Krampus

Stratobowl Aliens
December 20, 2016
Sheridan Lake Mermaid
December 20, 2016

Krampus

You better watch out. You better not cry. You better not pout I’m telling you why, KRAMPUS. Oh yes, little boys and girls. Christmas is coming quick. That means Santa is loading up his sleigh with toys and the reindeer are getting their exercise in to fly all night on Christmas Eve. Little do the children, and even grown ups, know that before Santa comes there is Krampus. Who is Krampus you ask? Well to many he is folklore. An old wives tale made up to scare grown ups and especially children into being good. Krampus is a half-goat, half-demon who comes in the dead of night and beats people into being good. Have you been naughty this year? Well you best beware, Krampus is near, he’s here to scare. He’s not just part of dreams. He’s very real and if you’ve been on the naughty side for the year, you best watch your back. If you’re one to not believe the tales, then here’s a story to change your mind. A story of three teenagers who went to a cabin for the weekend. It just happened to be the weekend before Christmas. These teenagers happened to be the poster children , the who’s who, for the naughty list.

December 23rd was the day. A day when Krampus was feeling extra crabby. He happened to be crabby because his naughty list was long. Longer than any other year. Good ole’ Krampus had his whipping stick out and was ready to smack some people senseless and then back into sense, of course. He was weaning down the list and there were only three names left. As luck would have it, the list always seemed to grow during the night. New names would be added and he would let out some grunts and sighs and continue on with his day. There were no breaks for him during the month of December. It was non-stop whippings. The names of the friends that remained on the list are Todd, Charlie and Grant.

Todd was the rich one of the group. Every winter the three boys went to his parents cabin they had out in the woods. They’d stay there for a weekend and party it up. Lighting fires in the woods, shooting beer bottles off stumps and sneaking around the woods to other neighbors cabins and stirring up trouble. They’ve been doing this for almost seven years. It’s become a tradition and one that they valued. This year was going to be different. They made Krampus’ list and he wasn’t having any of their games. He has been watching them for a couple days now and was learning everything he needed to know about them. The boys went up to Todd’s cabin on December 23rd, a day that couldn’t have been worse. They drove in Charlie’s car and arrived in the middle of the afternoon. Each boy grabbed his bags and went to their rooms to unpack. Once they had everything put away, they came to the kitchen and did their annual shot of Jack. Something to get the night going and get all of their spirits fired up. Grant was the youngest of the group and was certainly a follower. He idolized both Todd and Charlie, wanting to be like them, doing everything they did. He always looked forward to this weekend every year. It was during this time that he felt most like a man. Doing bad things with his friends and not having any accountability when doing it.

After they finished their shots they left the cabin and grabbed a couple guns to do some target practice. They lined up some beer bottles on stumps outside the cabin. Each boy took his turn shooting at the bottles. Todd went first since it was his cabin and his guns. He nailed the first shot and the bottle blew apart. Charlie was next and missed the first time but hit the bottle on the second shot. Grant was last, but was the expert shooter of the group. He lined up two bottles and said he’d shoot them one right after the other. Both boys chuckled, as if he could really do it. Grant took a deep breath and then nailed the first bottle. He moved slightly to the left and immediately pulled the trigger and hit the second bottle. He stood up and blew on the end of the barrel. He looked at both of them and said, “You were saying?” They all had a good laugh and went back inside the cabin. Another shot of Jack was needed.

Krampus sat on top of their cabin, waiting and listening. That’s right, there he sat just like good ole St. Nick. He had his whipping stick in hand and a sour grimace on his face. “How could these boys be so selfish”, he though to himself. Grant, wanting to impress the other boys, decided they should go explore the woods and find other campers. Knock on a few windows, break a few windows and spread some fear. Krampus heard them talking and didn’t like this idea, not one bit. How dare they go and scare some innocent people who were trying to have some joyful fun with their families. Christmas is about cheer and by golly, Krampus was going to make that known to these three hood rats.

Charlie, Todd and Grant left their cabin and started making their way through the woods. They saw a couple lights off in the distance. It looked like two different cabins. This meant double the fun and double the terror. Each of the boys found some sticks and a couple rocks, small rocks to start out. They reached the first cabin and Todd walked around it and dragged a stick along the walls. The wood on wood made a nice scratching noise that sounded very strange. Grant took some small pebbles and tossed them against the window. He would start with one by the front door and then run to back of the house quick and toss another. The family that was inside came to the windows and looked outside, but couldn’t see anything. The boys began to smirk. Charlie picked up a big rock and threw it through the living room window and yelled, “Merry Christmas Suckers”, in a very high pitched squeal. They ran to the next cabin about a hundred yards deeper into the woods.

Krampus was furious now. He saw what the boys had done at the first cabin and there wasn’t going to be a second time. He came running towards the boys, but they couldn’t hear him. He moved so silently through the night it sounded like a breeze in the wind. The boys were about half way to the next cabin when all of them tripped and fell down. They all laid on the ground and looked back to see what had tripped them, but there weren’t any logs or branches. They stood back up and looked around. They couldn’t see anything. They heard a gust of wind whistle through the woods and something smacked Charlie in the leg. He yelled in pain and looked down. His leg was red and already starting to swell. Todd came over to look and as he bent over something swatted him in the butt. He came crashing forward on top of Charlie and they both fell down. All three of them were wondering what in the hell was going on. Grant looked at both of them and backed away. He didn’t know if there was something around just them or what was happening.

Krampus was the most upset with Grant. He’s the one who wanted to start all of this and Krampus was going to be the one to finish it with him. Grant turned to see how far away they were from the cabin and if he could make a run for it. Krampus heard him thinking and didn’t like what he was hearing. He came flying down from a tree and landed in front of Grant. Grant’s eyes opened about as wide as a nutkracker’s mouth. He tried to mutter, “Wha….wha…what are you?!” Krampus smiled and said, “I’m KRAMPUS and you boys have been very naughty. Too naughty for my liking.” He took his whipping stick and hit Grant in the chest, then the arm and then in the leg. Finally, he took his foot and kicked Grant back over to his friends. All of them were lying on the ground. Krampus walked over and said, “Have some Christmas cheer. If you end up on my list again…it will be the last time.” The boys were completely terrified. Krampus chuckled, gave the boys a wink and flew back into the night.

The End

Keenan Angel
Keenan Angel
My name is Keenan Angel. I'm a photographer, writer and all things art related. I have my own style of writing which hopefully one day I can be known for. I enjoying inserting some of my pictures I take into my stories to bring everything to life. I feel if I can write a story and photograph the general idea of what I'm thinking it helps seal everything into a nice artistic package. I hope everyone enjoys my stories, my thoughts and art.

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