Back in 2011 I began working on a short story called CARCASS. It later became my first published work and has since went on to become a reader favorite.
Carcass was my take on the old vampire legends and was loosely based on the Aswang of the Philippines. I also drew inspiration from another, much closer, location... my own yard.
I live on a farm in the southern part of Henderson County. This farm has been in the family for the better part of a century.
Back in the early 1960s, my father was a young boy and home with his mother and grandmother when the event occurred. Dusk had fallen and as the dark settled in, it quickly became apparent that the family wasn't alone.
When C.T. Morgan, my great-grandfather, got home from work, he found his wife, daughter and grandson gathered in the living room. Terrified. Upon asking what was wrong, the three proceeded to tell him that there was something screaming in the field. Being lifelong residents and a family filled with hunters, all the local wildlife was well-known. The sounds that they had heard was something different.
C.T., after hearing the story, laughed at the women and young boy. He said that there was nothing out there to worry about and was probably just a coyote. To prove his point, he went outside and refused to take a weapon with him.
The barn sat about fifty yards from the house. Beyond the barn was the field and a large, old, apple tree. C.T. made his way to the tree, leaned against the trunk and continued to chuckle. It wasn't long before he could hear something in the tall weeds at the edge of the field.
Though C.T. had claimed there was nothing to fear, the hair began to stand up on his neck and arms. He later said that, whatever it was, could be heard moving closer and circling him. The thing in the field watched him. He could hear it breathing and scenting at the air. Finally, it screamed again. The sudden cry from the darkness made C.T.'s blood run cold.
C.T. ran back to the house, looking over his shoulder in fear that the thing was chasing him. Once he reached the house, he told of what had happened... and apologized.
It was never determined what had been lurking in the dark on that night. Throughout the years, several reports of strange creatures have circulated through Henderson County. The thing in the field will probably never be identified, but reports still come in of bizarre cries and shadowy figures in the night. Maybe, if you find yourself traveling along a country road in Tuxedo, late at night, maybe you'll hear one of those strange screams. Maybe you could see one of the hulking shadows watching from the cover of darkness.
The story wasn't repeated for years out of fear of ridicule. It was later told to me by my grandmother.
(A photo of where the apple tree once stood. It was here where C.T. had his encounter.)
