I was sitting at the dinner table, slamming my fork and knife against the wood. “I’m hungry!” It was about 5:20 PM. Mother huffed impatiently. “No, no. I’m not done dinner yet-“ And then we heard a loud jingling sound emerging from the backyard. “Hm, why don’t you go and check that out? maybe the neighbor’s dog got into our yard again and you can go say hello.” She said, pointing to the screen door. “Fine.” I growled. I set down my utensils and walked out into the backyard. I expected to see the dog, sitting there with his big drooly smile but instead I saw something completely different. I saw a tall, skinny figure wearing an oversized red robe. The robe was ripped and dirty. The figure’s nails were long and pointed, just like those of a witch’s. And then I saw It’s face. Giant, bulging eyes with small, piercingly terrifying pupils. A long, pointed nose and a small, dry mouth with thousands of pointy little yellow teeth. It had a long white beard made of soft fluffy hair, like snow. “S-Santa..?” I whispered. Its head turned towards me, making a loud cracking sound. “ahh, Timmy…” it growled loudly. “How do you know my name??” I stumbled back, my legs suddenly feeling limp. My heart was beating in my chest wildly like a rabbit’s. “I watch you. I can always see you. Of course I know your name.” It growled again. “No, you’re not Santa. Santa is nice and jolly and plump…” It chuckled sinisterly. “That was a long time ago. Since the stupid children stopped believing in me, I’ve had no power to be like that anymore. Even the reindeer are dead. Look around.” It gestured around the yard. I noticed it the rotting, smelly corpses laying around the yard. They seemed to have been ripped apart, pieces missing. “Of course, I needed something to eat.” He said. The minute all this sank in, I ran back inside. “Mom, mom. Help me lock all the doors and windows. Now. please.”