Limper

Most children are naive growing up, unaware of the wide and dangerous world around them. I was one of those children, living in a town south of Seattle with my mom and older brother, Wes, in the 1990’s. Our father vanished back in ‘92, supposedly on a business trip to Florida, yet we never saw or heard from him after that. My brother would often tease me, saying he’d been snatched by “the Limper” - some kind of monster he’d come up with - I thought this was in bad taste. Providing for both Wes and I, Mom would often commute to Seattle. This meant that she would arrive home late at night, so the expectation was that Wes and I would look after ourselves.
One night, I experienced a terrible dream, a vision of our father deep under water, struggling for air.
I heard a screech - “Look into these eyes…”F. Durst, Nookie, (Significant Other, 1999).
I woke up, gasping and sweating, my dreams not as empty as my conscience seems to be. I got up and crept along the hallway to the bathroom, but on my way back, I noticed a beam of moonlight stretching across the hall: Wes’ door was open. I peeked through to see my brother sat at his window, curtains wide open, staring at the moon above the hills. 
I whispered “Wes?”
He responded, “Mom’s not back yet.”
This was unusual, his alarm clock displayed 3am, and Mom was usually back by 11pm. Wes pointed to the brow of a hill.
“I think, from up there, we’d be able to see the roads clearly - see if Mom’s on her way.”
It wasn’t long until I found myself putting on a jacket and pair of boots and heading outside, following my brother towards the woods.
We strolled deeper into the woods, and the air got cooler. I breathed in, I breathed out and turned around to see the light from home barely reaching between the branches of the trees. 
“Hey, what’s holding you back?” Wes called.
I replied “We’re getting far from home. It might not be safe out here in the dark.”
He grinned and joked “Huh? Afraid the Limper’s gonna come after you? You gotta have faith.”F. Durst, Faith, (Three Dollar Bill, Y’all $, 1997).
“I got my reasons and I’m not leavin’.”F. Durst, Nobody Like You, (Significant Other, 1999). I replied.
Eventually, we reached the top of the hill. We could clearly see most surrounding roads, but nearly no cars in sight.
“Well, guess we’ll see Mom in the morning” Wes announced, before turning back to the woods and descending the hill.
I followed behind him, but stopped to notice a red cap on the floor. It looked like it was left there for a while - trodden into the dirt. I picked up the cap, but suddenly felt an unusual chill, a sharp feeling running down my back. I replaced the cap and moved on.
Descending the hill, I kept dwelling on the feeling of when I held the cap. Why did I have such a sensation? A flow so cold, as if delivered by ice.F. Durst, Dad Vibes, (STILL SUCKS, 2021). Whilst wandering, I didn’t notice a tall tree root in front of me. I fell, landing on my hands and knees in the dirt. Behind me I heard a sound, like a screech or scream. My eyes darted towards my brother, who seemed to suddenly go pale.
He whispered to me “Don’t make a sound.”
I could hear the crunch of twigs and leaves behind me, like disoriented footsteps. Was someone coming? Why did Wes freeze? Then, I heard a cry which instilled such fear into me which I have never felt since, and words which are ingrained into my mind to this day. “Ladies and gentlemen, introducing the chocolate starfish and the hotdog flavoured water!”F. Durst, Hot Dog, (Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavoured Water, 2000).
Wes and I sprinted through the woods, as the Limper pursued us from behind. 
“I pack a chainsaw!”F. Durst, Break Stuff, (Significant Other, 1999). it cried, before we heard the intense revving of machinery.
Trees began to collapse around us. 
“Everybody wanna hide from the gun!”F. Durst, Take a Look Around, (Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavoured Water, 2000). We continued to run, hiding from the gun, knowing it would not refrain from bringing all the pain.F. Durst, Pollution, (Three Dollar Bill Y’all $, 1997).
“I’ll make you bleed, are you bleeding now?”F. Durst, Bleed, (Soulfly, 1998). It continued to shriek.
As fast as a cheetah, the thing I dreaded most came true. I tripped on another tree root, protruding from the ground, and rolled through the dirt. I was filled with dread, like an oat-milk carton filled with regular semi-skimmed milk. 
I felt the Limper stand over me. “You don’t wanna step into a big pile of shit.”F. Durst, My Generation, (Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavoured Water, 2000). I found that I had indeed fallen into a pile of shit… the Limper’s shit. I thought I had reached the end of my life, that I was to die at the hands of the Limper.
“What ‘cha gonna do now?”F. Durst, Rollin’ (Air Raid Vehicle), (Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavoured Water, 2000). Then a glimpse of faith emerged in the dark. Wes was running towards me, tree branch in hand. He struck the Limper in the face.
“Go! Run!” Wes screamed.
Without hesitation, I ran, I had to get away from there as quickly as possible. The distant light of our home was getting brighter and closer. Leaving the woods, I tripped on a tree root and rolled down into our backyard. I kept rolling, rolling, rolling, until I was greeted by the embrace of my mom, who quickly pulled me into the house. As we went inside, I heard a scream from the woods, Wes had been caught.
Mom sat at the table, weeping.
“It’s a fucked up world, it’s a fucked up place.” said the officer, stood next to her, trying to comfort her. 
Wes had been gone for a month, and the cops had seen no sign of him anywhere around the site of disappearance. Time passed, but Wes’ memory stayed with us, unlike our home, which we left behind to move into Seattle. Nobody knew where Wes had gone, but deep down I believe I knew. I knew where the Limper had taken him. It took him to the Matthew’s Bridge.
==Academic References==
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