The Children of Yig (Cthulhu Mythos)

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Over the next few days, Hazel's behavior became increasingly strange. The day after the incident, she began digging up flowers from the center of her prized garden, forming a large circle, and then began lining the circumference with stones. Then she lined the inside of that circle three smaller concentric circles. When Ira asked her what she was doing, she only said, "Preparing." Later, she took the truck and was gone for a couple of hours, returning just before dusk. When Ira asked where she had been, he was surprised that she gave an answer. She said she had been out to see Donny O'Quinn and that he was going to carve something for her. Ira reminded his wife that he would have done that for her if she had asked, but she replied, "Not this, you wouldn't."

The next morning was a Sunday and so after breakfast, Ira started preparing for church. He noticed, however, that Hazel was not getting herself ready to go. He asked her why not, she replied ominously, "The Great Old Ones are returning soon. Yig is returning. That is what I have to get ready for." Ira was simply astonished and did not know what to say in reply. Ira went to church alone and when people asked about his wife, he told them she was not feeling well that day. Upon returning home, he found Hazel back in the garden, laying small stones in lines from the center circle to the outer one. She spent the rest of the day out there, meticulously placing stones, forming a complicated pattern, but leaving a narrow path clear in the south facing direction.

The following morning, Hazel took the truck out at about noon and returned later with a wood carving about three feet in height, which she placed in the center of her stone pattern, facing south towards the narrow path. The carving, or idol as Ira could clearly tell, depicted a snake, its bottom portion coiled, and the upper part raised erect and with arms ending in three clawed fingers. She began placing a ring of candles around the statue's base. When Ira inquired about the idol, Hazel identified it as Yig and added that soon she would be one of his "children". Ira resolved to get his wife to the doctor the next day, even if he had to carry her kicking and screaming. She clearly was not in her right mind, and on top of that, her skin had become so pale she that looked like a corpse walking. When he suggested the idea of going to the clinic, Hazel adamantly refused and said there was nothing wrong with her.

That night, Hazel said she would be sleeping by herself in the second bedroom, which she did from time to time. As Ira slept, he never heard Hazel leave the house. And at midnight, he never saw the ring of candles burning in the garden.