r/nosleep
I visited my grandparents' house for Thanksgiving. What happened next terrified me... by reddit user hauntster a.k.a R.T. Maxim
There I was, on a very nippy Thanksgiving morning, being woken up to a roaring yell, “Are you awake? We're heading out in thirty minutes! Go shower before the bathroom is hogged.” It was my father alarming me that it was in fact time to get my ass in gear, so we could hit the road to my grandparents’ place up in New Hampshire for some turkey and bonding. Did I want to leave my bed? Absolutely not. In fact, I rested for an extra ten minutes before I mustered up the motivation to quickly shower and get dressed.
In all honesty, I've always loved Thanksgiving. I mean, who doesn't love diving into a plate full of mashed potatoes? I was excited to stuff my face with food, but I carelessly turned myself into an insomniac with a night of YouTube videos, making the 8:30 AM awakening rather agonizing no matter what.
The moment I dragged myself into my dad's jet-black Chevy pick-up, I turned my head to him and asked, “Hey, how far away is this place anyway?”
“Oh don't worry, it's only about a couple hours or so. Not too bad,” he answered.
I knew indeed that the distance wasn't too terrible to endure, but I was also expecting to only be maybe ten miles from home. This being my first time journeying to my grandparents, I wasn't sure what the road trip experience would be like.
We got on the highway and blasted the rock-radio station, with songs from the likes of AC/DC and Linkin Park coming on. An uncomfortable warmth emerged from the vehicle's heater, ultimately making me remove my winter jacket.
Struggling to stay alert, I fought my drowsiness by reading the passing exits and looking for signs appointing to a nearby Dunkin’ Donuts. We were both equally happy to have seen the iconic pink and orange letters plastered on the side of the road, with directions marked for the next exit. I could just foretell the magical caffeine rush and hyped myself up for it.
However, walking through the building's doors, my dad and I weren't just greeted by the aromatics of coffee and doughnuts. No. Our eardrums were immediately smacked with the voice of a small boy. “Mommy! I'm tellin’ ya, I saw them! I saw the lights and I think they saw me too.”
“Jacob Aiden Waters! I've told you enough. It's not appropriate to be using your imagination right now. This is serious.” I could tell the mother was being stern, but her tone also appeared to be holding back, to not catch too much attention. Though, her son already made it too late for that.
“I'm sorry Mommy, but I swear I saw something…” The boy expressed some guilt in response to his mom's expressed feelings.
“I'm so sorry for him. We're both a little distraught after my eldest son, Jacob's older brother, suddenly went missing in the night a couple days ago. Don't mind us.” The woman said to us, as we crossed through their conversation, into the Dunkin’ lobby.
“Oh, no worries. My deepest condolences ma'am,” I awkwardly replied. Both my father and I felt bad, but shrugged it off a bit to obtain our hot and iced coffees; the only thing I was motivated for at that point in time.
The remainder of the ride to my grandparents’ house, felt like forever. Not only because of my own psychological misinterpretation of time, but because of multiple car accidents, from what I believed to have been from idiotic drivers, causing traffic jams.
Finally, we were at the final push of driving, arriving on a snow-covered dirt road, aligned with an abundance of pine trees. I could almost taste the honey-glazed ham and could smell the turkey and gravy pairing. It was the first moment of the day that the holiday spirit came back to me. The dry and frosty air wasn't even enough to revoke my excitement or stop my stomach's cravings.
