Hollering

It was a cold December night. The snow was falling, burying the Earth under a white quilt. The night was pretty much silent. The only warm place in miles, seemingly in the entirety of the world, was the cabin of the Willinger family. It was December 24, Christmas Eve. The night of giving and family togetherness was just beginning for the Willingers. The family, led by John and Elizabeth Willinger, had lived in the area for several generations. Over that period of time, they had earned themselves a reputation as the most popular family in town. Whenever a town party was held, it was held at the Willinger's large cabin. Tonight, it was a Christmas party.

The Willinger family had invited all of their friends from town to join in the festivities. Activities included bobbing for apples and storytelling. However, while John was telling everyone the story of his experiences as a hunter, the story was disturbed by an alarming noise: the barking of the Willingers' hunting dogs. They only barked in this manner when they had detected an animal while out hunting. As John stood up to go check on them, his son Charlie stopped him and volunteered.

Charlie got on his coat and his hunting boots, and wandered outside. Soon after, the dogs stopped barking, leaving the world seemingly in silence. For a good ten minutes, everyone in the house sat in silence, waiting for him to return. The silence of the night was broken by a scream; Charlie's screaming. John, Elizabeth, and the others stormed outside to investigate. They followed Charlie's familiar boot footprints down the hill to the post where the dogs were tied up. The footprints stopped eleven feet from the post, and continued no more. They didn't turn back or change direction. The dogs were huddling in fear, shaking, on the opposite side of the post, their tails between their legs.

Charlie's screams continued, but Charlie was nowhere to be found. All that could be heard was Charlie screaming:

"They've got me! Help! They've got me!"

His screams were coming from above, growing fainter and fainter, spiraling into the night sky.