A letter arrives in your mailbox and informs you that your Grandfather in dying. He would like to see you before he dies. You pack your things at once and get a good night sleep before the trip.

The next day, you are in your pick up truck and heading to your grandfather's house for the first time in many years. The last time you were there, you were only 6 years old. You would play hide and seek in his huge mansion and remember getting lost every time. You were never really close to him but...you can't help but think that he is leaving you something big.

You floor it!!! Vrrrrrrrrooooomm....

You are navigating and driving at the same time when you come to a fork in the road.

"That's funny." you think. "The map shows no fork in the road here.

One road is dirt and seems to lead into a desert area...a wooden sign reads "Goblin Valley 30 miles."

The other road is paved and seems to go on for miles and miles. A sign is posted that says "Interstate 666 junction 100 miles."

You find Goblin Valley on the map but it is'nt anywhere near where you need to go and you can't even find Interstate 666.

Well, you need to choose one...

You dirt road to Goblin Valley.

The landscape seems to change a bit as you drive for what seems like forever. The idiot light for "LOW ON GAS" flickers on and announces just that.

You look around and take in the beautiful mountainous range. Just as the sun slips behind the back drop a strange shadow is cast on some rock formations that surround either side of the road making them seem to move as you travel along. You flick on your headlamps and get ready for the night.

"Maybe this is Goblin Valley?" you say to yourself.

Off in the distance you make out a large sign. Soon it is in readable range.

It reads:

 JUNCTION 53 --5 MILES

 GOLD FLAKE --20 MILES

Either way you look at it, you need gas. If there is no gas station at the junction, you just might be in trouble.

You go on and pray for gas...

You drive for 5 miles and come to the junction. Even with the limited cast of the headlamps, you can still make out rock formations scattered across the valley. You notice a flashing light down a gravel road that diverts off the dirt road.

"Could this be a mini mart"  you ask yourself. Not only are you in need of gas, you are very hungry.

It has been many years since you visited your uncle and don't remember being on such a deserted road.

Your gas guage reads bone dry.

You go check out the light.

Driving on the gravel seems to wake you out a lull that you seem to have been in. The rocks kick and ding against your truck making this road a bit louder to drive on. Every now and then you hit a pothole or have to go around one of those rock mounds you seem to be surrounded by.

A very large hole on the right comes into view and you swing your steering wheel left coming into contact with a rock formation. You strike  the mound almost head on throwing you forward and the seat belt jerking you back but not before your head strikes the dashboard making your vision blur momentarily.

A low, gutteral sound comes from somewhere close by... almost like a shriek.

All goes quiet...

Your head begins to throb as you try to get out your truck. The door is wedged into the side of the what is left of the rock formation. You feel a cold substance dripping down your left arm.

"Oh, no...Am I bleeding?" you think.

Slipping to the passenger side you make your way out of the truck.

You stagger over to the front and find the headlamps are still working but the engine is now off. You notice a black substance spattered against the side of the truck. It looks like oil.

The last thing in the world you need now is no transportation.

Off in the near distance is the flashing light still beckoning you to come hither.

You have no choice...well, you could go back to the main road and try hitchhiking with the first car that comes by...which might never happen.

"Hey, what about my cell phone...Yeah, I got triple A." you think.

You check out the flashing light.

Reaching into the glove box of your truck, you grab your 6 D cell MAG flashlight.

"This could double as a weapon." you think to yourself as you start down the gravel road toward the light.

Time goes by and you can make out a neon sign flickering on and off in the distance. It starts to get colder by the minute and your jacket doesn't quite keep you as warm as you want to be.

" This is truning out to be more than I bargained for." you say in a whisper.

Suddenly a CRACK echoes in the distance and something whizzes by your face. You drop to the ground behind one of the rock formations. CRACK....CRACK....something imbeds itself deep into the formation you are hiding behind.

Is someone shooting at me?

CRACK...

The noise seems to be coming from a far distance but definitiely directed at you.

What do you do...

You make a run for the neon sign.

Coming out of hiding, you make a dash for the neon sign. Your body warms up in no time as you run as fast as have ever run in your life. An occasional bullet whizzes by and kick up a little dirt but never seems to hit you.

Flashing on and off reads "Captain Trip's Diner". You notice the small white building and another neon sign in the window advertizing a nice bowl of chili.

You focus on the sign knowing how hungry you are and how good that would taste but fail to notice the man you bowl right into.

You quickly get up and help the elderly man up you just knocked down.

"Hurry, inside...or ya might just get shot!" the man says.

Both of you make your way into the diner.

You time for some chili.

The diner seems quaint and in decent shape for being out in the middle of nowhere. The old man steps behind the cashier counter and pulls out a double barrell shotgun from behind it and begins loading it.

His face is stern and weathered. It seems he has seen battle in his lifetime, you can't quite tell if it has been WW2 or Vietnam. The man screams out something you can't understand and a woman of about the same age appears from behind a set of doors.

She is morbidly obese and has a huge apron on with spurts of food and liquid stained from use.

"Get this man something to eat." the old man bellows and the woman dissapears behind the double doors. She returns with a large bowl of chili and some saltines. The food opens up your oifactory senses as she sets it at the table in front of you.

Dropping the flashlight  beside you on the seat you sit down and start to open the crackers. The chili smells great but what if you would prefer something else. Should you ask for a menu instead or enjoy their hospitality and chow down.

"Well eat up boy." states the old man. "It's on the house."

He walks around the counter and begins looking out the glass doors of the diner. Looking for a shooter perhaps.

"Why was someone shooting at me?" you ask.

"Eat now and questions later." says the man looking out into the moonlight.

The woman begins to go back to the kitchen but asks you if you like a soda before leaving.

You ask the woman for a menu

Slowly opening the menu, you find a small scrap of paper with something written in pencil. It reads:

KIDNAPPED

PLEASE HELP

You close the menu and look around. The woman is staring at you with a terrified look from behind the kitchen swing door. She disappears as the old man looks at you and then toward the kitchen doors.

"What the heck is going on?" you think.

If this old man is holding an obese woman against her will, I've got to do something....right?

You attack the old man with your mag light when he returns

Firmly grabbing the mag flashlight, you bring it up from behind the counter and swing it in the direction of the old man. The light lands flush with his right shoulder knocking him off his feet.

Soon he is looking up at you with a confused expression. You grab his shotgun and point it down at him.

The woman returns and tosses you the keys to a vehicle. "Let's roll..." she says.

You follow her out the back of the cafe and slip into an old 70's dodge van. You notice the side of the van says "Pinball Wizard" and the seats are nice and soft. You slide in the drivers seat and the woman sits passenger. The van easily starts up and soon you are rolling down the road and out of Goblin Valley.

"Thank you so much." My name is Alice she explains. She goes on to explain her dilemma:

Apperently the old man was as crazy as they come and she was kidnapped by his whole family. She has been living with this family for months pratically running their cafe business. At night they would return to the families cabin in the Goblin hills and she would be chained to a bed where she would sleep.

Recently, there has been a feud going on between the father and his sons as to who would own the cafe when the old man's father died. The two inbred sons of the old man were the ones shooting at you.

"I basically slaved in the kitchen and served all the food." "I've tried and tried to get someone to help me but either they would get caught by one of the family members or they would refuse to help." Alice says.

You drive to Gold Flake.

Leaving Goblin Valley feels good and you open your window a little to get some fresh air. Soon the rumble of the van's smooth running engine puts you in a drowsy state.

Suddenly, Alice screams and points a finger out toward the road ahead...

 
Quickly looking out in front of you a little ways you see a man waving in the middle of the road. He seems to be yelling something but you can't make out what he is saying. You are going too fast to slow down. You honk and honk but he doesn't budge.

What do you do?

You try to swerve out of the way.

You quickly pull the steering wheel to the left trying to avoid hitting the man. The squeal of tires are heard as the van is thrown off it's wheels and your body is thrown through what was left of the windshield. You hit the ground with a hard THUD and skid into the dirt!!

You look up in time to see the van fly over you and come crashing down in front leaving bits and pieces of itself on the road as it goes into a frenzy of flips and rolls. The engine ignites and the whole van becomes engulfed in flames. It finally comes to a halt, upside down in a patch of weeds on the side of the road . The flames from the van light up the whole area.

You feel something wet on your face and realize it's blood...your blood. It seems to be gushing out of side of your head. Your hair becomes matted as you feel around for the source of the blood. You feel a sharp pain over your left  ear and realize the whole left side of your face is deeply cut and the ear is dangling from the side of your head.

Feeling lightheaded, you attempt to stand up and reassess your situation. "What about the kidnapped woman I was with?" you think. "I have got to see if she is alright."

Barely able to walk, you make your way over to the burning wreckage. Holding on to the left side of your face, you look for anything that can help stop the bleeding. You find a beach towel laying on the side of the road next to the wreckage. Next to the towel is a human foot severed at the ankle. It could only be that of the kidnapped woman.

Sticking the towel on your face, you begin to scout around for the man who started this whole accident in the first place.

You where could he be...

Walking down the side of the road  you notice rows and rows of corn in the moonlight.

"When did I enter a cornfield?" you think as you hold the towel firmly to the left side of your face. It seems you have stopped bleeding for the time being but you are in need of immediate hospital attention.

Yelling for anyone that might be within ear's distance, you stumble upon an old farm house.

"Where the hell am I?" you think. "I've only been walking for a few minutes."

The buzz of the street light next to the mailbox is loud but begins to flicker on and off. You notice an old sewage drain pipe sticking out of the ground a few feet further down the road.

Suddenly, you feel something wet hit what is left of your left cheek. "Am I still bleeding?" you ask yourself as if waiting for someone to answer. Again...another drop on your head.

"It's raining."  you say out loud.

Soon it begins to pour. You are starting to get wet.

Try to find somewhere dry or die of pneumonia...

What to do...

You try knocking on the door to the farmhouse.

The farmhouse shutters slam open and closed as the wind kicks up. You knock loudly on the door but no one answers.

Rain begins to come down and you find yourself stuck. You can stay on the porch or try the storm drain.

You stay on the porch and wait out the rain.

Standing on the porch, you look among the high stalks of corn in front of you. In the distance is a scarecrow swinging in the wind. It almost looks as if it's dancing.

Suddenly, the door to the farmhouse opens and a little girl comes out dressed in a night gown. She seems to be in a trance, her eyes fixated on the dancing scarecrow. The girl walks down the porch steps and into the rows of corn. The pouring rain doesn't seem to phase her.

Maybe this girl is a sleepwalker....

You try to get the girl out of the rain

You run out into the corn after the girl but soon are lost. You scream out for the girl and are suddenly met by the scarecrow. He stands above you on a long wooden pole. Large eye sockets in the burlap make for a face. He seems to be looking down on you.

The wind begins to die down and the rain stops. The little girl comes out from behind the rows of corn her eyes fixated on you now. Not a drop of rain has hit her as she is dry from head to toe.

The girl points to you and the scarecrow begins moving on it's own!!

"Bubba won't hurt you." states the girl.

The scarecrow bends over and picks a flower from a nearby bunch of dandelions. It slumbers over to the girl and outstretches his hand. The girl takes the flower and puts it in her hair.

You can't believe what your seeing. Soon, you and the scarecrow are walking deeper into the rows of corn. Out of sight....out of mind. You are content following the happy scarecrow...

The little girl steps back onto the porch and waves toward both of you.

You wave back.

You are never seen or heard from again.

 
~THE END~

You got the "dark night of the scarecrow" ending.