Faceless

• Trent Graham, Grade 12
• Short Story
• 2013

As I awkwardly rose to my feet I realised that this was not a dream, it wasn't my imagination, this was real. I managed to stop myself shaking and started to walk along the path of the thick forest. I noticed a railroad below my feet and thought that maybe there could be some chance of civilisation nearby. As I decided to look for signs of human life, I took a few moments to consider my surroundings. It was a dark night with just a dim light from my flashlight. I had no idea how I had gotten to be here but was urged to look around.
I wondered forward and noticed something in the distance. It was something glowing, but I couldn't be sure what it was. I continued walking in the direction of the object and took to the steps of what seemed to be an old train station to find a single piece of paper. The page read “The Tall Man” and had an illustration next to it which appeared to be the character it was talking about.
I continued through the forest to look for more pieces of paper. Maybe they were a clue as to why I was in this forest and how I could escape. As I collected more pages I was somehow willed to hide and run from something, but what. The reoccurring image of a tall man wearing a suit was on the last three pages I had collected and I started to realise that maybe this... ‘thing’, was something to avoid.
After what seemed to be 5 hours of endless walking, I found a swamp. This was where I realised how much trouble I was in. As I picked up the page on the tree in the middle of the swamp, I was compelled to run out as soon as possible. Static rushed through my eyes as if I was looking through a broken camera when I ran out of the swamp. I could see something in the corner of my eye but I knew not too look. After 5 minutes of sprinting I could hear my heart thumping in my ears. But still, whenever I looked behind myself for just a second, I could still see something standing there… some ‘thing’.
I continued along the path leading to a cemetery where I read about a shocking death of someone in the forest. After reading the message I noticed that hidden by some dirt was another page. After reading this the static within my eyes occurred once again where I was compelled to look behind where I stood. Here was where I met it. My eyes couldn't, wouldn't move from the subject. It was just standing there. Looking, but with no eyes. Tall and thin with what appeared to be tentacles lingering behind its back, arms that stretched down to the ground. And the face, how could I forget the face, what face though, there was no face! It was… faceless.