular round black hat in front of my piece. Just like the man has been gazing at it all the while. I could not stand it. What was once my fantasy corrupted into a nightmare.

Out of sheer spite I took a blade and cut out that horrible head. I could not bear to see it any longer, thus I tossed it into the trash. I could not bring myself to harm the hat. It was like some kind of artifact. I started at it for hours. It was old, but in near perfect condition. If I had not known better I would have said this was brand new. It was as black as the night sky and as sheik as silk. It gave me the strangest of feelings. Almost like it was still alive. The next night I had the same dream with that horrid creature. The next morning the hat was gone, and the painting had been fixed. The face had been changed only in the smallest of ways, but gave it a much more cruel demeanor. I felt like it was laughing at me. I could do nothing more than burn it. I watched as the paint melted in the heat and the canvas get engulfed in flame. There was nothing good about that man. Nothing good at all.

It was even worse the next day. The painting had returned once more, only the man had taken a slightly different pose a much more menacing one. Nothing I could do would rid of the painting, so I hid it under a spare blanket. I could only hope the dreams did not return. I stayed up all night or at least I thought I had. That strange man still returned. He just stared at me. I curled up in my bed and started back. I don't know how many hours we stood like that. I did not so much as dare take my eyes off of him. As if he was giving up he walked out of the room, but not before giving me a slow motion to follow him. I just had to. I could not take my eyes off of him. He lead me down to where the painting from yesterday stood, but there were two now. The newer picture was not of himself. It was a painting of me cowering in my bed just as I had been. Even though he had no face, I could tell the creature was smiling at me with glee. I could not even fathom how he had done it. This was only a few moments ago. He simply walking into a nearby closet and was gone.

I was on a fishing trip alone out in the wooded mountains. I started going on these little escapades a few years ago, and I almost couldn't stop going every summer. I just had to get away from the hum drum of life. Every year I would rent a cabin hip deep in the forest and try to take in nature. No responsibilities and nobody to bother me. Some days I wouldn't even go out on the water once in a while I would toss some explosives. The only problem was wolves. Once in a while, I would hear them out there in the night. Not that I ever saw one, but I always wondered where they were. With wolves being almost the last thing on my mind. I was tying up some hooks to a long neon green pole, and gashed some night crawlers for bait. I could blame those darned wolves for the whole mess with their tar black coats and blood hungry eyes.

I was out on the lack getting in some night fishing, when I first laid eyes on the beasts. They were a far shore side within the trees. The moon beamed just enough light to see their pointed features, while the rest of them were hidden in the night gloom. Must have been half a dozen or more. I was glade there was more than a few strides of water between us. I feared had I been any closer they would have attempted to drowned me on the spot and gorge on my brains. A low growl erupted from one as the rest glared at me in silence. Not waiting to take much of a chance. I started up my mortar and sped away. I heard a flurry of howls from almost the entire shoreline. I drove to deeper water in attempts to calm my nerves. I tried some more fishing, but my mind was having none of it, so I sat there near trembling for a great deal of time. Must have been early sunrise by the time I had the bravery to head back to the cabin. Even with the low hung fog I did not spot hide nor tail of those black creatures. The night after I thought to turn in early. A day's worth of worrying about had just about done me in, and I slept like a stone. Had I been more alert I would have caught wind of the scratching noises all over my cabin.

Upon my arousal all notions of the wolves had evaporated from my mind. Like the moon dropping down, and the sun shining bright. I was out and about attempting a spot of river fishing from a nearby stream. I was in luck that day for I caught almost more than I could take back. It was only when I jaunted back did I notice the deep scratches on my door. My eyes must have grown to the size of dinner plates. I did nothing more, than hand up my catch and fetch an old rifle from above my fire place. My mind was spinning. I even pocketed an explosive in thoughts of scaring them away. I watched some television to calm myself down. Then that low cold howling started. With all the pride of a city man I watched the front door, gun aimed and primed.

Of course, before I decided on anything I first had to inspect the remains. It could be infested with termites for all I knew. Thus I set off for Pine Creek with 3 work buddies of mine. I packed some real camping gear for us. I was not about to trust some unkempt buildings. Not to mention it really helped me breathe the place in. It was even- more run down than I anticipated. There was even some garbage left rotting away for, who knows how long, attracting an annoying amount of flies. I good dose of bug spray helped. We don't need that kind of nature around here. I had my men scout out the grounds, while I inspected the cabins. We had to make sure there was still a useable amount of nature, while at the same time room for man-made comforts. People want to sleep in a tent, but still want running water. It is the sellable "camping experience."

I nearly reeled at the insides of the cabins. Not a bit of them were useable. The wooden flooring was mostly broken reveling the concrete underneath, and the plastic coating on most of the wooden furniture was peeling off. Nearly, everything here would have to be scraped. The last tenets seemed like they left almost everything. I could only imagine what compulsion let them leave all these sellable goods behind. The only a single wooden container- caught my interest. It was wooden, the size of a football, and oval. I had no idea what kind of wood it was made from. It was not pine, oak, or any tree I knew of. It has to have been some kind of foreign creation hidden here, before the camp was cleared. It looked rather shoddy, but had a decent sized hollow inside.

I was forced to drop it once I found a few red ants on it. I hardly wanted to get stung by those vermin. They hardly belonged in this kind of nature. Worse yet was the colony of red ants living amongst the cabin's ground. They seemed oddly attracted to that unique container. I let it be. I would have to come back with an exterminator anyways, and a good one at that. Might kill some fish in the process, but I can always buy more. Outside of the bugs and the disrepair, the grounds were more than suitable. I had to see what my associates found first. I found them all right. The 3 had entertained themselves by blowing up a wasp's nest with- a firecracker. I nearly applauded their efforts. At least, until things started getting weird. Sure the nest popped like a grape, but the swarm started buzzing around in a large ball above it.

I was out in the middle of nowhere with nothing, but trees and snow for miles. Those pills mixed with the mildly warm coffee did not agree with my gut. Some ice glazed sign said that some nowhere town was close. I needed a short break from all this driving, and my car needed one too it was nearer to empty. I didn't want to risk running out of gas out here with this much snow around. It was a pretty quiet town. I didn't see any people about. I halted at a local coffee shop. I stuffed my hands in my pockets and watched the slow billows of fog roll out of my mouth. Things around seemed a bit still for some reason. I could not quite put my finger as to why. Inside I was able to shake off the cold, and then things got really weird.

At first I thought I had interrupted something, but as I stood in the door way longer I noticed everybody just was not moving. The cashier was halfway in the process of brewing, a younger woman was perpetually sipping on her brew, and an older man was completely still in contemplation about his order. I waved my hand in front of the gent's face, but there was not so much as a twitch of life. I stared deep into his near menacing face. Those glassy eyes that seemed to have been alive just a moment ago. "Hello?" I called out softly. No response. There was a older faced clock on the wall. It was ticking like nothing had changed. A single cup of coffee was on the counter. I was compelled to pick it up. It had a very strange name on it, but I felt like I had heard it before. I ran outside in a panic.

What was going on? Was it those pills I took? Am I just having a bad dream? I had to find somebody. I found an old man jogging stuck in mid stride. Even a little dog on a walk was stopped. I ran further nearly slipping on the ground. What was wrong with these people? "Anybody out here!" I shouted, but not a single man or creature answered me back. Then I saw it a little bird pecking at some bread that someone had dumped, before flying off. Filled with some strain of hope I ran after the bird. It flew on. I started feeling less like I was running on slick iced sidewalks and more like I was running through a thick bog. Suddenly, my feet gave way on the icy pavement, and I smashed my head on the concrete. My head felt like it was going to bust open. "Are you ok?" some random voice asked me, "you took quite a dive." It- was a little old lady with the dog I had seen earlier. I nodded, but I felt horrid. The town seems to be filled with life once more. I was relived, but very puzzled.