"Don't Mister!" the boy pleaded as his hands went up in front of his face. But at that instant a large copperhead snake slithered from beneath the rotting tree and struck at the man with the empty eyes. The man jerked back as the snake sunk its fangs into his left arm. At the same moment, the boy sprung to his feet and began running once again. The man, curious and distracted, calmly pulled the snake from his arm without a sound and tossed it to the ground. As the boy looked back, a shot split the forest ceiling, and the man with the dark eyes stared at the dead snake. In one awful final glance, the boy saw the man reach down, pick the snake back up and take a slow bite from its side. But when the man--the thing, turned back for the boy, he was gone. In the distance, smoke from a burning cabin told the boy he would never go home again. It was after that when the nightmares began.
