The Strange Traveller

The light in the garden was out again, I had meant to fix it after my wife had reminded me three hundred times but I still forgot.  Luckily tonight there was a full moon and I could even see the crickets. I was falling asleep when I heard a strange noise coming from the porch. I was going to ignore it but my wife who had been in town listening to rumors of released convicts and who was always scared of everything made me go downstairs and check it out.

            I suddenly saw a shadow in the corner of the garden. I couldn’t exactly tell what it was because it was under the tree and the light from the moon did not shine beneath the tree. It was large but I couldn’t make out if it was an animal, the garbage pail or an actual person. It never crossed my mind that it was a person. Suddenly it moved, so I realized it was not the garbage pail. It moved slowly, it was crawling. Suddenly it stepped out into the light and I saw that it was a man. It really was hard to tell that it was a man.

            My first reaction was fear. At this hour and in my garden it could only be a thief. I though of my wife and kids all sleeping upstairs. I was unarmed and this scared me even more. I needed protection. I ran into the kitchen and found my wife’s butcher knife. It was all I had close by. The rifle was upstairs in the closet but I did not dare to run all the way up there and let this man out of my sight.

            I did not want to wake the children so I slowly opened the back door. When I was closer I was surprised at what I saw. This creature could hardly be called a man. He was so large in size it was amazing. One of his legs had been badly damaged and he seemed to pull it behind him but this did not make him less dangerous, it only made him scarier looking. It was obvious he had not showered in ages, his clothes were ripped and dirty everywhere. His hair if it could be called hair, was a complete mess. It was long, very long and seemed to be everywhere. Some parts covered his face, you could not tell if it was a beard or if it was hair from his head. It was all dirty and messy. His smell was horrendous, he was all the way on the other side of the garden and it reached my nose like he was right underneath me.

            I stood in the dark with the knife in my hand and waited to see if he would go away. Instead he came closer. The fear inside of me began to rise as he came closer and closer. I really wanted to grab my wife and children and put them somewhere they would be safe from this monster; but running was not an option. I held my knife firmly and asked him what he wanted. His voice could hardly be heard which made it even scarier. I asked again with a firmer tone what he wanted. All I could understand was “water”. I felt pity for this poor creature but could not endanger my family. Giving him water could lead to something else. It could be a trap. It must have taken all the strength he had but he managed to say that he had been walking all day and had not had anything to eat. I was about to reconsider, my heart really wanted to help this man but I suddenly remembered my wife’s story about a convict. This must be that convict. I could not take a chance.

            I threatened the man with my knife. I said I would not think twice about using it if he did not leave my garden at once. The man just looked down and crawled back out, pulling his leg like he had been doing before. My heart and my conscience hurt like hell but one never knows what these people are capable of.

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