The Man in the Cloak

## Gemma and James's Encounter

Deep in the mysterious depths of the Backrooms, a wanderer stumbled upon a peculiar sight: a little girl, no more than eight years old, sitting at a table next to a refrigerator and a pantry. The wanderer was taken aback; what was a child doing in such a strange place?

Still, the wanderer was drawn to the little girl and approached her. She introduced herself as Gemma, and the wanderer introduced himself in return, as James. The two quickly became friends, and Gemma invited the wanderer to have a snack from the pantry and a drink from the refrigerator.

The two enjoyed a giant the snack and drink, and then decided to go for a walk in the Backrooms. While they were wandering in the Backrooms, they had a conversation. They had been talking for a while when Gemma saw a very small glimpse something that her brain couldn't process. She got very nervous and told James about what she saw. Even James didn't believe her, he decided to be nice and decided they should investigate.

As they searched the area, they heard a vase shatter and Gemma saw that thing again, for a longer period of time than before. She described it as a floating man in a cloak with a large forehead, yellowish-greenish skin, and no arms or legs. James found a piece of charcoal and drew on the wall what he thought it might have looked like. Gemma said the drawing looked exactly like the thing she saw, so they used the drawing as information about this ‘thing’.

They continued searching, but the further they went, the more nervous they became. As they went further and further into the 600 million square mile dimension of grief, they both started to feel a sense of dread as they realized that they could feel the strange presence of an unknown being that felt a little bit familiar.  They both wanted to turn back, but the fear of the unknown made them keep going.

Soon, they find a little purple present box with blue ribbon wrapped around it. James and Gemma both wanted to open it first, but they decided not to fight about it and just do it at the same time.

Inside the box was a small doll and a note. Gemma picked up the doll and James picked up the note. The note read, “If anyone finds this, then they are very lucky to do so. Hope you enjoy this special gift!” When Gemma squeezed the doll, it began to laugh, and soon after, they heard a man's voice joining the doll's laughter.

James and Gemma turned around to see the mysterious yellow-green man in the cloak laughing along with the doll. Gemma, scared out of her wits, screamed and ran away, while James stayed rooted to the spot, too scared to move.

Not much was known about what happened to James and Gemma after that, but one thing's for sure - they were certainly lucky to have stumbled upon such a remarkable discovery. Some people are brave enough to say that the doll is still in there, waiting to be played with, and that the man in the cloak is still watching over it.

## Lisa's Encounter

Lisa had been looking forward to camping in her favorite part of the woods with her family for weeks. When it got late, everyone decided to go to bed, but Lisa couldn't seem to get to sleep. She was too excited for the next day's adventures.

Tired of laying in her tent, Lisa decided to sneak out and explore. As she wandered around the woods, she heard someone whistling her favorite lullaby. At first, she was curious, but then she got scared and ran back to her tent.

To her surprise, the whistling followed her. Lisa turned on her flashlight and saw a silhouette of a cloaked figure with no limbs standing outside her tent. Before she could get a better look, it flew away into the woods.

Shaken by the experience, Lisa drew a picture of what she had seen and then finally fell asleep.

That night, Lisa had a dream of the cloaked figure and the woods. This time, it was daytime and there were. nimbus clouds. As she ran into the woods, she heard the same familiar whistling. There, she saw the same figure. She was about to get close to it, but a gust of wind blew her away and back into her tent.

When she woke up, she found a second picture. This time, it was of her and the figure at the playground. Surprisingly, after breakfast, the family went to the playground.

Much to Lisa's delight, she saw the figure from her dream. She was so excited that she ran up to it, and her parents were a bit hesitant, but they had a feeling they were going to get along well.

From that day forward, she'd always remember her camping trip and how much she enjoyed finally meeting someone, or something, from her dreams in real life.

☺