The Lumberjack

The Lumberjack - Part Two

I stood there, and in my complete and utter shock my eyes began to subconsciously scan these strange figures. As I had noted before, they all wore dark robes and masks, and each mask was different. There were animals, monsters, and mythological figures. Each one was ornately crafted with intense care and passion, that much was obvious. The detail in each was simply breathtaking. I could have stared, looking at this transfixing work of art that stood before me, but just then the being at the head of this morbid gathering reached into his robe and pulled out a knife. That broke the immersion real quick.

I don't know how it was possible, but the leader's mask seemed to form a wide smile at the look of growing fear in my eyes. He stood there for a while, just waving his knife around. This was no ordinary kitchen-knife, it was a curvy, fanciful, ancient looking knife, most likely used in ancient sacrifices and rituals. The metal of the blade looked oddly familiar, and then I realized where I had seen it before. It was the metal the Lumberjack statue had been made of.

There was something so cruelly sinister about this whole ordeal, this whole place, that I just wanted to curl into a ball and cry, but I couldn't do that in front of this grim company. I could show no signs of weakness. If they thought I was weak, they might charge me, and it's pretty obvious who would win in that situation. I took a deep breath, and decided to properly and logically assess this situation. First things first. Did these... whatever they were, pose an immediate physical danger to me? They weren't attacking now, that was for sure. I didn't think they were right about to rush me and murder me, but they didn't exactly seem safe, either. If I walked the wrong direction, did the wrong thing, I had no doubt they would suddenly become dangerous. The thing was, I had no clue what could set them off. I was pathetically unaware of the context of the situation I found myself in.

There was always the woods, and if I ran now, I could potentially lose them in the trees and fog if they started to chase me. But did I really want to go that far into the woods, especially in this unearthly chill? Besides, who knew what creatures roamed these woods? It surely couldn't be any worse than the creatures in the town, right? I didn't exactly know why, but my mind turned to the image of the grinning lumberjack on the pamphlet I found in the empty house. I shuddered, and looked around. What if the people standing in front of me were the same people who worshiped the lumberjack? I looked back at them. They still hadn't moved, nor had I.

I sighed, and decided it was safer for me in the woods. I knew the wilderness, it felt like home to me more than any "civilized" establishments anyway. I stepped backward slowly, still looking at the mob. They didn't follow me. Eventually, when it seemed sure they wouldn't follow me, I turned to run. I ran and ran, and I didn't look back. That town was bad news. I knew the second I got out of view that it had been the right choice. There was something unnerving about it. Now, if I could only get out of this fog, everything would be all right. My run turned into a light jog, and then finally the steady trudging I was used to. With the woods all around me, I started to get more and more of a feel of who I was as a person. The woods really did feel like home. I was an explorer, through and through, always had been, or at least I thought I had been.

I came upon a closed shop. Unlike the houses in the town, which had been grotesque mutations of concrete, metal, and stone, this shop was made exclusively out of wood. It looked quite old, which was unsurprising considering the state of everything else nearby. The windows were dirty glass, and I could barely see the inside. Even though I got the distinct impression that it had been closed for some time, smoke was rising from the chimney, although it was barely distinguishable from the surrounding fog. Again, I felt the disconnect between the part of me that thinks and the part of me that feels. I felt that this place hid awful secrets, and that I should steer right clear and return on merry way, thank you very much. I thought that this was possibly the only structure for miles that didn't include that godforsaken town, and if I just left, I could die of exposure, or starvation, or whatever gruesome creatures (lumberjack) roamed these parts. With a deep breath and a heavy heart, I pushed the door open and stepped inside.