In the quiet forest of northwestern Pennsylvania, near to the small village of Wyonesta, there rests a small piece of land owned by the Benson family which they typically visited three to four times per summer. On this campground is a mobile home that had been purchased in the 80’s by Eunice and Henry Benson, with a wooden porch and roof surrounding it that had been built by capable members of the neighboring Amish community. Besides the main camp, on the property there was also a decrepit shed stuffed to the brim with ancient tools, a fire pit comprised of unshapen stones, and a small patio where the firewood was kept. In recent years, an additional little trailer with only a single bed and small kitchen space had been moved onto the property for when there were too many people visiting to fit inside the main camp. However, since Eunice and Henry’s deaths a few years prior, there had been more than enough room for their son Daniel, their daughter-in-law Catherine, and their three grandchildren: Ian, Rose, and Carter. And so this extraneous trailer sat uninhabited, only functioning as a convenient place for the men in the family to piss behind.
When the Benson family arrived at the camp on that warm weekend in early August, their first order of business after unpacking the car was to remove the plastic covers from all of the surfaces on the inside of the camp, then to wipe down those surfaces with disinfectant wipes. The camp had mice; the family was under no illusion about it. Typically the Bensons never saw them, but the evidence of them were the droppings left for them every time they arrived. But because the family was hardly ever disturbed by them during their stays, they peacefully co-existed with their rodent roommates.
As the rest of the family was cleaning, Carter walked their two dogs around the perimeter of the property. They ran with the typical canine excitement, sniffing everything they could, until they both found something of significant interest in the woods just behind the fire pit. They ran between the trees and returned with a severed leg of a deer in each of their mouths. Carter found this quite curious and called his parents over to take a look at what they’d found.
“They must be fresh, right? It doesn’t look like there’s been any decomposition,” Carter asked.
“It would seem so,” Daniel answered.
“Get those things out of their mouths,” Catherine demanded.
“Aw, let ‘em have their fun,” Daniel said in the dogs’ defense.
“There isn’t a full deer carcass nearby either,” Carter added, “I looked around but couldn’t find one.”
“Get those things out of their mouths,” Catherine repeated.
Carter grabbed a grocery bag, turned it inside out, took the legs from his dogs’ mouths, and threw them across the road into the woods. The dogs were deeply disappointed.
From there, things proceeded as they normally would during one of the Benson’s camping trips. Carter built a fire which Daniel used to cook up hamburgers and hot dogs for their dinner. Ian and Rose, none too enthused to have to spend a weekend in the wilderness instead of at home, stayed inside for most of the day and played on their phones. At dark, they all gathered together to play some board games around the table before bed. Catherine and Daniel broke out the liquor and made themselves some mixed drinks.
The games were just about over for the night when Ian took a cursory glance out of the camp’s rear window and spotted something odd. At first, he wasn’t sure if he had really seen anything; perhaps his eyes were just playing tricks on him. But after staring for a minute, he became convinced of what he saw and he reported his discovery.
“There’s a light flashing inside the little trailer.”
The rest of the family stopped what they were doing and leaned over the table to get a view out of the rear window.
“I see it,” Rose confirmed.
“That’s odd,” Carter remarked.
“There’s definitely a light in there,” Daniel observed.
“It’s probably just light from somewhere else reflecting off of the glass,” Catherine said confidently.
“I’m going to go shoot it out,” Daniel said as he took a sip from his glass.
“No you won’t,” Catherine asserted.
For a while, they all just sat and stared at the little trailer and tried to figure out what the source of the light could be. Then, just as the mood was at its most tense, a scurrying was heard in the kitchen cupboards next to them. Rose jumped in her seat. Something fell out of the cupboard and onto the kitchen counter behind a bag of chips.
“What was that?” Carter exclaimed.
“It’s a mouse,” Catherine said calmly.
“Let’s feed it to the dogs,” Daniel said with a smile.
Catherine stood and removed the bag of chips carefully, revealing a tiny mouse hiding behind it, quivering in fear. Carter was surprised by how cute it was; it didn’t look haggard or dirty like how he might have pictured it. Catherine used a paper towel to pick up the mouse, and with no resistance from the little creature, she released it safely into the outdoors.
“Should have fed it to the dogs, it’s just going to get back into the house,” Daniel said as he took a swig of his drink.
“Well, it’s the mice that live here year round. We’re just visiting,” Catherine responded.
Daniel didn’t hear her. He was back to staring at the little trailer.
“I’m going to shoot that light out,” he said gravely.
“I’ll go check it out,” Carter said as he stood to his feet.
“I’m sure it’s nothing,” Catherine insisted.
Carter grabbed a flashlight and walked alone to the small trailer. As he got closer, he saw the light that had been coming from the inside stop flashing. He paused for a moment to gather his courage. As he took a deep breath, he became acutely aware of how quiet the night was. Usually at this time, he would be able to hear a symphony of frogs and bugs chirping and singing, but tonight there was only the soft whistle of the wind and the rustling of leaves.
When he arrived at the little trailer, he shined his flashlight into the window and examined the interior. He saw no obvious source of the flashing light, but something else caught his attention. On the floor, in the space between the tiny kitchen and the bedroom, there was some sort of creature. It was hard to discern any details of its shape or appearance due to where it was situated, the lack of sufficient light, and its thick dark fur, but it appeared to be curled into the fetal position. Carter strained to position his face and the flashlight against the small window so as to get the best look at the animal. Although its coat looked similar to that of a bear’s, its body shape was more similar to that of a tall and skinny man. Carter repositioned his flashlight once more, and this time the ray of light caught the open eye of the creature. It rose up slowly and drowsily, as if out of sleep, and stared back at him. Carter could see now that the thing had a peculiarly small set of antlers and a face similar to that of a deer’s, but as its mouth opened into a long yawn, he saw a set of razor-sharp teeth that classified it distinctly as a carnivore. He and the strange unknown creature stared at each other for what felt like ages, each of them trying to discern what the other was thinking. Eventually, Carter slowly moved the beam of light away from the thing’s face, and he saw it lie back down in its original position to return to slumber. He slowly backed away from the little camper, watching for any sudden movement on the inside, but saw none.
When he was almost back to the main camp, he saw the flashing light return. He looked around and noticed that the neighboring cabin on the campground adjacent to theirs had an ornament hanging from their porch that was flashing also. It had been a reflection all along.
As he was about to climb the steps to re-enter the camp, Carter saw the little mouse that had just been released into the wild standing in the yard. As soon as he took notice of it, the tiny rodent darted underneath the porch. Carter found it amusing that they were both now making their way back in.
“Did you see anything?” Daniel asked excitedly as Carter opened the door.
“It was just some light reflecting off the glass,” he answered calmly.
“I knew it,” Catherine said with a grin.
