The Letter Part 4 - FIN
Part 4 - FIN
I sip the last dregs of coffee about fifteen minutes later. My current read, is one of the highly recommended Book-Tok books, Horror-Tok, to be specific. It’s not as good as the King of Horror, but it has reeled me in. It’s similar to, The Ring, you get something or you see something, and then blank days later you die.
Now, time for a run! Sitting on the edge of the sofa, I pull on my running shoes and head outside. For someone who hates to draw attention, I seem to go for some bright colored running clothes. I do a few light stretches and turn on the running exercise on my watch. The sky is light gray, and there is a very fine mist, but it doesn’t feel like it’s going to start raining yet. According to the weather app, it’s not supposed to rain till later. I prefer running in this opposed to the oppressive, swampy summer heat. Starting out with a slow jog, I make a left at the end of my walkway. I typically go right, but today I’m switching it up. I’m not a racer; I run for the endorphins and participation trophies, I’ve never gotten a top finish.
This way takes me the scenic route; there’s a hiking area that has an easy nature trail that’s great for a low-key trail run. It’s mostly smooth dirt, easier to run on. There are actual hiking trails that you can take from that trail, but I’m not going for a hike today. I turn onto the trailhead and make my way to the loop; in total, the loop is about 2 miles. My cadence is great today, thanks to my carefully crafted playlist. I’m almost a mile in, getting close to the White Trail fork. I see someone ahead of me on the trail, in what I think is a frayed gray shirt. It's too hard to tell from this far away though. It starts down pouring. I guess the weather report was wrong. The person up front is a gray streaked, they look old, but they take the fork to the White Trail. Curious about the person in gray, I turn the same way, hoping to find an outcropping in the rocks ahead for some coverage from the storm.
Picking up my pace, I slip on a wet rock. I need to be more careful, but this storm is getting worse, and what if that old man hurts himself? I slow my movements just enough to not injure myself, and make it up the steep slope. The trail comes out at an array of large boulders at the top of a waterfall. It’s typically a beautiful view, but now all I see is rain and hear the roar of the falls and the wind. I lean against my thighs, trying to catch my breath and calm my nerves, and lightning streaks across the sky. I scan the area, but there’s no one there. Wait, I think I see something at the edge, I jog over, but there’s nothing there. I look again, confused and now annoyed. What is going on? Behind me, two of the largest boulders form a small cave-like area, thunder echo’s against the rocks. I have to take cover and wait this out. Hopefully he’s smart enough to do the same, maybe I startled him by following him. I walk straight into the cave, I take a single step in when something comes rushing toward me. I jump back and try to run, but I’m disoriented, and then thing keeps coming at me. I slip in an moss & rain puddle hole, and fall backwards, but the ground doesn’t catch me.
All I see is a gray face peer over the ledge, then everything goes black. When I open my eyes. I’m across the street from an unfamiliar house, only a few steps from their mailbox. I look around, but nothing looks familiar. I get a glimpse of my shirt in the corner of my vision. I immediately look down. I should panic, but nothing happens. No rapid heart rate, no shallow breathing, no tingling in my arms, there's nothing. The outfit is the same as when I left this morning, but all color is leached from the fabric. All that's left is lifeless gray; my arms are so pale they are almost white. The shorts and shirt are ripped in numerous spots. There’s something in my hand, a thick green envelope; in large lettering is says, SCHOOP. The same name that’s on the side of the mailbox.
FIN: Or is it?
