Hylophobia.1358Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoRSmlJx9UK
The fear of forests.
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"Dobranoc."
The Polish bartender would always say that phrase in the bunkhouse right before everyone was going to sleep for the night. Everyone replied "Thanks." or "Sankyu." or perhaps "Danke." ... But there was one boy, the new waiter, whose only reply was a small nod.
"What is wrong, my friend?" the Pole would ask the boy.
"No," would be the boy's answer, "No, nothing's wrong." The boy would receive a nod, and a smile. The Pole's smile was wide, bright, showing sharp canine teeth. The Pole's pale skin reflected the stars' light as he left. The boy could swear that the bartender, two Scottish cooks, and the British boy were all related. They all had the same skin and teeth.
The Pole's nod would be understanding, without understanding anything about the boy.
But, the boy understood something. Just... something. It was in the forest, just outside his window.
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The boy would be disturbed in his sleep. He would be awoken by a cold touch, but he dared not open his eyes. He could feel a frostbite breath, but he dared not yelp. He would be bitten by sharp teeth, but he dared not scream in horror.
Only after the bartender opens the door, hours later, would the horror fade away.
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He would also experience this when taking out the trash, or perhaps greeting customers outside.
... He knew it was the forest. There was something about it, something alive, that came for him.
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One night, he couldn't sleep. Not because of the forest, no, but because the Japanese girl was looking worried about something that day.
While preparing for the torment to begin, he heard screams. Screams in the forest. Familiar screams. The screams sounded like the times when the Japanese girl would scream at the British waiter for not doing something correctly.
The boy arose. Once he entered the hall, he saw that everyone else had risen as well. They all took flashlights and some took knives. The bartender took his handgun.
It seemed they were too late, though, because after hours of searching in the forest, they hadn't found the Japanese girl. And after they had all gathered again, four of them were missing.
The Polish bartender, British waiter, and the two Scottish cooks.
Gunshots were heard, then silence. The four (the new boy, the Spanish cook, and the twin waitresses) ran toward the noise, but found nothing.
They regathered, but then there were only three. One of the twins was missing. In despair, the other twin ran, and the other two followed; the twin disappeared.
The boy had a bad feeling, because he was having a deja vu every two seconds. As he was distracted by thought, he hadn't noticed that the Spanish cook had disappeared. Once he realized this, he started to run to the end of the forest.
He reached the end of it, but then was knocked out by... something. That something with the cold touch, frostbite breath, and sharp teeth.
... He finally dared to open his eyes... and he saw nothing. So, he got up and ran again.
As he was running, he became confused. Why am I running? he questioned himself. He seemed to forget everything that had happened, if anything had. He slowed down to a walk, feeling an odd sensation in his blood, and entered the bunkhouse.
He was greeted by the Polish bartender. "Do you feel okay, boy?" the bartender asked.
"I'm fine, I guess," was the boy's answer.
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"Dobranoc."
The Polish bartender would always say that phrase in the bunkhouse right before everyone was going to sleep for the night. Everyone replied "Thanks." or "Sankyu." or perhaps "Danke." ... But there was one boy, the new waiter, whose only reply was a small nod.
"What is wrong, my friend?" the Pole would ask the boy.
"No," would be the boy's answer, "No, nothing's wrong." The boy would receive a nod, and a smile. The Pole's smile was wide, bright, showing sharp canine teeth. The Pole's pale skin reflected the stars' light as he left. The boy could swear that the bartender, two Scottish cooks, and the British boy were all related. They all had the same skin and teeth.
The Pole's nod would be understanding, without understanding anything about the boy.
But, the boy understood something. Just... something. It was in the forest, just outside his window.
... But he could go to sleep once he closed the window's blinds. It was just something about the sight that made him uneasy... it was just his hylophobia.
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