The Valley Of The Damned
He came back home all excited.
“Come with me. Don’t fight it.”
“Let’s go on a little hiking trip.”
“Something to show you that will be a hit.”
We packed up and went on our way.
3 of us, and a dog named Stray.
We were hiking through the woods.
Whatever it is had better be good.
We finally reached a high ridge & stopped.
He got binoculars to look from this spot.
Soon, he gave the binoculars to me.
“Take a look. Tell me what you see.”
“A valley with trees, lake, and a river.”
“What don’t you see.” He said with a quiver.
“What do you mean?” I asked him.
“No sign of man.” He said on a whim.
“A pristine valley where no one is.”
He said it like it was a quiz.
“Doesn’t that seem strange to you?”
“Maybe, but what’s this leading to?”
“Let’s go down and look around.”
“There must be something to be found.”
We headed down a deer trail.
It kept going down, without fail.
Then, it veered to the left and started back up.
I got a funny feeling in my gut.
“Why does that deer trail turn off?”
“It should have gone on down.” I coughed.
“I don’t know. Let’s keep going down.”
Soon, we saw a bare spot on the ground.
As we went by we all felt a chill.
A mild jolt. Not much of a thrill.
“What was that weird feeling?”
“I have no idea” the others said, reeling.
“Look, Stray won’t go past that spot.”
“I’ll get him.” I didn’t like it a lot.
I had the same weird feeling.
I grabbed the dog. He was squealing
I picked him up to carry him back.
At that spot he began to yap.
I passed over as quick as I could.
Once past, he was acting like he should.
We had no answers, so kept on going.
We reached the river, with water flowing.
We followed the river up the valley floor.
It looked as vacant as it did before.
Then, up ahead, we saw a small town.
There was absolutely no one around.
“I could see this spot from the ridge.”
“There was nothing here. Not even a bridge.”
We started exploring the town.
“Who are you” We jumped & turned around.
A shaggy man in his 70’s stood there.
He seemed to come right out of nowhere.
“We are just hikers looking around.”
“Do you live here in this town?”
“Yes, I am the only one left.”
“Once I’m gone, there will only be death.”
˜Just like it told us years ago.”
“I was the youngest. I’ll be the last to go.”
“What are you saying?” We hadn’t a clue.
“O.K., I’ll tell the story to you.”
He told us 65 years ago it came.
An alien, a beast, a monster by name.
It spoke and said it needed this valley.
About 100+ lived here & we did rally.
It said it had something to do.
“I will return, but not for you.”
By then, it said we would all be dead.
We would die of old age, it said.
It said it felt kindly today.
So it wouldn’t kill anyone right away.
It said a barrier will isolate us here.
“There is no escape, I fear.”
We can live out our days.
We couldn’t reproduce in any way.
When it gets back we would all be dead.
“Don’t think I am talking out of my head.”
“I was 10 when it was here.”
“I am now 75, I fear.”
“When I am gone it will come”
“Where did you boys come from”
“Outside the valley. There was no barrier.”
“There was a spot that felt weird there.”
I said “Apparently, the barrier is failing.”
“We had better get out while it is ailing”
We packed him up and headed out.
Back out on the very same route.
We came to the spot that was weird.
“The barrier was right here.” He feared.
I carried Stray across and the others went too.
The same weird feeling. We hadn’t a clue.
A short distance away, the old man stopped.
“I was afraid of this” He said, shocked.
Then, he disappeared right before our eyes.
We knew for sure, his story wasn’t lies.
Later, after we all got home.
We all knew we weren’t alone.
But, we never spoke of it to any man.
We never went back to The Valley Of The Damned.
———————————————R.W. Johnson—–(2017)