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It comes with the mist

There are forests high in the mountains behind New Arden that see almost no human beings. Only hermits take readily to such places where reception is dodgy, the nearest town is a tiny place called Frogs Hollow. Elizabeth Pitch is one of these souls. Not even the vicissitudes of old age and the persuasion of her daughter Ella has made her change her mind about being on the mountain. She clings to it out of loyalty to family history and because she is the custodian of something strange...

The mountains near Frogs Hollow are so high that they often catch the base of the clouds which bring rain and mist. Tonight, it is mist which makes the outside lights glow softly and the trees fade into a blur of standing shadows. This is the kind of night Elizabeth must tend to her family duties. It is a simple procedure; she takes a plate of freshly cut steak and stands at the very edge of her yard. Beyond this point the forest rises on a hill behind the house. Beside Elizabeth is a stump, she bangs the side of the metal plate and leaves it on the stump and hurriedly heads back to the house. She does not look back.

In the morning the meat will be gone. This is the old tradition; it is what her family has always done. When she was a child Elizabeth used to ask what came to eat the meat. Her favourite theory was that it was a bear even though there was a high chain link fence at the back of the property. Her mother would say little and her grandmother even less. When Elizabeth was a teenager, she suspected that it was some old superstition that the mountain people had to do with the Fae, and she vowed to have nothing to do with it. Now that she is old, she keeps the tradition in memory of the women of her family, but she still does not know what comes for the meat.

Trial and tribulation have come to Elizabeth's life under the guise of cancer. She had faced many troubles but now she suspects that this will be the end of her. Ella argues with her, but Elizabeth is set on not having chemotherapy. The idea of travelling back and forth to the doctors alone exhausts her. The treatment may only give her a few extra months. She is determined to die on her own terms. The thought comes to Elizabeth that before she goes, she would very much like to know what comes for the meat.

She waits impatiently for the next misty night on the mountain. She takes the plate of meat out as usual. When she hits the plate, the sound rings out, but it is quickly swallowed by the mist. Instead of going inside she sits with the plate on her lap. An hour drags by and nothing comes. The night air is cold, and she is glad for the blanket she brought to wrap around her. "Perhaps" she thinks, "this thing will never show itself to me." The temptation to turn and go back to the house is strong. The woods loom silent and foreboding. Elizabeth knows their daylight side so well, she knows where the river runs and where it tumbles as a waterfall, she knows where the berries grow, and she knows the creatures of the wood. Surely the creature that is coming is only one of these.

From the dark tangle of vegetation there is a snap and a crack. The distinct sound of a footfall. A dark shadowy form comes down, it grows more and more distinct the closer it comes. There is a face, there are two bright eyes, there are hands with sharp claws and there is an overwhelming darkness to the creature as if it were plucked from the darkest patch of the night sky. Elizabeth notices a smell, a smell like damp moss and rotten bark. She feels the prickle of fear like cold water rising up around her legs. It's too late to run, she can only sit rooted to the spot. The creature is both corporeal and real and yet as ephemeral as the mist. It loses its form and drifts through the fence as if nothing were there to stop it.

It leans down over Elizabeth. Her heart is hammering inside her chest so hard. She wants to speak to this forest god or faery man, but her mouth is dry, and she can't. The creature sniffs breathing the scent of her, the scent of the meat, raw and bloody on the plate. Long fingers reach down and trail through the pieces, it plucks one up and swallows it. Elizabeth watches transfixed as the creature finishes its repast. All this time she finds she can't look up and meet its eyes. Some deep part of her knows that this would be the end and if the meat wasn't here this being would devour her instead. It feels as if time has been suspended but at last it is over, and the hands withdraw.

It takes some time for Elizabeth to come back to herself but eventually she does. She rises stiffly and places the plate down on the stump. She turns towards her house without a backward glance. Her sleep is not peaceful that night, how could it be. Questions rise up and bubble inside her, despite having finally seen the creature she is no closer to understanding. It is a nameless thing, or it has a name that is so old it has been lost. If this creature is real, then what else in the world is also real?

In the bright light of the morning Elizabeth goes out to collect the plate. She then does two things, Elizabeth calls her solicitor and gets him to add a section to her will that stipulates that when Ella inherits her house she must keep the old tradition, Elizabeth doesn't elaborate with more than that. Then Elizabeth calls her daughter and asks for help to make appointments to see the doctors again. Somewhere in the night it has crystalized that she must fight to be here for as long as she can. She needs the time to instil the importance of the old tradition. Elizabeth will give them a little of what they want in exchange for this. The forest must be protected, and it must be fed.