If there's one thing I've learned since waking up in this crazy city, it's that when a deer-headed monster taller than your roof greets you with "Hello, little girl," the correct response is not "Hello" back. But what the hell was I supposed to do? Try to outrun that thing? Come on, I wasn't that dense.
So, I cleared my throat, took one meagre step backward, and said hello anyways. "Hello! What brings you to these oh-so-lovely woods?"
The creature tilted its head, the deer skull creaking as it moved. The voice that came from it was deep and wet, like a growl bubbling up. "I am a Wendigo. I am the warden of these woods. And you. You trespass, little one. And you litter."
"Litter?"
He pointed one black claw at the copper bowl gleaming innocently in the sunlight.
"Oh! No, that's not litter. I was gonna come back to pick it up. I'm making Moonwater."
The wendigo's hollow eye sockets stared into me. "Moonwater?"
"Yes! It's an ingredient for a drink I'm making." I nodded rapidly, trying to sound like I wasn't totally terrified. "You just put water in a bowl, find a nice sunbeam that'll become a moonbeam later, and then voilà! You get sparkly Moonwater!"
He seemed to pause for a moment, and I could feel the cogs in his head turning as he thought it over. Then, in a satisfied tone, he said, "Reasonable."
"Oh, good. Glad we're on the same page."
"Yes. You are not littering. I will not litter either when disposing of your bones."
"Wait… what?"
"Your bones. After I eat you. Do not worry, I am not wasteful. I will grind them into powder for soup."
"I don't understand…"
"Soup. I make it with bone powder and wild mushrooms. It is good for sinuses."
"No, I understand that part. I just don't understand why you'd want to eat me?"
"That is simple. It is because I am hungry."
Well, when he puts it that way, it makes perfect sense.
Before I had a chance to come up with a rebuttal, he lunged. So, as an appropriate response, I screamed and bolted through the woods.
Branches whipped at my face as I tore through the forest, clutching my skirt with one hand so I wouldn't trip. Behind me came the cracking of twigs and the heavy, guttural sound of something big and fast.
This is what I get for trying to chat up local cryptids.
With a grimace, I risked one glance over my shoulder and instantly regretted it. The wendigo was galloping on all fours now, its limbs bending in unnatural directions, its head lolling from side to side as it charged. Its ribs heaved with every breath, its claws digging trenches in the soil.
There was no way I was outrunning it.
I didn't have a plan. Plans require thinking, and I'd left my ability to think about ten seconds ago. My lungs burned, my heart pounded, and all I could hear was the wet sound of his breathing closing in behind me.
Then the idea hit me. Trees! They were everywhere, and they just might be taller than him. I eyed the one closest to me and threw myself up, reaching my hands out to grab the lowest branch. I barely made it, securing my grip before desperately climbing up, reaching for another branch, pulling myself higher. Rinse, repeat. Before I knew it, I was as high up in the tree as I could get, brushed on every side by spindly oak branches and splayed leaves. I pressed my back to the trunk, trying to get as far from it as I could.
The wendigo came to a steady stop below the tree, its skeletal deer head craning up to peer. It extended one of its arms, reaching high, but luckily, not high enough.
Still, I knew better than to just wait for it to leave. So, I started to scream.
"Help! Someone help!"
I only stopped a moment later when my throat felt raw and I heard it laughing, deep and dark.
"No, no," it hissed softly. "Don't stop. Keep screaming. Bring more people. Two meals better than one. Maybe three!"
My throat locked. I pressed my lips together, shaking my head.
He chuckled, a sound like dry bones scraping. Then, to my utter confusion, he sat down. Just… folded his gangly limbs and sat cross-legged under the tree, staring off into the forest.
We stayed like that for a long moment. Me trembling halfway up an oak tree, him waiting cross-legged as patient as can be.
"This forest," he said at last, voice oddly soft, "used to be full. Rabbits. Deer. Travelers with heavy packs and full bellies."
I didn't say anything, gripping the branches tighter.
He sighed. It was a horrible, raspy sound. "Now nothing comes. The beasts fled. The roads turned empty. Only silence remains. It's… lonely."
He was lonely? I ever so carefully crouched down on the branch, trying to listen better.
"So very lonely," he emphasized. "No one around. I like to talk, but no one to talk to."
"Well," I said cautiously, "if it helps, you're very good at monologuing. Like, really good."
He tilted his head. "It does not help."
"Right. Sorry." I tried to think. "What if I brought you food? Real food. Every night. And I could keep you company! You would get to eat something and have someone to talk to. It's a win-win."
He barked out a hollow laugh. "Humans lie."
"Not this one!" I pointed at myself proudly. "I'm a terrible liar."
The monster didn't answer. He just kept staring into the distance. I felt the seconds tick by with burning slowness before he said that phrase again: "Humans lie."
Minutes passed. Maybe hours. Eventually, exhaustion settled over me like a blanket. I told myself I'd just rest my eyes for a second. Just a second...
When I opened them again, the light had changed. The sun was still up in the sky, but a bit lower. How long had I been out? I tried to sit up, feeling my neck ache. My legs had fallen asleep, and I clenched my teeth as the blood rushed back into them.
When I glanced down to look at my monstrous companion, I saw that the spot under the tree was empty.
"Hello?" I called softly. "Mr. Wendigo?"
No answer.
Had he really left? Had he gotten bored, realizing I wasn't coming down? Feeling a bit smug, I began to lower myself down. I was fully aware that he could be hiding in wait. But let's be realistic here, if I didn't try to make a run for it, I was going to end up starving to death in that tree. Or maybe he'd finally realize that he could just shake the tree to drop me.
For all I knew, maybe he had wandered away. And if he was waiting to pounce, maybe this head start would be all I needed.
I slipped through the branches, landing feet first on the soft, grassy forest floor. For a second, the forest was silent, and I was about to let the relief sink in. Then I heard a branch snap.
And there he was. Standing perfectly still in the brush. His head tilted, his mouth dripping something black and sticky.
"Oh, come on!" I yelled, whirling around and launching into a full sprint.
I heard him rustle and shake, taking a few seconds to get out of the brush before the shuffling was replaced by the sound of heavy claws against soil. I sprinted harder, twigs snapping under my boots. My lungs screamed for air, but I didn't stop.
Up ahead, the trees were at their thickest, and I purposefully made my way through them, squeezing my skinnier self between the trunks and thickets. He chased nonetheless, but I could hear them slowing him down. I could hear his annoyance as he tore trees out from their roots, as he pushed others over, and as he grunted to slip between them.
I could see the edge of the forest now! The slanted roof of the Brimstone Tavern rising beyond the treeline.
"Almost there, almost there, almost there!" I panted, vaulting over a fallen log.
The wendigo crashed behind me, tearing through branches as if they were paper. I could feel him gaining, his breath hot on my neck, the ground trembling under his weight.
That was when I felt it, his claws scraping against the small of my back as I hurled myself past the trees.
I landed in the clearing ahead, near the back of the tavern. I felt myself roll and quickly dragged myself back to my feet, turning just in time for him to lunge at me.
But he didn't lunge.
Instead, he stood there in the treeline, simply watching. He just had to reach out to grab me, but he didn't dare move into the clearing. Could he not move past the treeline?
I didn't wait to find out.
Turning back to the tavern, I ran all the way home.