Fehelølmot

Because of gradual disinterest and the oral stories dying down, the tale of Fehelølmot is nothing more than a memory of the past, a prime example of the profound disconnection between the truth and a silly hoax. Some say its a genuine lack of concern for such a moot manner in a time where civilization is on the brink of collapse, while others say they'd rather try and forget the creature for its actions and vile crimes against humanity at a futile attempt to ward Fehelølmot off from existence; but what nobody knows is: just how real he truly is.

October 14, 1982, Del Moh'ran springs: "I had finished the first semester of middle school, and winter break was just beyond the horizon, my parents planned a trip to Del Moh'ran springs. It was the first trip in five years where mom felt well enough to go since her crippling depression often got the best of her, so I was extremely jubilant about this trip — which was a first for me. But upon entering our resort, something instantly felt off about the whole place, art of horses littered the entire resort, a constant stench of fecal matter filled the entire atmosphere, the people here were extremely quiet and would often quickly move away from us if we got even remotely close, every business around the resort was often a generic hole-in-the-wall restaurant ranging from: ITALIAN FOOD, MEXICAN FOOD, and CHINESE FOOD. All these restaurants only took cash, and the prices there all greatly varied from: Absurdly overpriced to Suspiciously Underpriced. Aside from the workers, there were often no other people at the restaurant. My dad assumed it was one big money-laundering scheme, and present-day me completely understands why. Anyways, there was a particular piece of horse art there that really stuck with me. A poster depicting a bright green horse grinning that stated: "All good decisions start with you!" It was inconveniently placed near the beginning of the hall that led to our room, I remember getting an overwhelming feeling of nausea and dizziness after staring at it for too long once, and after that day, I would always walk quickly past the hall and straight to my desired destination. In retrospect, I should've paid more attention to the intense energy of that horse poster, but I never thought much of it for the time being.

By the third and second-to-last day of the vacation, I started noticing really unusual behavior in my mom. She seemed much more relaxed, talkative, and even…….happy. Giddy and overwhelmingly excited, she spent the day pacing around, seemingly ready to jump out of her skin; when I asked why, she said: "This is the day I finally get to see my best friend; I've waited for this opportunity my whole life now!" Not thinking much of it, I spent the day doing what I usually did at the resort until it was time to go to bed. And that's when the next day dawned on father and me, with my dad coming home early with breakfast, we sat and started gleefully eating before my father tuned in to the news, and we both reluctantly read the title as our faces slowly sculpted into the most intense depictions of horror and shock. "Lady found washed up mangled and brutally mauled by an unknown creature behind Del Moh'ran springs." The caption was shown in unison with the mangled and brutally mauled body, which I instantly recognized as my mother amidst the myriads of gashes and open wounds amongst her face. Was this the work of the so-called best friend my mother was so eager to see? If so, then I have to go investigate this situation for myself and see who this "best friend" is.

Riddled with sorrow and grief, my father sat on the recliner twiddling a scrunchy my mother would frequently wear back when things were a lot better for her; he would often look back on the times when my mother was happy, wishing that something would bring her back to that state of comfort again. And although nothing he did ever prevailed, he still loved my mother with everything he had, and even though she couldn't ever show it as of late, the love was always reciprocated one way or another.

"Your very curious by nature, Claire, but whatever you do, do not go looking for what killed your mom. I can't afford to lose you too." My father pleaded with tears in his eyes.

"And one more thing, Claire, remember: all good things start with you, so don't go dying on me please…" he said as he kept twiddling the scrunchy before he finally broke into a quiet cry.

I didn't acknowledge what my dad said as I was genuinely adamant about finding out what killed my mom, but I wanted to promise myself that I'd return for his sake no matter what happened.

I decided I was going to sneak out at around midnight since my dad was always asleep before then. Upon leaving the room, I quietly walked out the hall and noticed that a familiar silhouette was missing. That's when I mustered enough charisma to turn around before noticing the poster I would always avoid looking at was suddenly gone. How bizarre

After leaving the building, I noticed a sign that said: "Caution! Hazardous material ahead. Do not enter." I ignored the warning and lifted up the chain before sprinting through the barely-accessible trail where it felt like I was running for ten minutes straight before I noticed a slight fog in the distance. Upon moving closer, I started to put together what seemed to be a body of water that seemingly never ended, weird since we lived in a landlocked state.

As I reached the body of water, the fog suddenly cleared, and everything around me slowed down. A warm, tingly sensation riddled my body, and any anxiety or unease I felt from making this journey suddenly vanished. For a moment, I forgot why exactly I was there, and then that's when I saw something approaching me in the distance

"Permit me to ask: Why are you here, Claire?" Said a distorted, archaic voice from beyond the body of water.

"Are you here for vengeance? Or perchance an opportunity for salvation?" Said the voice, growing closer to me.

I look down and notice that I was somehow knee-deep into the water despite having no recollection of ever being in it in the first place. This was when my unknown inebriation began to die off as the adrenaline rush vetoed any opportunity of it putting me into any more danger.

Suddenly, the ears that poked out of the water gradually grew taller as the beast exposed more of itself. A large, grotesque horse with a decomposing body, a large, beady black eye that contrasted with another large, bulging red eye, and a thick neck revealed itself at my expense. Its skin was eerily the same green color as the horse on the poster.

"It is I, Fehelølmot." Said the horse before grinning and revealing a massive set of sharp and pristine teeth capable of piercing the soul of those who dares stare at them.

That's when I lost composure and made an attempt to leave the body of water before the inebriation inevitably kicked in and made the entire ordeal of leaving so much more complicated than need be.

"It's futile to leave now Claire, all you are going to want to do is stay here with me." Said Fehelølmot as he let out a harrowing chuckle

I quickly moved my legs through the water. Suddenly, I hear a large splash before turning around to notice Fehelølmot is no longer above the water. That's when a sharp pain gradually travels through my leg as the water around me turns crimson. With no time to think, I fight with great rigor as Fehelølmot vigorously pulls me beneath the water.

"Your mother fought valiantly for her too." Said Fehelølmot. It seemed as if he spoke to me telepathically as his mouth was occupied.

"I find it comical your mother came here for salivation, and when I gave it to her, she instantly regretted it. What's with you humans and your inability to appreciate such gratuity?" Laughed Fehelølmot.

"What are you getting at!?" I screamed in terror

"You were unwillingly brought into this earth, forced to live this life, first school, then work, and all you will feel in between is stress and anguish. Why would you want to stay here? You'll end up like your mom, unhappy and miserable for the rest of your short-lived life. You feeble-minded humans don't belong here anymore….." explained Fehelølmot.

"So your entire incentive is to convince humans they are worthless creatures that should off themselves?" I said, feeling his grip loosen.

"Absolutely, but it seems as if you are too stubborn to realize just how useful I am," Fehelølmot said.

I used any energy I had left to swat him in his bulging red-eye before he spontaneously irked back in pain, letting go of me entirely. That's when I swiftly crawled back to shore and started limping out of the forest.

"You'll leave now, Claire, but keep running from your problems, and you'll find yourself coming right back!" Laughed Fehelølmot, his voice gradually getting quieter and quieter as I exited the forest.

Ironically, that was the only thing I remember him saying that day as I was in such a state of terror and shock to acknowledge anything else he said.

Things got better years after that encounter; my dad remarried, my leg healed just fine, and now we have a new favorite vacation spot. However, anytime I get stressed or overwhelmed with life, the mental image I get of Fehelølmot smiling becomes absurdly comforting…