The Tool Shed

It is about 11:30 and I have to take my dog outside so he can do his "business". I just logged off of Facebook and this is the last thing I have to do before I can go to bed. I've been busy all week, nothing but chaos at the office. I only wish that when I go to sleep tonight, I can wake up and never have to work again.

I get my dog's leash and wake him up from his slumber. He is only ten weeks old, and very small. I fear that if I do not use his leash, he could get lost outside in my dark maze of a backyard. Either lost, or eaten by a coyote.

My dog and I venture out into the small grass area surrounded by trees. He wanders out to the middle of the yard and sniffs the ground. To my left, I hear some slight rustling coming from the edge of the backyard where the shed is. I think nothing of it as it is most likely coming from the neighbors, they are always fixing something in their basement. My dog finds his spot and lifts his leg to urinate. I begin to tap my foot out of impatience as he is taking his sweet time and I would like to go to bed. He is finished, but he begins to sniff around again. I roll my eyes and there is a louder noise coming from the shed. It sounds like someone or something banging against the walls on the inside.

I think that there may be an animal of a rather large kind trapped in the shed. It could be a wolf or deer. If it were a bear, it would have destroyed the shed by now. I make sure my dog is done and take him inside. I exchange his leash with an LED flashlight and venture back out into the darkness.

The banging occurs in intervals, it switches back and forth to three bangs a second to two bangs a second. Whatever is trapped in there, certainly wants to get out. I walk over to the shed and look through the side window. I press my face up against the glass and cup my eyes in an attempt to see whatever is causing all of the commotion. The banging continues and I spread my legs apart to steady myself so the vibration of the shed does not keep me from falling over.

Suddenly, two large white eyes appear from the darkness inside the shed and fly at the window. I do not have time to react. Fortunately the glass does not break, but the force of the window shakng and the shock of whatever is in there throw me back onto the ground. I drop my flashlight and it rolls around the corner of the shed. I slowly get up and shuffle over to the other side of the shed. This is not what I was wanting right before I go to bed.

The flashlight is pointing its light at the door, which is still shaking from the violent banging. I pick up the flashlight and shine it on the door. The padlock on the shed is fully locked, and I haven't opened the shed in four days. How did this animal get in there? I turn and start walking back to the house to go get the key. I should probably get my gun too, whatever is in there could have rabies.

I grab the keys off the rack and go to my office closet to get my Baretta. I slip the gun in my back pocket and head back outside to release whatever noise making hellspawn that is trapped in my shed. I get to the shed and the banging has slowed, maybe the animal is giving up? I take the key out of my other pocket and shuffle through them until I have found the shed key. The banging is no longer slowing down, but speeding up.

With each bang, the shed shakes more and more. The door is practically flying off its hinges. It would have been kicked down by now if it weren't for the lock I put on it. I struggle to steady the lock with the violent shaking of the door. I slowly insert my key into the lock and turn it. Just as the turn is complete. The banging stops. There is no banging afterwards. I quickly take the lock off and open the door to see what is inside. I move the flashlight back and forth and see nothing. I take a few steps in and flip the lightswitch on the wall to my left.

The interior of the shed is now lit. There is no animal in here, nothing that would cause the hell I went through to help an invisible trapped animal. But what about those eyes? There were those big white eyes when I looked through the window and they were right where I am standing. I look around, the only noticeable damage is a spilled bag of potting soil on a shelf in the corner. This was an utter waste of time.

Just as I turn around, two eyes reveal themselves in the woods next to the shed. The eyes stare at me and I am too paralyzed to move. I cannot even leave the gaze of these orbs in the darkness. Suddenly the door slams shut and the lights turn off.

I try to turn on the light, but there is no longer any power. I turn on my flashlight and frantically wave it throughout the shed. I hear a clicking on the outside of the door. It is locking the door. Whatever was in hear is locking the door on me. I unleash all of my energy at the door in an attempt to kick it down. It won't even budge. I turn, the eyes are by the window, peering in. Looking at me, taunting me.

It is mimicking my actions. Suddenly the flashlight in my hand is gone. It is now outside the window. Shining in at me. I run up and hit the window. The flashlight and eyes disappear. I am trapped in utter darkness. I bang violently on the walls of the shed. I kick the door. I kick the window. I turn and grab a shovel from the tool rack. I swing it repeatedly into the window but the glass refuses to shatter. I am a prisoner of this thing.

The eyes have returned outside the window. They continue to stare in, then another pair appears next to them on their right. Then another pair on their left. This is a nightmare. Maybe I passed out when I took my dog inside and this is all a dream. Yes, I pray to God that is what is happening.

But it isn't. I am here in the shed. Being observed by these creatures and there is no escape. A pair of eyes appears in the dark next to me. I swing the shovel at them, but nothing happens. They continue to stare. Another pair materializes behind me, then on my other side. More and more pairs reveal themselves to be in the shed with me. I swing the shovel throughout the crowd of shapeless monsters and it does nothing but drain the energy from my body.

I fall to my knees and drop my shovel. They have come for me. I do not know what "they" are, but they're here and this is the end.