Story Of A Six Finger Man
This was the first day of kindergarten. I swayed, lifted my legs as high as possible and pressed them to me as I descended. I wanted to rise above Beckham. He was a braggart. I was inches from him, I was in the air with a fluttering tail and eyes to the sky. As the swing swung back and my eyes fell on the trees surrounding the playground. I saw a six-fingered man.
I was thrilled to see him there, he was usually not far from my house, but he came to my school. Maybe because my mom was so rude to him last week. I drew it in a field of flowers and wanted to show it to him, but my mother would not let me go outside. Instead, I glued it to my window.
On the way back, I waved my hand to him.
He did not move. He never did that. All I could see were his hands folded carelessly at the waist. He always stood in the shade, I think he is allergic to the sun.
A couple of weeks later, a policeman came to our school. He talked about strangers. I thought of the six-fingered man. I didn't know his name, but I knew him, right? I stuck out my lip and thought it over for a minute. In the end, I came to the conclusion that I just needed to learn his name.
The day my mother drove me home, I pressed my hands to the car window to inspect the woodland next to my neighbors' house. He was here. I grinned.
When my mother parked the car, I jumped out of the back seat and ran to him.
He stood, as always, under the cover of oak trees. My mom called out my name, but I'll just handle the trouble later. She will see how good he is and understand. But as I got closer, I noticed that although I could not see his face, his eyes were catching the sun. Reflective.
I slowed down a bit. About ten feet from me, I could see that he was actually moving. Twitches all over. I stopped rooted to the spot. "Hey?" I said shyly.
His ticking body began to move, getting taller and thinner. The sixth finger on his left hand grew longer, turning into a claw. I turned to run, heading towards my mother's stricken face, but the claw wrapped around my belly and pulled me back into the forest.
“Hi,” a wet, guttural voice said in my ear.
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