Let's Play

I stand on the mountain, having beaten the game.

I know, very cliché to start a story at the end. But I think this is appropriate. My name, well, my name is unimportant. What is important, is beginning this story.

My story begins on a highway, which my family and I are on because of our winter vacation. We were heading toward our winter resort, the Wilderness Haven. We go there every year, and have a lot of fun.

My family is very woodsy, especially my dad. He literally loves anything to do with surviving, wilderness, and generally being a boy scout as does my sister. Sorry sis, I mean girl scout. My mom, not so much. Don't get me wrong, she likes the woods, but- Nevermind. Let's stay on track.

So we drove down the highway, which was peppered with cars and RVs, until we got to our turn. It was a dirt road, which is a little strange to see connected to the highway, but our family knows it well. We turned on it, and continued driving. It began to get more and more forested, the only signs of civilization being the occasional house.

Before long, we reached our destination. But as soon as I stepped out of the car, I knew something was wrong. The usually perfect flower beds in front of the rental cabins were overgrown, the grass was much longer, and the whole place looked like it was about to be taken back by Mother Nature. As we walked into the owner's building to rent a cabin, Bill, opened the door and greeted us with a warm smile.

"About time you got here!" Bill said, "I thought maybe we had lost you as well."

My dad's face took on a look of concern. "What do you mean?"

Bill's smile dimmed. " Well, one of our gardeners went missing one day, only to be found a week later curled in a ball next to your usual cabin. He just kept mumbling 'Not the Game'. Weird, huh? Anyway, when the other vacationers heard about this, most of them decided not to come."

My sister said, "Ummm, are you sure we should take that cabin then, maybe another one would be better?"

Bill replied, "Take whatever cabin you want."

My dad accepted this, and we took a cabin closest to our car. We spent the rest of the day unpacking and organizing our stuff, because we would be there for 3 weeks. We were renting the largest cabin, so there was a room for me, my parents, and my sister. I walked into my room, and flopped down on the bed. I wasn't sure what to make of what Bill said, but at the time, I didn't care. I fell asleep, dreaming about exploring the woods, making stuff, and tying knots.

I woke up to the sound of my mom's voice. Dinnertime.

I leapt out of my bed, and ran into the kitchen. Steaks and potatoes. We dug in hungrily, since during the trip we only had rice cakes with peanut butter (No, we aren't asian.). There was little conversation around the table, since most of us were to concentrated on eating. After dinner, our family parted ways to do whatever we wanted. My mom and dad went for a walk, and my sister and I began watching a movie. I can't quite remember what the movie was about, but I do know it was a horror movie. I didn't find it scary, but my sister did, and spent most of the movie with her face buried in a pillow. Mom and dad got back to the cabin, and by that time the movie had ended. We all had desert together, and then retired to our rooms.

I got into my bed, and began to read one of my favorite novels. I read a few chapters, but soon dropped off to sleep.

The entry door shook. I started awake, adrenaline crossing though my veins. The windows of the cabin shuddered, and I could see that it was storming hard outside. I calmed down, and was about to go to sleep when I heard splintering of wood, and the scuffling of feet coming to my door. I leapt out of bed, and locked the door. My door shuddered under intense pressure, but finally stopped.

All was quiet. Even the storm itself had stopped cold. I slowly unlocked my door, and opened it a fraction of an inch. I peaked through the thin gap, but saw nothing. I opened the door farther, and stepped into the entryway. The entryway door was still in it's rightful position, hinged on the threshold of the cabin. All was still quiet. Too quiet.

There was literally no sound. I cleared my throat to make sure I wasn't deaf. The sound echoed in the silent room like a yell in a cavern. I wasn't sure what to make of what I heard, so I turned around.

And there he was. An anorexic man with a gaping mouth, grey skin, and completely black eyes staring at me.
He said, "Lets play a game."

I blacked out.

I regained consciousness staring at a sign:

TIPS TO BEAT THE GAME
1. DON'T DIE
2. DON'T LET HIM GET YOU
3. DON'T MAKE FIRE IF YOU WANT TO STAY ALIVE
4. SURVIVE FOR 3 HOURS
5. YOUR WATCH HELPS

Questions ran through my mind.

What is the game? Where am I? Who is he?

I glanced at my wrist, which now had a watch on it.
It had a countdown timer, and one other area which was not lit up.
The timer read 2:58:10

I looked around, and saw nothing but trees around me.
I was about to walk away from the signs, when my watch began to emit low beeps. I looked at it, and in the area that hadn't said anything, now read 'close' the beeps gradually got higher, until the watch read 'very close'. I began to get frightened, so I started running until the beeps got lower, and finally went silent. Still scared out of my mind, I kept running until my lungs felt like they would burst. I grabbed my knees, and stood there, panting. I finally looked up, and still only could see trees. I glanced at my watch.
2:51:23
It seemed I had been running for an hour, not eight minutes. I kept walking, hoping that I could get out of this forest if I just kept walking in one direction. My watch started beeping again, only this time it went from low beeps to high beeps much faster than before. I sprinted forward, but tripped on a tree root and twisted my ankle. The beeps got higher, the watch now saying danger, and I could hear unearthly screaming and crunching branches in the distance. I ran as fast as I could, my ankle burning with such a pain, it was all I could do to not scream. For what seemed like hours I ran, the beeps not getting higher or lower, infuriatingly staying the same pitch. But finally, they began to diminish. And soon, they stopped completely. I stopped running, my ankle severely swollen and inflamed. The adrenaline wore off, which made my ankle hurt even more.
2:24:07
I grimaced at the watch, and surveyed the landscape once more. However, this time, I could see a mountain peaking through the dense foliage. I got up, and began to limp towards the mountain. I could not see many trees on the mountain, but it was high up, so I kept walking.
The watch stayed silent as I limped on, slowing making progress. I zoned out, only focusing on putting one foot in front of another. I finally shook myself, and looked at the watch.
1:37:28
This gave me courage, and I plodded on, finally reaching the base of the mountain. Now being able to see it close up, it wasn't that large.
I began to go up it, and my watch began to beep. My heart raced. I wasn't sure if I could jog again, let alone sprint. So I shuffled on as the beeps got higher and higher, till the watch said evacuate and then the grey skinned man burst through the tree line, his mouth inhumanly wide, screaming so loudly I couldn't hear the watch. He saw me, with those black soulless eyes, and ran at me faster than I though possible. I sprinted as fast as I could, at first outdistancing him, but his endurance prevailed, and began to close the gap between us.
As I pumped my arms, I looked at my watch.
0:29:43
So close. I redoubled my speed, but as I tired, the man only seemed to get faster. We neared the top of the mountain, and I began to run out of ground. I glanced at my watch.
0:19:41
He got closer, and his body seemed to change before my eyes. First he looked like a fox, then a bear, then back to the grey skinned horror.
0:10:32
His eyes started pouring black smoke, and something inside me said to look away. I looked away, and the man screeched. I saw a cliff, and we were rapidly getting closer to it.
0:5:04
My legs began to feel heavy, and I started having tunnel vision.
0:3:16
My ankle went numb, which would have been nice except now it felt as if I was carrying extra weight.
0:1:56
I reached the cliff, and looked around. Nowhere to go, nowhere to hide.
0:0:47
I tried one last crazy idea. The watch beeped louder and louder till the pitch was too high to hear.
0:0:15
I took it off, closed my eyes, turned, and threw it with all the force I could muster at the man. Be it luck or skill it hit him dead in the face. He let loose an unearthly yell, and stumbled.
0:0:5
It got up, and I tried to limp away. It ran toward me.
0:0:3
I counted in my head as it got closer.
0:0:2
I turned around, and it reached it's hand out.
0:0:1
It's hand got a fraction of a millimeter away, and then dissolved into smoke.
0:0:0

I stand on the mountain, having beaten the game.
The wind blows across the forest, and it begins to dissolve. Soon, I am no longer on a mountain.
I am right where the grey man found me. It his place, is only dust.

It is morning. My parents and sister come out of their rooms, looking tired. I look down at my ankle, which was three times it usual size. A smile creeps across my face.

I won the game.