oOo

Having lived in a small, annoyingly close-knit town his entire life, Jandyn had never bothered to put the locks on his windows and doors to use... until now. Heart thrumming loudly in his ears, he checked and double checked every little latch and bolt he could think of- then checked once more, just in case, before collapsing on his well-worn couch. He couldn’t stop shaking, shudders wracking his body every time he dared think of what he’d just witnessed- and he couldn’t stop thinking.

“Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit...”

It had been hideous. Even with the small amount of light, Jandyn had never seen anything so repulsing. The creature had been deformed, with thick, clay-like skin and small, evil, glowing blue eyes... If he hadn’t seen those eyes, Jandyn would have assumed one of the local teenagers had gone and rolled in mud.

“Shit....”

Fingers buried themselves into ragged hair as Jandyn hunched forward, forehead just touching his knees as he slowly rocked himself into semi-calm. There had to be a good explanation for this, glow-in-the-dark contact lenses or… or.... Oh, he didn’t know, but there were no such silly things as monsters! The more he thought about it, the more ridiculous it all seemed, but the scene insisted on replaying in his mind just the same.

Sleep didn’t come until the first too-bright rays of sun began to shine through the window shutters, over the TV, and onto the couch where Jandyn huddled.

Nine hours later, Jandyn woke to the muffled beeping of the alarm clock that determinedly shouted the need to rise even from behind the bedroom door. Jandyn slowly uncurled from the armrest, grunting with the common aches that came with sleeping on the couch and rubbing sleep crust from his watery eyes. A glance at the clock showed the time to be 4pm; about the time he usually started readying for work, though, he was only half standing when he decided it wasn’t worth the effort. Too tired, too achy, too grumpy.... Hell, he was just too tired damnit. Having nightmares all night long, it was no wonder- he felt as if he really had been running away from monsters.

“Sort their own damn papers for once... smug bastards....”

Straightening reluctantly, Jandyn dragged his feet down the hall towards his bedroom with the intent to smack his alarm clock off and maybe collapse onto an actual bed... but he was destined to be deterred from this task. His coat caught on his toes.

Giving the trusty bundle of warm material a thoroughly offended glare, Jandyn bent to snatch it off the floor and turned, trudging his way to the front door to toss the coat on the coat rack where it belonged. What it had been doing on the floor in the first place was beyond him- Jandyn always put his things away... But it didn’t matter now, the damage was done. The sleepy fog had already lifted enough that napping wouldn’t be an option.

Stumbling over and cursing at his misplaced boots, Jandyn stepped into an old pair of flip-flops and spent another baffled moment unlocking and pulling the chain out of his front door. Perhaps he’d been drunk... That would explain all the little quirks in this morning’s routine- and he did recall feeling particularly bitter the night before....

His first step out the door was followed by a distinct crunch.

“.... Fucking neighbors...” Jandyn growled under his breath, kicking large, cracked globs of dried mud off his porch and into the thick bushes growing to the side. There were trails of thick foot and handprints everywhere, even smeared across the railing, and he could see it disappearing down the small walkway and around his yard fence. It smelled like... frog. His yard smelled like a pond.

Muttering his usual round of obscenities to the town as a whole, Jandyn began his slow trot to the mailbox, flip-flops clapping along with each brisk step- but, once again, he found himself sidetracked. There was a big, collapsed, muddy hole under a portion of his fence and just barely reaching out to the sidewalk. Something was sticking up from the center, like a miniature tree... a hand shape.

There was a brief moment where Jandyn felt his heart speed up and he stiffened in fear- then the anger came. So, it hadn’t been a nightmare after all. Some bastard teenagers had been playing a prank on him and now- Jandyn’s teeth ground together- NOW they were trying to scare him with cheap Halloween toys. What was it? One of those ridiculous rubber hands covered in mud? Did they really think he’d fall for something so stupid?

Pushing back the embarrassed flush that rose with the idea that some neighborhood jerks had witnessed his weakest moment the night before and, possibly, saved his life, Jandyn looked down the street both ways, searching out any places a child could hide to laugh at his reaction. There were no bodies dashing out of sight, no muffled snickers as he’d expected, but he could swear he felt eyes watching him just the same...

Fine. They wanted to see what he thought?

Jandyn all but stomped up to the hole, scowling at the thought of having a bald patch of yard once he filled it back in, and reached out to grasp the fake limb as if he were giving it a handshake. Giving it a sharp tug, he blinked as the crusty appendage stayed firmly lodged into the mud. How packed in did they have the damn thing?

Squatting down, Jandyn grabbed hold with both hands and pulled. He felt foolish- but it would be so much worse if he returned indoors knowing he’d lost this little battle of wills. Still, the fake arm wouldn’t budge-

“Son of a bitch... why won’t you just.... rrgh...” Ok. If it didn’t come loose this time, he would just-

“AAAAGH!”

Dried mud crumbled, dropping as a chunky powder from the skeletal fingers that unexpectedly clamped around Jandyn’s wrist. With a scream that was sure to wake even the dead, Jandyn made to jerk back, flailing his free arm wildly and planting his feet firmly in the grass of his lawn. His eyes went wide, mind blank with startled horror even as he was dragged ruthlessly forward, feet slipping until one of his flip-flops finally landed in the muddy hole and his foot sunk with a sick squelching sound.

By the time the first curious neighbor peeked out to see what the noise was about, the last gurgling scream ended and the hole was closing around the jerking curve of an elbow. Nothing but a bald patch of yard left behind.

oOo

Nieni: (wails dramatically as she rolls around in a mud puddle)

... Oh noooooes! What happened to 'im??! I have noooo idea.... X3