Glare

We drove up the snowy, winding road towards the cozy A-frame cabin. Janet and I had been waiting months for this little reprieve away from our everyday lives, and were both very excited to finally be there.

It was a small cabin, located on the edge of some of the deepest, most rugged forest we could find. We wanted somewhere truly secluded, far away from anyone else. If Janet and I had our way, we wouldn't see another person the entire time we were out at the cabin. Maybe even for a few days after we returned home.

We entered the cabin and set about unpacking and getting supper made for the night. As I went off to start unpacking, Janet began making the food. Night fell quickly that time of year, and it was already quite dark as I left her alone in the kitchen, unconcerned and unawares as to what lie in wait that night.

I hadn't been in the bedroom long when I heard a loud crash of something breaking in the kitchen. Instantly, I ran out, calling for Janet. When I reached the kitchen, I saw the shattered pieces of some plates scattered throughout the kitchen. Janet was standing stock still by the sink, looking out the window over the kitchen counter. Fresh cuts lined her hands and arms, and blood dripped from her. A few shards still stuck in her arm, jutting out at angles.

"Janet! Are you okay? What happened?" I asked, pulling on my shoes to step over the broken shards of plate and grab onto her. Dazed, she did nothing but point a shaking hand at the window. I looked, alarmed.

I saw nothing.

"I...I don't see anything, Janet. Wha-what did you see?" I inquired, leading her to one side of the sink so I could help clean her up. The cuts were superficial, just bleeding. I sighed with relief that things weren't worse, as remote as this location was, then glanced back out at the woods she had pointed at, once more searching for an explanation. Janet certainly wasn't giving me one. But, once again, I found none when I searched the darkness.

"Eyes. Eyes...glaring," Janet choked out, seemingly randomly, as I cleaned and bandaged her cuts. She stood shellshocked as I swept up the broken shards of plates. Once the way was clear, I gently led her over to one of the recliners in the next room, setting her down with a cup of tea. We both sat near the warmth and light of the fireplace, Janet spaced out and me looking around at each window. I was on edge and curious.

"Janet?" I asked softly after an hour or so. She seemed to have come back into herself a little, though she looked to be on the verge of tears.

"I...I saw eyes. There was something big - tall - standing right in front of - towering over me! And it... it was glaring at me!" she exclaimed, and this time she began crying. I wasn't sure quite what to think.

"Do you have any idea what it was?" I asked, but Janet shook her head.

"No. It was so tall! Right up against the glass!" she added, blotting tears from her eyes and blowing into a tissue from the box on the coffee table.

"Up against that glass?" I pointed at the window above the sink. Janet nodded, and I felt a wave of unease settle into me; that window was high above the ground to begin with. For something to tower over her as she'd said, it would have to be a massive creature.

"I have to go look. Stay here, next to the fire. I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Rodney, no!" Janet exclaimed, gripping onto my sleeve, "It's too big and dangerous!"

"I'll be right back," I affirmed, "I just want to go see if there are tracks. Maybe that'll tell us what it was. Probably a-a... a bear, or something! I'll be fine."

It took a little more convincing, but eventually Janet relented. She stayed nestled inside while I went around the cabin, checking for prints in the deep snow. If anything had been there, most certainly it had left a mark.

I drew near the window in question, and I almost didn't believe what I saw. Something had, in fact, been over by the window; there were deep imprints in a four-foot snow drift. It had snowed heavily enough in the hour or so since they'd been made, however, that they were partially filled in again, leaving only the craters of collapsed snow to look at. I sized up how tall something would have to be to tower over my wife in the window, and I couldn't make the height make sense. They would have had to be... 10-12 feet tall...

"...Impossible," I gasped out. Looking at the tracks again, though, they seemed capable of belonging to something so huge.

Suddenly, a deafening, frightful roar broke the snowy silence, followed by the most ear-piercing scream I'd ever heard Janet make. My blood froze, color draining from me as I rushed towards the cabin door. I ran in, shutting and locking the door, before I rushed over to Janet, now crying huddled behind the sofa, which she had moved to hide behind.

"What was that?!" she screamed as I neared, "Rodney, what the hell was it?!"

"I don't know. I saw footprints where you said you saw it, though; it is big. It's okay, though. We'll uh, we'll close up all the curtains, and we'll stay here by the fire, and first light, we'll book it out of here, okay?"

"Can't we go now?" she begged. I swallowed.

"It's still snowing heavy; I don't think it's safe to drive out tonight."

"But is it safe to stay?" argued Janet. I stood to go start closing the curtains. "Rodney?" she repeated, "Is it safe to stay?"

"...I think it is safer to stay than to try and drive out tonight. Weather is just too much."

A long silence ensued, punctuated only by Janet's occasional sniffle.

"I heard it roar, and you scream," I stated, "Did you see it again?"

"Y-yes. It was so big! Yellow eye- eye-shine," she explained, gesturing towards her own eyes, "Dark, long hair. But the face d-didn't have hair, and it looked s-so... so mean. It was like it was glaring at me again! Rodney, what is it?"

"I'm not sure. We'll leave in the morning, though, okay?"

I went around, closing every curtain in the cabin. Often I looked out at the snow around for more prints, and I steeled myself each time. I had to glance at the woods, wondering if I too would see the menacing, yellow glare my wife spoke of. Each time I was met with surrounding darkness, I sighed with relief.

And then it happened.

We had settled around the fire, each with a hot cup of tea to soothe our nerves and bring some comfort. We hadn't spoken in a while, and had started to relax a little after hours without any sight or sound.

Thwump! Thwump-thwump-thwump!

We both jumped at the loud sound coming from the side of the cabin closest to me. I even hopped a few feet away, turning to look at the wall.

"Rodney?"

"I know, I know. It can't- it can't get in. Let's just... keep quiet. We'll wait it out." I cautiously edged my way over to the nearest window and peeked out from behind the curtain. It seemed darker than before, until I realized something was standing right beside the window. Something with long, dark hair covering a massively tall frame. I slowly looked up.

I was met with a menacing, yellow glare and the most terrifying, animalistic roar I have ever heard.

Playlist for story creation.