The Creature of Old's Marsh:

It was really dark; I couldn't see a thing, my friend Ed ran into me because it was so dark. "Ed watch where you are going" I say to him nudging him away from me. We continued on through the woods and across the creek, finally arriving at Old's Marsh. We came here to catch frogs to put in my sisters bed to pay her back for embarrassing me at school in front of my friends and teachers. I loved to play jokes, and everybody at school knew it. I am known as the prankster, you name it, and I have done it. One time I put whoopee cushions on all my teachers' seats, when they sat down, they farted and everyone went hysterical. I also switched their pens with ink squirting ones.

Anyway, back to the story, we where here, the bright moon shown through the treetops shedding light on the murky waters. I looked over at Ed and said "Ed, there's a huge spider crawling up your back". He went frantic, running around hitting his back and screaming "Get it off me, please get it off me". I said it because I knew he was afraid of them, but I did it anyway for the fun of it. "There's nothing on your back, you're such a baby" I said, "Stop doing that Michael, it's not funny anymore, I don't know why I always fall for it but I do" says Ed, so I apologize to him and we head toward the edge of the marsh. Ed says, "No ones ever been out at the marsh after dark, except that boy Tommy who died a few years back". Frogs where jumping about everywhere, croaking and eating small bugs like gnats and flies. "There's a big one, get it Mike" cries Ed, I tell him to quiet down or he'll scare them all away. I slowly sneak up on the frog and grab it just as it jumps into the air, it begins to squirm and wiggle, trying to break free of my grip, so I tighten it to hold it still, I drop the frog into the bucket and place the lid on to keep the frog from escaping. A few minutes later…we caught a total of ten frogs, I checked my watch, and it was 10:35, only twenty minutes till midnight. We grabbed our stuff and were about to leave when Ed noticed something sticking out of the marsh, a long fin protruded up out of the murky waters, moving around slowly. "Let's catch it" hollers Ed" rushing over to pick up the other bucket, I grab it from him and try scooping up fish, but it hits something hard. Suddenly the fin begins to rise, I back away and stare in amazement and fear at the silhouette of the creature before my eyes. It was no fish, frog, or any thing like a creature that you would find in a marsh, no, the only thing that came close to resembling it was an alligator. The creature stood five feet nine from head to tail, a long fin cascades down its back to the tip of its tail. I look at its webbed hands, razor like talons protrude from each of its four fingertips. Then look up at its face, the head resembles a gator, except for the long jagged teeth that seem to stick out at an angle, the nostrils flair as it breathes in and out. Then I notices the eyes, the cold look of hunger hangs in them, a look that says that I will tear the flesh from your body and feast on your innards. I called to Ed, but he was too scared to even move from his spot, I tried calling again; he did not turn, just stood there paralyzed in place. The creature climbed up onto the grass and began advancing toward me and Ed, I finally felt my legs again, I turned and ran, not looking back, jumping over the creek and dashing through the woods.

It took only about twenty minutes to reach the sidewalk, I sat down, totally out of breath and waited, my heart felt like it was about to burst in my chest. . . . Ten minutes later…He was probably playing a joke on me, maybe the creature was someone in disguise, he probably wanted to get me back for all the times I scared the hell out of him. So, I decided just go home and straight to bed, I was too tired to go back. I did not know that it was a joke at the time, until the next morning.

I awoke to the sound of my phone ringing, so I picked it up and answered: "Hello who is this", at first no one answered back, "It's me Cathleen you know Ed's mother, have you seen Edward" she asks, something in her voice does not seem right, she sounds scared, but of what. "No, last I seen him was last night at Old's Marsh", I never should of told her that, that was me and Ed's secret, now we are both going to be grounded. "I'm sending his brother to look for him, and tell your mother to call me later I would like to have a word with her, alright" she says sounded kind of flustered, "Alright I will, goodbye" I say as I hang up the phone thinking Ed never did this before, why start now. . . . The way I found out about Ed was while watching the six o' clock news.

They had found his body lying beside the marsh with slashes covering his body and dagger-like holes in his throat; I felt sick all of a sudden, the creature was real. I once heard stories about a creature from Willie Hopkins; supposedly he had seen the creature and managed to escape with his life, so I decided to pay him a visit.

After the first knock he answered, he never came out anymore these days since his friend died, I gasped at the sight of him, I guess being inside and suffering from the trauma aged him. He wore black denim jeans torn at both knees over a pleated shirt with oil stains splotched on it, probably his fathers, his face was ghostly white, dark circles were etched under each eye, they seemed a bit larger because of the thick glasses he wore that kept falling down onto his nose. I asked him what happened; he told me nothing pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose into place. "What do you want, come to laugh at me like everyone else in this town? If that's the case, then you're just wasting your time and mine as well" he says in a disgruntled voice. I tell him about the creature and that it killed my buddy Ed. "So you saw it too huh, I don't believe you" he announces, "please believe me, you can check the news if you don't believe me" I exclaim. "I saw it last night at the marsh" I exclaim, "When did you supposedly see it, was it after dark, if so that is when I seen it" finishes Willie. "It had a long fin running down its back, the head of a alligator with razor sharp claws and teeth, it was about five feet nine from tail to head. It was a little before midnight when we came across it" I finish, hoping that he will believe me. "So it seems to come out after nightfall, after eleven" he explains without as much as a look behind him. "We need to kill the thing before it gets someone else, but the only problem is how to do it" I announce. "Meet me here at ten O' clock tonight we'll leave for the marsh then" he announces without a doubt in his pale grey eyes. "But…" too late he closes the door, so I just went home, no point in messing around.

That night I watched the "Creature from the Black Lagoon", somehow it reminded me of this whole situation. Mom called me down to eat lunch; I ate as fast as I could almost choking on the sandwich. Afterwards, I went for a ride on my bike around the block to think about this whole ordeal, to my surprise the streets were empty, the townsfolk's believe that it was a killer who murdered Ed and left his body by the marsh, if only they knew the half of it. I thought about Ed, he would never be there for me to tease, never again to sleep over, or sneak into the movies, or even go home, so I began to cry just thinking about it, we had been friends since childhood, I never knew that it would end this way. I ended up ride around until night fell, then finally decided to head home to eat dinner.

As soon as I got home I ate, not muttering a word to my mom or dad, they knew that I just needed some time to myself. Afterwards I left the dining room and headed up to my room to watch TV till ten O' clock.

The clock struck ten, so I left my room quietly making sure to not wake my parents, slipping through the front doors and out into the cold night air. . . . I was walking up to his door when I heard the rustling of a bush, willies head popped up, "Come here he whispered". So I listened and snuck over to where he hid, I noticed that he held a handgun in his right hand and a rifle in the other, I wasn't quite sure what kind, and nonetheless I couldn't give a crap. He handed me the handgun, "Do you know how to use it" he asks, "Of course, my dad took me to a shooting gallery, I forget what it was called though, I…", "Never mind that, we have more important matters at hand, like killing the creature. Let's head out before my parents catch us or anybody else that might see us sneaking around after dark" he exclaims moving stealthily amongst the bushes to keep out of sight. So we sneak up the road, watching for any passing cars and ducking behind hedges or trees, until we finally reach the woods. "You don't have any regrets now do you" asks Willie, "No way" I say, "Then let's go" he exclaims as we enter the dark woods not knowing the outcome, who would come back alive and who would not.

Quickly without a worry we rush through the woods, only the sounds of owls hooting and crickets chirping fills our ears blocking out any other sound, even our breathing. I glance at a tree and see a snake slither across the branch, possibly looking for shelter to escape the freezing cold night air. We continue on, over the creek and into the clearing of the marsh. (I remember when I was younger, probably about five or six, I and Ed came here to catch minnows and tadpoles, but that was just a memory now, and the image of Ed was just a vision. Willie motioned to me to hide behind a tree, I was wondering why, when I looked toward the marsh my answer stood there all five feet of it. The monster stood before us a few feet away plucking frogs from the marsh and eating them alive. I just stare at the creature in fear, all of a sudden Willie jumps out from behind the tree and takes a shot at the creature barely missing it by an inch, and he ran toward it, the creature slashed at him sending him sprawling toward the ground, he did not get back up. The creature sniffed the air, I could see its nostrils flaring, it began to walk towards my hiding spot, I wasn't going to stay there and get killed, and I had to move. It must have picked up my scent because it was closing in on me and fast. I jumped out and pulled the trigger, I put a slug into its left arm, it did not mind, the beast grabbed me missing my arm and grabbing a hold of air, this seemed to make it madder. The beast attempted it again, this time grabbing a hold of my gun and crushing it in its large clawed hand and then putting it into its large jaws and swallowing it in one piece, I had no weapon to kill it with now, I was doomed. The beasts tail struck my leg knocking me down, I tried to get up, but I could not, the tail cut pretty deep into my flesh, warm blood spilled out onto my jeans dying them a dark purple. The creature reached down and picked me up by my other leg, holding me up to its face, staring at me with those piercing yellow eyes; it knew that I was frightened of it. The creature opened its mouth exposing the rows of slanted teeth, it lifted me towards its gaping mouth ready to snap shut on my head, I closed my eyes awaiting the end…it did not come, but a loud bang from somewhere. I opened my eyes to see the creature howl in pain, I fell to the ground and crawled out of the way as the creature came crashing down like a wall that has just been breached. Close to its left eye was a large hole, a thick reddish blood began seeping from the open wound onto the cold wet ground. I wondered, where did that bullet come from, I turned over to see Willie smiling holding the gun in his hands, he dropped the gun and collapsed back onto the ground. I crawled over him and checked his pulse and heartbeat, there was none, he was dead, and the force must have collapsed a lung and torn a gash into the other from the creature's claws. "Thank you Willie for saving my life. I will never forget what you did for me" I exclaim sitting down beside him. There is a noise, I turn to see the creature stirring, its head looks up and turns toward me. I grab the gun and limped over to it, the creature did nothing, just look at me in pain. I aimed the barrel between the eyes and said good night, Just before the bullet entered its skull, I kind of felt sorry for it, but I was infuriated at it killing my beast friend, I was not going to let it live. Skin, blood, and chunks of meat splatter over the ground, the beasts head falls to the ground, blood seeps out of its mouth and the large hole in its head. Just to make sure, I shoot it once more, this time in the heart so it would not come back to kill me. I looked down at the creature, at that moment I thought, no one ever believe Willie, but now they will for sure, they'll have to, the proof is right here in front of me. "You fools; the creature does exist, or once did; now it is extinct. Here's your proof hahahahaha.

There is a crunch of twigs; Michael wheels around to see figures emerge from the marsh and woods. A scream fills the night air, no one seems to hear it as day begins to break in Olds Marsh. The creature is dead, but with a heavy price, three lives for just one.