| Jess agreed and the two men started packing up their campsite. The chatter continued and then the knocking started. It was coming from several different locations surrounding their campsite. Both men felt anxious and they hurried to get everything into the canoe. The noise had built to a climax which happened in a most unexpected manner. There was extreme chatter and the knocking was going on all around them. Suddenly it stopped. Things became as quiet as either men had ever heard the outdoors. No more chatter. No more of that relentless knocking. There were no sounds of insects going about their business. No waves lapping against the shoreline. The wind had come to an end. It felt like the world had been frozen in place. The air took on a thick feel that almost labored the lungs to in and exhale. Both men felt like they were moving in water. Then came a wind which was so unexpected and so swift it blew out the campfire. Neither men had ever seen anything like that happen before. The men both had penlights attached to their heads. They flipped them on to discover across the campsite at the edge of the trees was the strangest thing either had ever seen. Then it moved and they realized it was alive. No wonder they first thought it was dead. The thing had the head of a deer complete with antlers but its eyes were not the dark oval-shaped eyes one would expect. They were sunken deep into the animals eye sockets, glowing red and appearing menacing. next page |  |