There was an old man... people called him Ol' Smitty. No one knew his real name, and he was fine being known simply as Smitty. Now Smitty was tired of living in all the hustle and bustle of crowded towns and cities... he had always loved the "Great Outdoors".

Smitty built himself a nice little cabin way back in the woods. It wasno t very big, but it was just enough for him and his 3 hounds. The cabin only had two rooms, one he used for a bedroom, and the other for every other room (living room, dining room, den and kitchen). He had built himself a nice big fireplace where he could cook his food and warm his body on chilly nights. He planted himself a nice little vegetable garden on the side of the house and would hunt and fish for most of his food. But at least once a month, he would drive the twenty-five miles down the mountain to the little store to buy those things that he couldno t provide for himself. During the warm months, Smitty had no problem catching as much small game as he needed. But the colder months proved to be a little more difficult to keep his stomach full.

Well, it was on one of those cold wintry nights that Smitty went out to his storage shed to see what he could find for dinner. All he found was a small piece of fatback meat and a handful of rice. There was too much snow on the ground to travel the twenty-five miles to the store, so he had to make do with what he had. He ate the fatback and a little of the rice, but he gave most of the rice and the water where he had boiled the meat to his dogs. After all, they had to eat too! He called out, o Rex, Hale, Sabastian, come on doggies and get you some of this here dinner!o And those dogs came running in as fast as they could and lapped up all of that rice mixture. Smitty was still a little hungry, but there wasno t much he could do about that. So despite the protests of his grumbling stomach, Smitty stoked the fire in the fireplace to keep the cabin warm and he went to bed.

The sound of the wind blowing around (and in some places through) the tiny cabin had almost lulled Smitty to sleep, when he heard something. He opened his eyes and saw a shadow on the wall. He eased out of bed and tiptoed into the other room. There, he saw the oddest looking figure he had ever seen. It was tall and thin, with a shiny head and incredibly long fingers with long claws. There were no open doors or windows, so Smitty was confused as to how the funny looking thing had gotten in. Smitty quietly picked up his axe, crept over to the odd critter, who was facing the window, raised his ax, and came down squarely on the creatures back!

Smitty reached to catch the thing, but it was too quick. It hurriedly vanished o through the wall! So Smitty was left standing there with this dumbfounded look and ax in his hand, and no sign of what ever had been there before.

Smitty had just drifted off into a deep sleep when a strange sound awakened him. It sounded like something trying to scratch its way into the cabin o perhaps a raccoon. Smitty knew that if he stayed real quiet it would probably go away. So he stayed as quiet as he could, but then he heard a strange, otherworldly voice, which hissed in uncomprehensible words. Smitty thought the wind was playing tricks on his ears, but he heard it again.

Smitty jumped out of bed, flung open the door and called out to his dogs, o Rex, Hale, Sabastian, come on over heayah and see whato s making that noise!o The dogs came running, barking and sniffing around, but they didno t find anything at all. So Smitty put the dogs back outside and went back to bed.

Sleep had just eased itself into Smittyo s body when he heard the voice again. This time, the scratching sounded like it was at the window. Whatever it was, it really, really wanted to get in! But the scratching seemed to be on two walls at one time. Smitty called out, o Hey, hey, hey, whoo s that at my door? Get on away from heyeah!o Then he heard the strange voice again, only this time a little louder.

Old Smitty, who wasno t one to frighten easily, was getting a little shaky o this was getting really weird. So he eased to the window and called, o Rex, Hale, Sabastian, come on over heyeah and see what this is scratching at my house!o The three dogs bounded up to the porch and they sniffed around and barked, barked and sniffed, but they never found anything at all.

Smitty decided to stay up for the rest of the night to protect himself, his dogs and his little cabin. So he pulled a chair next to the fireplace, grabbed a blanket from his bed and settled in for the rest of the wind-chilled, wintry night. Sleep soon overtook him, and once again he dozed off.

It was almost dawn when Smitty woke with a start. The sound of scratching seemed to reverberate from every area of the cabin. Smitty searched frantically for his ax, his rifle, or something to defend himself with, but he was so frightened he couldno t find anything. The scratching grew louder and louder and louder, and then the voice called to him yet again.

Smitty yelled back, o Leave me alone!" Then he called, o Rex, Hale, Sabastian, come on in heyeah and protect your old master!o This time, the dogs didno t come. So he called again, o Rex, Hale, Sabastian, dono t you hear me calling you? Come here doggies!o He waited and waited, but still not one dog came running. Smitty had never been so scared in his life. He ran to his bed and jumped in. The scratching and the voice grew louder and louder and louder. Smitty yelled back as loud as he could, o I aino t got nothing you want, so why dono t you leave me alone and go on about your business? I aino t never hurt nobody or nothing, just leave me alone!o

The scratching seemed to be inside the house now and the calling was so loud it was deafening. Smitty pulled the cover up over his head and stayed as quiet as he could, but the scratching was now in his room! Smitty then felt the thing scratching up the bottom of the bed. Smitty eased the cover down to see what was steadily approaching. Then he saw it o a tall, lanky creature with a skull that shined with the moon, long decaying fingers with long claws and eyes that glowed a green that'd make your stomach turn o eyes that seemed to swallow Smitty into oblivion! Before he could pull the cover over his head again, the thing hovered straight over his chest, looked straight down at him.

Smitty yelled, o What you want demon!? Take it and LEAVE ME ALONE!o And that thing started to scratch and claw and tear away at poor old Smitty. Smitty tried to fight back, but that thing was too strong and those claws were too sharp. Smittyo s screams echoed throughout the dark mountains, then stopped, leaving a chilling silence.

After a month or two without hearing from Smitty, the folks who owned the store at the base of the mountain went up to his cabin to make sure everything was alright. When they got there, they found his cabin torn to shreds, but no sign of Smitty or the dogs. They searched the woods and called for them, o Smitty, Rex, Hale, Sabastian!o But they never found a thing.

As the search party was heading down the mountain, the wintry wind began to blow and a strange voice could be heard... whispering in an otherwordly voice.