I am part of an online group of writers called The Blue Bird Literary Society. We all met through Twitter and we have monthly meetings where we talk about life and our different writing projects. We also do a variety of writing exercises both before and during the meetings. It’s been lots of fun and inspiring to meet with these ladies and support each other in our various writing endeavors.

This short story is from our May 2022 meeting. The prompt was: Your main character is on a camping trip with friends. They are sitting around the campfire, singing, telling stories, making s’mores, when all of a sudden…

Jeremy’s golden retriever starts barking in the middle of our song. Patrick smiles good naturedly at the dog and doesn’t let the barking stop his gentle strumming. We continue singing as Jeremy pats his dog, Daisy, on the head in an attempt to calm her. She quiets after a few seconds, but then starts barking with even more fervor.

We finish the song and Patrick puts his guitar down on his lap. “Doesn’t sound like Daisy is enjoying my playing,” he says.

Jeremy waves him off with a flick of his hand. “No, it’s not that. She likes music. I think she sees something in the woods.”

“It’s probably just a raccoon or something,” I say.

Kristen stands and kneels down next to Daisy, gently stroking her head. “What’s wrong, girl? Is there a mean, old raccoon out there taunting you?”

I hear a stick snap loudly and turn to look into the woods too. My hearing isn’t nearly as sensitive as any dog’s but there’s no mistaking the heavy footfalls thudding across the dirt floor. I stand and take a few steps toward the woods.

“What is it, Lacey? Do you hear something too?” Patrick asks.

“Don’t you hear it?” I ask, turning back to my friends. “It sounds like someone’s walking around out there.”

I watch as all three of their faces shift from curious and relaxed to surprised and scared. Daisy’s barking morphs into a ferocious snarl and she tugs against her leash, pulling away from Jeremy and Kristen.

“La-Lacey,” Patrick says, stuttering. He rises to his feet and takes a shaky step in my direction. “Come-come ba-back here.”

I turn, slowly, as a large pit starts to grow in my stomach. What exactly has my friends so rattled?

The thudding footsteps stop as a giant, hairy, humanoid figure looms over me. It’s easily 8 feet tall and reeks of rotting pine needles and stale sap. The entire figure is covered in thick, knotted brown hair. Twigs and leaves poke out from various spots, and I think I even see a small bird’s nest on the creature’s left shoulder. It looks down at me through black, beady eyes.

I freeze, terrified by it’s massive presence. It blinks at me a few times, then takes in my friends behind me. I hear a deep, rumbling throat clear and the beast speaks.

“Do you guys know Wonderwall?” the creature asks. “It’s my favorite song.”