Hungry, Hungry Gremlins

“I still don’t understand why our father insisted we camp out tonight, Joel,” muttered Rob. “It doesn’t make sense.”

Joel wasn’t about to let his younger brother spoil the fun. “Whenever something good falls in your lap and you always complain about it. Relax dude and enjoy the moment. It’ll probably the last time we’ll be camping out this year.”

Being late October, Rob couldn’t argue that fact. Joel is right, he thought. In reply to Joel’s accusation, Rob stoked the coals of the campfire, stabbed a marshmallow with a stick, and slowly rotated it over the fire. “See, Joel? I know how to have fun.”

“And feed your face at the same time.”

As Rob popped the smoking morsel in his mouth he replied, “Better my face than yours.”

Though Rob and Joel have traded barbs since they could remember, they’ve always remained close friends as well as brothers. Even kids knew, when you lived in the small town of Pierceville, Washington and located at the edge of the Wenatchee Forest, friends your own age were a rarity, and not easily given up due to spats and differences of opinion.

Joel was an impulsive, fun-loving guy, and though he didn’t want to think something was off with the camping trip, he secretly knew Rob was right, and began to let his imagination take him on a trip. “Hey, Rob. Do you think Big Foot is out there? Maybe Dad is sacrificing us for the sake of the town. That’s why we haven’t seen him up close.”

Rob groaned. “Big Foot is a pile of crap. How could something that size stay hidden? He’s just an old story that won’t go away.”

“Well, maybe he’s something smaller, or several smaller somethings, something more vicious, waiting to eat us.”

Rob’s eyes opened in wonderment. “Like gremlins?”

The moonless sky twinkled in a cast of starlight, adding to the boys’ imaginations. As a twig popped, in the blazing fire, Joel replied, “Yeah, gremlins, but not like the cute fuzzy ones in the movies. These are humorless predators and have only one thing in mind. Survival.”

Lowed by the starlit night and crackling of the fire, Rob went against his better senses, and took the bait. “You think they really exist? The gremlins?”

Joel waved his hand at the surrounding forest. “Look at the size of this place. We’re talking well over a million acres. If I were a gremlin, I would find this an ideal place to hide in, and if there’s hundreds of them, they would be hidden as well.”

Though Rob was sitting by the fire, he began to shiver in fear. “Why would they eat us? Aren’t there enough animals in the woods to feed on?”

Realizing Rob was taking his story seriously, Joel poured it on. “Of course, there are, you idiot, but think about it. When your home eating supper, don’t you save room for dessert? Well, that’s what gremlins do. Like a fox, they’ll hunt you, attack you, wound you, then drag you to their lair, where they feast on your living flesh.”

Listening to every word Joel uttered, Rob desperately grasped for straws, trying to unravel Joel’s story. “If what you’re saying is true, then why would Dad insist we camp out here, where the gremlins could catch us?”

“You think Dad had a choice? It was his turn to sacrifice a child and to keep the gremlins from invading Pierceville. If they came to town, they would drag away the first child they came across, whether a newborn or someone around ten or eleven, like us.” Joel pushed his face next to Rob’s. “Remember last year when the Nelsons moved out of town? We saw Mr. and Mrs. Nelson in the car, but their daughter, Sarah, wasn’t. I bet she was their last victim. I’ve heard people whispering among themselves. Once a year, there’s a lottery and when your number comes up, you have to give up one of your children, for the sake of the others. Occasionally, a parent would protest and volunteer himself for their children, though they knew it's useless doing so. You see, adults are too big for the gremlins to drag away, so the sacrifice has to be someone smaller, like the size of a child. Don’t you see? That’s why we’re camping out tonight. Dad lost the lottery and we’re the gremlin’s next dessert.”

It was too much for Rob to believe, but he couldn’t erase the image of the Nelsons driving away. Sarah wasn’t in the car, he recalled. If she wasn’t there, then where was she? As unbelievable as Joel’s story was, he couldn’t think of a better excuse about what happened to Sarah. As for the town people having a pact with the gremlins, Rob had seen his neighbors whispering among themselves, only to close their lips when he walked by. Is what Joel said true? There was only one way to find out.

“Are you bullshitting me?”

Slowly, a sheepish grin crossed Joel’s face. “Well, I might have stretched the truth a bit.”

Rob sighed with relief. “Man, you had me going! For a minute, I thought you knew what you were talking about. I should have known better.”

“Ouch! Your words sting my heart. Besides lying to you, what did I do to deserve your wrath?”

Rob crawled back in his sleeping bag. “You’ve done enough! I’m tired, so, shut up and let me get some sleep.”

Feeling a wave of drowsiness overwhelmed Joel as the moon began to rise. Taking up Rob’s example, he zipped up his sleeping bag and closed his eyes as well. “Goodnight, fart face,” he mumbled.

“Good night, shithead,” Rob answered back.

Moments later, only the sound of light snoring echoed through the air.

***

Rob was suddenly awakened by the sound of cracking twigs and rustling leaves. He was about to call out to Rob to see if he heard the same noise when a sharp shrill filled the air. A moment later a similar shrill echoed from the distance, then others followed. Fearing the worst, Rob lied motionless in his sleeping bag, hoping it was all a bad dream. As he laid there in terror, he peered out of the sleeping bag, trying to see the cause of the noise. But the fire had burnt out and the moon was covered by the clouds, so the culprit remained hidden.

Desperately, Rob wanted to call out to his brother, but was afraid to call attention to himself. Instead, he whispered, “Joel. Wake up.”

Joel must have heard Rob’s voice, for when Rob called out, Joel grunted and sat up in his sleeping bag. Unfortunately for him, as soon as he moved, several nearby creatures growled and pounced on Joel.

Before Joel could even move, dozens of large lizard-like creatures engulfed him, biting him with their razor-sharp teeth and gouged him with saber sharp claws. Joel screamed in agony and as his shrieks filled the forest, more creatures attacked. Slowly, his cries turned to moaning, then several of the creatures grabbed the sleeping bag by their teeth and dragged him deeper into the forest.

Powerless to do anything, Rob could only wait as he helplessly listened to Joel’s excruciating screams fading in the distance. As the moon broke through the clouds, Joel’s pleas for help faded away. It seemed an eternity had passed, before Rob dared to unzip his sleeping bag. When he finally worked himself free, Rob jumped to his feet, and shouted at the top of his lungs, “Joel!”

The sound of a gentle breeze was the only reply to his call. All signs he ever existed were erased. All that remained were the drag marks in the dirt and leaves and they too vanished after only a few feet.

Panicked and not know what to do, Rob ran back home and told his father what happened. “Hurry Dad,” he shouted. “Call 911.”

His father pulled himself out of bed and dialed the phone. After the 911 operator answered, he said, “Hey, I’m letting you know my oldest son ran off.” Rob waited as the operator spoke to his father. “Yes, we had an argument.” Another pause. “No, I don’t know where he would have gone.”

What’s Dad talking about, Rob thought to himself. Everything was good before we left. Why is he lying?

His father hung up the phone and looked at Rob. “Get upstairs now, boy and go to sleep. The police will be here any minute and I don’t want you down here when they come.” He pointed towards the stairs. “Now, get!”

Reluctantly, Rob ascended the stairs and retreated to his room. What just happened? Is what Joel said true? Is there a conspiracy in this town and is Dad a part of it? So many questions, but there was one that stuck out. Are gremlins real?