Under The Back Porch

Under the back porch is where we buried my best friend’s father. <br><br>My grandmother’s house is a tiny old thing built on the side of a mountain in West Virginia. The ground around the house is rocky and hard to dig in. It takes a lot of work to get even a shallow hole, and we didn’t have much time with the storm coming and all. Poor man deserved an actual burial, but we didn’t have a choice. Things were bad, and we did what we had to do. <br><br>So, under the back porch is where we put him. It’s a spot that has been hidden by the lattice for decades, and it was the best we could do. <br><br>Under the back porch is also where I started hearing the noises, like someone was digging and moving around in the dirt. <br><br>At first, I thought it was a possum or a raccoon that had found its way in. We had a problem with wildlife getting in the house, so this didn’t seem too out of ordinary. I decided to check it anyway, because I didn’t want some stray tearing up the underside of the house. <br><br>I pulled back a piece of the lattice and looked inside. It was almost dark, but the moon didn’t help illuminate much. I could see a couple of empty beer cans, some old broken pots, a few discarded pairs of shoes, a dead mop that had been tossed there, but no signs of any animals. I reached back into the corner. My hand brushed against something, and I pulled it out. <br><br>It was a small plastic bag, open on one end, but it still had some weed inside. I didn’t recognize it as belonging to anyone in the house, and I figured it must have been forgotten. I put the bag in my pocket, and knew I was done.<br><br>“How’s it look?” Josh asked, as I stood up. He was kind of pacing around the yard.<br><br>“Think it might have been an animal,” I said. “But I couldn’t see well.” He didn’t like that. He wanted to know what was making the noise so bad, he was about to lose his mind. I told him that we’d figure it out, and he said that we needed to figure it out now. We went back inside, and I started getting some flashlights to check around some more.<br><br>Inside the house, Josh’s mom was fuming. Josh and I could see it as we passed through. <br><br>She had called some local guys who were willing to go out in the storm, and they all declined once they heard where they were going. The mountain roads were closed, and they knew they’d have to make their way through the woods. The men had said they’d be out as soon as the weather calmed down, but she was getting more and more frantic that they wouldn’t be able to make it. We knew they wouldn’t, either. The wind was kicking up, and it sounded like the house was getting slapped around pretty hard. <br><br>“You boys find out what’s going on yet?” she asked. <br><br>I nodded. “Not yet.”<br><br>“Well, figure it out, goddammit.”<br><br>I don’t like her much, and I usually try to avoid talking to her as much as I can. But she’s a smart woman, with a lot of common sense, so I figured I’d ask her an idea I had. “You think a cigarette might have been lit, and then discarded up under the porch? The wind kicking it into the underside could be making the noise.”<br><br>She thought for a second. “No, that doesn’t make any sense. When I came outside with...his body, I saw some of y’all up under the porch, looking around. I remember thinking that y’all were making sure an animal hadn’t managed to get in. It must have gotten in after that, cause that was before...it happened.”<br><br>I nodded, and me and Josh went back outside again.<br><br>Josh, the kind of guy who hardly ever spoke unless it counted. His father was a good man, and I think Josh is going to grow up to be a good man, too. I like the guy, and I’d do what I could to help him. So, I decided that even if I didn’t find anything else, I was going to keep looking. <br><br>I continued my search for any animals. There were some pretty huge holes around the yard that were big enough for a dog or a person to fit through. We had to patch some of them up the last time a bear got in, so I looked there first. After what felt like hours, I finally found some tracks in one of the holes. I called out to Josh that an animal had gotten in, and then I crawled underneath. <br><br>I had my flashlight with me, and I was moving it around slowly. It was pitch black, and you couldn’t see anything. <br><br>After a minute or two, I finally found the animal. It was a small guy, with mottled grey and brown fur. It reminded me of a badger, but it was a lot larger and it didn’t have the distinctive white stripes. It was standing on two feet, and it was digging furiously at the ground. <br><br>I tried to stand up and slowly back away, but it must have heard me. It turned its head, and I froze. It was a pair of beady little eyes, and they were staring right at me. When I finally calmed myself down enough to move, I turned and I crawled back out with all the speed I could. <br><br>“Josh, there’s definitely an animal under here. We’re going to have go in through another spot to catch it.”<br><br>He nodded, and we started making our way around the house. We found another hole on the other side, and I climbed on in. I didn’t bring the flashlight with me, because I thought I knew where the animal was, and I wanted to keep it in the dark for as long as I could. <br><br>I crawled through the dust and dirt, trying not to make any noise. I rounded a corner, and I hovered in silence. I could hear the sound of digging, and it was a lot closer this time. I made my way forward, and I rounded another corner. <br><br>Right in front of me was the animal, digging furiously into a pile of fresh dirt. I stopped in my tracks, because this was odd. The animal had managed to find the exact spot where we had put Josh’s father. I knew this pile of dirt hadn’t been here earlier, because I had seen that corner when I came through the first time. Slowly, I reached into my pocket to get my flashlight. <br><br>That was when I heard it. <br><br>A small, low voice whispering almost inaudibly. I couldn’t make out the words, but it sounded like it was coming right next to my ears. I started to panic. My breathing got harder and faster. The animal stopped digging, and it looked at me. <br><br>I turned and I crawled as fast as I could back out of that hole. Josh was still standing there, looking at me. “Josh, it’s under the porch,” I said, as I caught my breath. “I’m gonna go through the front, and when I yell out, you come in through this hole. Hopefully we can trap it, and lead it out.”<br><br>Josh nodded, and I crawled inside. It wasn’t too hard to make my way to the spot where the animal was. I rounded a corner, and there it was, not having moved an inch. I saw the pile of fresh dirt, and I realized that this must have been what made the noise. <br><br>I called out to Josh, and almost immediately I heard him crawling through the hole behind me. The animal’s ears perked up, and it ran straight at me. Josh started calling out with a wounded, sorrowful cry. “Daddy! Wait! Come back!” <br><br>I didn’t know what to make of it, but I tried to be brave. I started to stand on my weak, cramped legs. The animal didn’t stop. It charged straight at me, with a few feet in between us. It had feral eyes, and it didn’t seem to be slowing down. <br><br>I raised my arms up, and I closed my eyes. It hit me with all its might, knocking me off my feet. I fell, and I fell hard. I didn’t feel any teeth or claws, but it didn’t matter. What I did feel was a gush of warm, sticky blood, covering my arms and chest. <br><br>I heard the sound of the lattice ripping, and I finally managed to open my eyes. The animal was missing. I raised my head, and the world started spinning. I fell back down, and I must have passed out. <br><br>I heard the sound of the wind blowing, and I realized I was outside again. My head was killing me. I finally managed to raise it up. I was lying down next to the broken lattice, and there was blood all over me. I could see the hole where the animal had gotten out. I started to crawl through it, but I was in too much pain. I laid back down again, and, after a few more minutes, I must have passed out again. <br><br>Josh shook me awake. I tried to sit up as best I could, because I knew he was in bad shape. I’d been out for a few hours, and I could hardly feel my legs.<br><br>“You okay, man?” I asked, as I finally managed to sit, and then stand. <br><br>“I’m okay,” he said. His eyes were big and wide, and he was shivering. “What about you?”<br><br>I nodded, and we went inside together. His mother was waiting in the living room. “What happened? I was hollering out to you boys for a while, but you didn’t answer. I was