The Man in the Orange Coat
Every town has its legends.
Our small town was no different. We had a legend of a man who stalks
in our local woods, and sometimes comes out onto the street. His most
distinct feature though, was that he wore an orange coat. No one has
ever got a picture, only sightings. I saw him once. Me and my
daughter saw him as clear as day. My thoughts have changed on telling
a fun bed time story since that day.
It was a thursay evening. Me
and my daughter, Leela were watching cooking shows, a tradition we
had on thursday nights. After watching enough of the channel,
naturally, I got hungry. I went to the fridge to see what I could
eat. I noticed that we were out of milk. I told Leela if she wanted
to come to the store with me. She said yes, and came with me. That was a
big mistake.
It was late to get food. The
sky was getting dark, and we lived close to the woods. Leela would
always look out into the woods when we walked to see if she could get
a glimpse of the man in the orange coat. I could feel the bite of the
wind on my arm as it hit me. I sped up my pace, and started to power
walk.I finally got to the general store. I forgot it closed at six,
which it was seven now. I was slightly pissed that I coudln't get
milk, and that I had to get some in the morning. I looked back, and
my daughter was missing.
“Leela!” I yelled out. I
did this for about two minutes before I started frantically looking
for her. I could hear her voice coming from the woods. I could hear a
new vocie asking questions. She was saying no, and saying how she
wanted to go home. Some son of a bitch was going to do God knows what
with my daughter! I frantically ran in. “Get the fuck away from her
you perverted shit!” I projected at the man. My daughter looked at
me as I had come back. I also saw that man she was with. It was the
man in the orange coat! He turned his head slightly before dashing
off into the woods. I was too scared not to attend to my daughter
first. I embraced her in a hug as she hugged me back. I said, “It's
time to go home. We're not staying here. We're not coming back,” I
held her in my arms as I ran through the forest. Branches being
stepped on were coming from behind. Each branch felt, and sounded
closer. I didn't look back. The final light was coming closer to me
as I made it out of the woods. I was home free.
I whipped out the keys to my
house. I fiddled around for a bit. “Ahh!” I dropped them. I chose
the first key I grabbed on the ring, a good thing too, since that was
the correct one. I got in with my daughter, and locked the door as
fast as possible. I put Leela down, and was ready to ask her a few
questions. “What did that man do to you Leela?! Who was he?” “He
asked me some stuff. But he's not bad daddy! He looks like someone
from my cartoons!” she relplied. “He probably dresses up to fool
you honey. We're staying inside tomorrow. I'm sorry. It's time for
bed now. Let's get some rest. We have a big day coming tomorrow,” I
took her up to her room, and I went to bed myself.
My dreams were haunted as
much as I was today. I was in the forest. I could see the exit of the
dark woods at the end. I made my way to it, struggling a little.
Suddenly, the orange coated man stepped out. His arms were stretched
out. I couldn't see his hands, or any of his body to be exact. I woke
up before he could grab me though. I went to check up on Leela to see
if she was alright. She was sleeping fine. I was hit by a wall of
cold. I was frozen in fear for a second. I knew that he was
approaching. I got her out of bed. “Honey. We're getting out of
here. We're not coming back to this house. We'll find a new home, I
promise honey.” She held my hand as we dashed to the door. I opened
the door as quick as I could. I was stopped dead in my tracks. There
he stood. The orange coated man. He stared at me blankly. His mouth
looked as if it wasn't supposed to be on his body. He leaned towards
me, and sized me up. I didn't move a single muscle in my body. He
then opened up his horid mouth and asked me a question. “Are you
ready kids?” he asked. “Aye aye captain,” I replied......