You plant your feet, cross your arms, and stay right where you are. Just for good measure, you shout after your friend, hoping she might change her mind and join you on your search for a way out of the forest, “You're crazy, Sam! We need to get back before dark! Sam!” You pause and then shout again, “Sam!” No response, “Sam?!” The forest echoes with your shouted words, but the stillness of the ancient woods soon swallows your feeble attempt to disrupt the oppressive quietness around you. You doubt that Sam even heard your shouts considering the muffling effect of the woods. You're alone. You're alone, and now that Sam's disappeared into the dim green maze of trees, you're fairly certain you wouldn't be able to find her again if you tried. Right. It seems like it's up to you to save yourself and find a way out of the Faybrook Woods.
You begin to retrace your steps as best you can, following the guidance of the rapidly dimming sun. Your heart races as the shafts of light that pierce the canopy grow more angled and begin to fade from an afternoon gold to the brilliant orange of sunset. You can't have more than a half hour of daylight left, and despite your best efforts to follow the same path that led you into this part of the woods, the trees grow stranger and less familiar the further you travel. Between the gnarled trunks, massive lichen-encrusted boulders loom in the dwindling light. You squint at one as you pass, only to realize you're looking at a house-sized chunk of a fallen statue. Jumping at this epiphany, you examine the stone and manage to make out the once elegant features of a crowned ruler, her empty stone eyes staring out at you from the depths of the past. You're astonished that such a carving could exist in North America. In fact, at its size, you're astonished that it even exists. This sculpture belongs in legends, not in the backyard of your high school. This is definitely a landmark you would have remembered... and it confirms your worst fears. You've only become more lost since leaving Samantha's side. You take a shaky breath and sink to the ground, leaning against the cold stone of the statue as you try to still your trembling hands. You don't want to spend the night alone in the Faybrook Woods... but now you're wondering if Sam was right. You might not even be in the Faybrook Woods at all!
After a few more moments of wallowing in your despair, you motivate yourself to rise and continue. Now uncertain of the path to take, you pick a direction at random and begin to walk to the other side of the fallen statue's head.
Turning a corner, you almost run into... into... you stagger backward in disbelief. No. Monsters aren't real. But alas, you are indeed facing a ten foot tall monster.
The beast looks roughly like a man, but appears far stronger than the largest weightlifter you can imagine, with every bulging muscle rippling beneath its bluish-grey skin. This nightmare creature's nakedness accentuates your immediate impression of its savagery, and sends a chill down your spine as you remain frozen in place by terror. A glance down confirms your guess at the beast's gender, its enormous veined penis hanging pendulous and fully exposed between its legs. In fact, the only scrap of man-made material on the beast is a strange metal collar fastened around its neck, a complex and rather ornate lock keeping the device shut. The monster blinks his dull beady eyes as he struggles to comprehend your sudden appearance, and then, to your dismay, his wide frog-like mouth breaks into a devious grin as he realizes his good fortune.
You turn to run, but find yourself scooped into the air by a huge hand. After a disorienting moment of being turned upside-down, you find yourself facing the gigantic creature as he dangles you in front of his face. The beast finally speaks in a thick guttural voice, barely intelligible as it struggles to form words in English.
“You yum-yum?”
