Leave Us Be

There once was a man who lived in the woods who loved to hunt, often ignoring laws regarding just what he could hunt - defending it as his right, armed with a simple rifle he collected the pelts of many animals from around the forest ranging from elk and moose to skunks, raccoons and foxes.

As a man who often disregarded the law in terms of how he hunted he also utilized bear-traps to capture his varied prey, littering the nearby woodland with the deadly devices.

One day, just as the sun began to set, the man went to check on one of his traps and came across a raccoon that was malformed - seeming to have patches of fur falling out and a strangely bipedal look, almost like a cartoon animal brought to life, its eyes stared out at the surprised man as one of its strangely humanlike feet twitched visibly in the trap.

The creature continued to stare in silence as the man overcame his initial shock and fired his rifle into its skull, killing it instantly as he took the remains back to his cabin - unsure of what he would do with such an unusual find.

It would be many hours later when the man decided to start preparations for bed that he heard a knock on his door, surprised as he was in a very remote region he cautiously went to the door and opened it - only to find no sign of any visitor, closing the door after a few moments of looking around the man put it down to imagination.

Then with a start he heard another knock on the door, followed by the sound of tapping against a nearby window, spinning around to said window the man caught a glimpse of something moving but it was too small to be a man - getting his rifle he once again opened his door to find no signs of any visitor and he began to patrol the outskirts of the cabin for any signs of the thing he'd seen at the window, after failing to find any evidence of an animal he went back indoors and locked the door.

A period of silence followed as the man went to bed, yet no sooner had he closed his eyes than a knock on the door was once again heard, alongside tapping on a window and a new sound of something scurrying around on the cabin roof.

This time the man was panicked and turned on the lights, getting out of bed and stumbling to retrieve his rifle only to freeze in horror as he glanced over at a nearby window and saw a strange, malformed raccoon head staring inside, eyes reflecting the light as sharp claws tapped against the glass in a horrifically human manner.

The man barely had time to register what he was witnessing before the cabin door burst open and a malformed raccoon walking on two legs entered, another literally climbing down the chimney and the tap-tapping sounds reminded him of the other standing outside.

In horror the man raced to his rifle and opened fire on the creatures, who fled - one shooting right back up the chimney as the other two disappeared into the darkness of the woods.

His heart still racing from shock the man looked over to the still fresh remains of the creature he had caught in his trap and realized it looked identical to the things that had just entered his cabin - grabbing the carcass the man took it outside and tossed it into the darkness and yelled:

"Take what is yours and leave me be!"

The man then closed his cabin door and locked it tight, holding his rifle tight as he lay against the door as if afraid it would burst open at any moment - keeping an eye on both chimney and window as he waited for what seemed like hours.

Eventually the man grew tired and despite his fear fell into a sleep, awakening with a start as he found sunlight entering cabin and breathed a sigh of relief, however it only took him a few moments to realize something was different, namely a bear-trap laying on a desk nearby with a note:

"Take what is yours and leave us be!"