Day 2,532

I didn't hear it breathing until I'd blocked the cabin door with an old dresser and set up my tent for the night. At first I thought the floor was starting to collapse but I quickly realised that it was far slower and more rhythmic than that.

Somewhere between the floor and the old wooden foundations was enough space for something to squeeze itself into. Somewhere below me was something far larger than me, something whose gentle sleep-breathing was enough to make the floorboards bend and bow.

And I'd set up a tent on top of it.

By then it was far too dark for me to try and hike elsewhere, the paths too muddy for me to want to risk a broken neck just yet. Instead I carefully stowed my tent again, moving slow as the dead and making as little noise as possible before gently hooking a rope up into the rafters where I planned to tie myself into a corner for the night.

It hadn't even been ten minutes since I'd finished rigging a hammock high up in the ceiling before one corner of the floor was lifted away and a human, but unpleasantly elongated, hand began to reach out and feel around as if it knew I'd been there.

I swear I held my breath the whole night watching it methodically lift each corner of the flooring before lifting one side completely up like a trapdoor. It sent the old dresser hurtling to the back of the cabin as it heaved itself through the door and out into the dark and rainy night.

I don't know when or even if it came back that night. I must have dozed off at some point and only woke up when the sun shone through a few cracks in the ceiling and hit my tired eyes. Though the floorboards looked crooked, they looked still enough that I assumed I was alone and made an exit.

I don't know what possessed me to look back but I regret it immensely.

There, squatting on the roof mere inches from where I'd been sleeping, was the creature in its entirety.

It was like someone melted a bear and poured them onto a stretched-out skeleton.

And it waved at me before lifting the roof and climbing back inside.