This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/orangeplr on 2026-05-28 19:10:25+00:00.

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The drive was long and exhausting. It was always fascinating to me how a six hour drive, just sitting on my ass, could tire me out much more than an eight hour shift standing up did. Something about holding yourself in one position, staring straight ahead, I guess. There was something about being stuck that folded over you like a weighted blanket, heavier and heavier as the minutes passed.

I took a lot of bathroom breaks and just stood next to my car, staring out into the fields, and then, later on, into the forest. Each rest stop was thicker with trees and thinner with other people.

By the time I pulled into the driveway, it was dark outside and I was in an awful mood. I hated arriving places in the dark, and this was the worst possible place to do so. I was meant to live here, and my first time seeing the area was supposed to be a chance to feel it out, get comfortable.

Driving through the winding neighborhoods in the blackness just left me feeling more disoriented than the arduous process of moving already was.

I regretted leaving so late. I regretted making so many stops.

As my car door slammed shut and I slung my overnight bag over my shoulder, the porch light came on, a yellow glow that emanated peacefully from just under the wooden awning. My new neighbor cracked the front door open, and a little dog squeezed its way out, bounding towards me.

"Cosmo!" An older woman's voice called from the porch. "Cosmo, come back here!"

The border collie leapt into the air, his paws scraping the front of my sweatshirt with each jump. I laughed, my bad mood beginning to melt away.

"Hi, Cosmo," I mumbled, crouching to ruffle his ears and hold on to his collar, just in case he was a runner. "Hi, puppy. Are you so friendly?"

"I'm so sorry," the woman called, jogging down the driveway to meet us. She took his collar from me, steering him back toward the house. "He hardly ever gets to meet new people."

I hadn't known what to expect, so I could hardly say she looked as I'd expected. I had only ever seen old pictures of her with my mom in their college dorm, or holding me as a baby with a big grin on her face. In the glow from the porch light, I could hardly make out much detail other than her pale blue pajama pants and knit sweater. Her hair was light brown with a good streak of grey, tied up on the back of her head with a ribbon. I watched the mess of hair bob as I followed her up the front steps.

As soon as we got inside and the door was securely shut behind us she released Cosmo and opened her arms. I set my bag down and hugged her. She smelled strongly of lavender and something earthy, and her frizzy hair tickled my ear.

"I'm so glad you're here." Joan released me, clasping her hands in front of her and beaming at me. "Oh, look at you. I haven't seen you since you were a little baby!"

I got a better look at her now. She had soft wrinkles around her eyes, lighter eyes than I'd thought they'd be from the pictures. One was droopier than the other; I forgot if my mom had mentioned that she'd had a stroke, or maybe it was bells palsy. Aging had also shrunk her down, in college she'd looked much more filled out. Her cheeks flushed with warmth.

I smiled back, letting her take my hands in hers like older women seem to love to do. "I know."

"I'm so glad you got here safe. I was a little bit worried about those winding roads, especially at night. I thought you might get lost."

I waved her off, picking my bag back up off the floor. "Nah. I had directions, I couldn't get lost."

"Oh, you folks and your technology."

I wondered what folks she was referring to. City folk? Young people? A combination of both?

"Let me make you some tea, and lets chat. Or some coffee? Do you drink coffee? Oh, I'm sorry, let me show you where to put your things."

She motioned for me to follow her down the hallway. Cosmo nipped at my heels, yipping at me.

"I'd love some coffee, thank you." I felt sleep closing in, and I'd rather stay up late than be rude to my host by crashing.

She opened the door to a guest bedroom and stood aside. It was pristine, the covers tucked in like in a hotel. The only other things in the room were a rocking chair in the corner, a bedside table adorned with a doily and a little figurine of a deer, and a large mirror right across from the bed.

I set my bag down on the floor, looking around.

"I can only drink decaf," she told me, still beaming. "But I keep the regular kind around for guests."

She put a pot of coffee on as I found a seat at the kitchen table, admiring her house. It looked old, but well renovated and kept up with. She had a huge skylight right above the stove, and I imagined how nice it must be when it rained. I had one in my new living room, too.

"So," she began, reaching up to take two mugs from the cabinet. "When will your place be available again?"

I shrugged, mussing up my hair. "They said it should be in the next few days. It better be, because that's when the moving truck'll get here." I laughed jovially. "I wouldn't want to have to move all my stuff in here!"

She blew some air out between her lips. Pfft. "Well, I am in need of some lawn decorations."

"They're doing some last cleaning and checking that all the appliances are in order. I wouldn't be burdening you if my lease hadn't been ending."

It had been really sad to clean out my old place, and say goodbye to everyone, even though I knew they'd visit. Moving here to work in my father's lumber company wasn't particularly the exciting new venture I thought I'd eventually move for, but it was a huge step up the ladder and paid well. Besides, after years in the city, I thought it'd be nice to have some solitude and a new start in a peaceful little forest town. Maybe I'd finally actually do some writing.

"No, no, not a burden at all." The kettle beeped, and she poured hot water into her own mug on top of a teabag. The entire room smelled like strong coffee, calming my nerves. "It's nice to have a warm body around. I haven't had much of that since my son moved out."

There were pictures stuck to the fridge with various fruit shaped magnets, I noticed now. Pictures of a man who was likely around my age, standing with his mother, standing with another girl on graduation day... I wondered how long it had been since he'd left.

"Is that him?" I asked, pointing at the fridge.

"Yes, that's my boy," she answered, moving to open the door quickly and fumbling around for milk, obscuring my view.

Cosmo whined at my feet. I reached down to pat his head, and he nipped at me, so I pulled my hand back. He seemed stressed out.

"Matt," Joan said, suddenly right in front of me, and I jumped. I smiled apologetically at the reaction. She handed me the mug of coffee, and I took it. "There are some things I need to talk to you about."

I frowned inquisitively, looking up at her. She took a seat across from me, suddenly solemn. "What things?"

"I just don't know if you've ever lived in a place like this before."

I looked up at the ceiling, thinking about what that could mean. "I've lived in small towns before, if that's what you're getting at. I went to college in a pretty small community."

"It's not that," she continued, sipping on her tea absentmindedly. "Although I'm glad to hear it."

"What is it?"

She hesitated, tapping her fingernails against her mug for a long time before speaking. Her more droopy eye seemed to blink slower than the other, like it was slightly delayed. I felt bad for noticing, so I looked away.

"This place is... different. I know your parents didn't tell you anything, and that's because they don't know about it. We keep it pretty hush hush."

"Yeah...?"

She looked so stoic now that I felt unnerved. Her face looked strange and uncanny without a huge smile on it.

She sighed, and nodded slowly to herself, as if she was considering how to word something. "It's really nothing to worry yourself over. We're all pretty used to it around here. You learn to adapt."

I wished she would just spit it out already, but I wasn't about to tell her that. She'd been such a gracious host.

"There's a... a thing. There's a thing around here. I think it came from the forest, evolved from something else probably thousands of years ago... tell me, do you know a lot of folklore?"

"Um..." I stuttered, my coffee starting to go cold in my hands. "Do you mean like... the wendigo? Stuff like that?"

I knew a lot about myths people had in forest towns like this, but I didn't know they took it so seriously. My mom hadn't told me her friend was so superstitious.

"Yes, like that. This is a thing no one has written about yet, though, although there are similar stories. It's unheard of except to us." She looked at me, her hair falling in thin curtains on either side of her eyes. "I just need to warn you, so you know what to do if you encounter it. Because you will."

Those words sent a chill down my spine. Because you will. As if it was some inevitable event, some cosmic, unearthly, destined thing. I was never good with spooky stories. I wondered if she was trying to haze me, trying to scare me out of moving here. Maybe the locals really didn't like new people, and she'd just been great at hiding it so far.

"Okay..."

"I know this sounds strange. I know you probably don't believe me. But I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't tell you."

I swallowed air. "Okay."

"There is a...

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