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(An adaption from a Stephen King short story) One day a man and his wife were planning to drive to their cabin in the woods, meeting his family to have a weekend away. He enjoyed trying to beat his time to get there and preferred to drive at night to make better time with less people on the roads. A friend of his had mentioned a shortcut that could cut some time off, but the people this friend had heard from about the shortcut said that it was on a wild road that was rarely traveled.

Packed and ready to go, the couple got in their car and started off. What was normally a 4 hour drive in the very early morning, the husband was hoping to beat his time by about half an hour. After an hour on the main roads, he saw the landmarks that his friend had given him. His unsuspecting wife was not happy about the detour and made sure her mild objections were known. Ten minutes into the pitch black, dirt road, they saw some odd things in the head lights, then something jumped in front of their vehicle. With no time to move or fully stop, the thing was hit. It was smaller than a deer, but bigger than a raccoon.

After a moment to calm themselves from hitting the animal, and having glanced off a tree, luckily enough not hitting it full on, the husband got out of the vehicle to see if the creature was ok. The wife, still upset about the shortcut, told him not to get out yet. After a few moments of arguing with the door open, the husband proceeded to see if the creature was dead or merely injured. He cautiously walked up and gently pushed on the mass of fur laying on the ground with his foot. It did not move. He did this again with the same result. He attempted to move the creature to push it to the side of the road with little success. He tried to grab it by what looked to be a leg, and pull it, but the creature was heavier than it looked. Calling back to his wife, he asked if she could help. Balking at first, she relented as she realized it would be the quickest way to continue on as the woods did not allow any room to drive around it.

Grabbing on two of it's legs, they both worked to move the creature off the road. Once it was on the side, they noticed in the distance in front of the vehicle's headlights, they could now see many small dots of light. Some were lower to the ground, some at chest level and some came from the trees. As they looked around, a horrible, gutteral howl began to the right side of the road where they had dragged the creature, Fear froze them for a moment, then the dots of light began to move. Hearing the sound of movement in the woods, The husband shouted to get back to the vehicle. The sound jolted her to move. They both ran for the vehicle and quickly got in and shut the doors. Locking the doors, they saw movement in front of them and all manner of creatures they did not recognize swarming into the headlights.

No longer caring what they hit, the husband quickly floored it, the wheels spun for a few moments, then found traction and the vehicle punched forward. The vehicle hit the creatures bounding toward the vehicle, but it didn't stop. What appeared to be birds, flew against the windshield and one hit so hard, it cracked. The wife screamed as the creatures battered the vehicle, and thankfully after about few minutes of this, the creatures stopped crowding them and stopped their attacks. The husband kept going forward until at last they saw the edge of the woods ahead. Finding an interstate, he swerved onto the road, the dim light of dawn beginning to show in the sky.

After another 10 minutes of driving down the road, they saw the road that would take them up the mountain to the family cabin. Slowing down only to match the posted speed on that road, they traveled in silence as they approached the area where they would head off to their house. Finally coming to a stop at the house, they shut off the engine and allowed themselves to breathe easier. The husband got out of the vehicle, and walked around to the front of it. On the front grill, was one of the smaller creatures, or at least part of the creature as it fell of the vehicle, it's twisted innards could be seen as it splattered on the ground. Gore of multiple colors could be seen on the grill. The husband quickly kicked the remains into the woods. The wife glanced at the time on her watch. They had arrived nearly 20 minutes before their expected time. Letting out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding in, she quickly got out of the vehicle and asked her husband to unlock the door, as they were the first to arrive.

Once in the house, the husband locked the door once more and went to wash himself of the blood from the creature they had moved out of the road. It was then he noticed that the blood was not the red he thought he had seen in the headlights, but a dark green color dried on his hands. He heard his wife walk in and now realized she too had the same color blood on her hands.

"Honey, I promise you, we will never take that shortcut again. In fact, I don't think I'll be worrying about how quickly we get here ever again."

(not my story)
Once there was an old woman who went out in the woods to dig up some roots to cook for dinner. She spotted something funny sticking out of the leaves and dug around until she uncovered a great big hairy toe. There was some good meat on that toe which would make a real tasty dinner, so the old woman put it in her basket and took it home.

When she got back to her cottage, the old woman boiled up a kettle-full of hairy toe soup, which she ate for dinner that night. It was the best meal she’d had in weeks! The old woman went to bed that night with a full stomach and a big smile.

Along about midnight, a cold wind started blowing in the tops of the trees around the old woman’s house. A large black cloud crept over the moon and from the woods a hollow voice rumbled: “Hairy toe! Hairy toe! I want my hairy toe!” Inside the house, the old woman stirred uneasily in her bed and nervously pulled the covers up over her ears.

From the woods there came a stomp-stomp-stomping noise as the wind whistled and jerked at the treetops. In the clearing at the edge of the forest, a hollow voice said: “Hairy toe! Hairy toe! I want my hairy toe!” Inside the house, the old woman shuddered and turned over in her sleep.

A stomp, stomp, stomping sound came from the garden path outside the cottage. The night creatures shivered in their burrows as a hollow voice howled: “Hairy toe! Hairy toe! I want my hairy toe!” Inside the house, the old woman snapped awake. Her whole body shook with fright as she listened to the angry howling in her garden. Jumping out of bed, she ran to the door and barred it. Once the cottage was secure, she lay back down to sleep.

Suddenly, the front door of the cottage burst open with a bang, snapping the bar in two and sending it flying into the corners of the room. There came the stomp, stomp, stomping noise of giant feet walking up the stairs. Peeping out from under the covers, the old woman saw a massive figure filling her doorway. It said: “Hairy toe! Hairy toe! I want my hairy toe!”

The old woman sat bolt upright in terror and shouted: “I ATE your hairy toe!”

“Yes, you did,” the giant figure said very gently as it advanced into the room.

No one living in the region ever saw the old woman again. The only clue to her disappearance was a giant footprint a neighbor found pressed deep into the loose soil of the meadow beside the house. The footprint was missing the left big toe.

A father went to say good night to his seven year old son, very well knowing that if he didn’t his son would have trouble sleeping. It was a nightly routine between them. He entered the dimly lit room where his son waited under his blanket. With the first glance the father could tell there was something unusual about his son tonight, but couldn’t put his finger on it. He looked the same but had a grin that drew from ear to ear.

“You okay, buddy?” the father asked.

The son nodded, still with the grin, before saying, “Daddy, check for monsters under my bed.”

The father chuckled a bit before getting on his knees to check only to satisfy his son.

There, under the bed, pale and afraid, was his son. His real son. He whispered, “Daddy, there someone on my bed”.