Shadow Man

A man in seclusion rocked back and forth in his chair. The light of a flame nestled on his face. He was old, but strong. He spent his days cutting firewood. Every day, the old man walked out of his cabin and towards his log pile. He gripped the handle of his axe and ripped it from the wood. With the axe in his hand, he grabbed a log from the large pile and placed the log on a chopping block. He raised the axe high above his head and swung down with all his strength chopping the log down the middle. The old man continued cutting the logs from morning until night, only stopping to eat and use the bathroom. When the moon creeped out, the old man grabbed some chopped wood and headed inside. He lit a fire and sat fown in his chair rocking back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. When morning came, he headed outside and noticed that he was missing uncut logs. He counted the uncut logs. 342. Throughout the day, he chopped 42. The moon creeped out, the old man carried the firewood inside and lit a fire. He sat down in his chair rocking back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. When morning came, the old man went outside and counted the logs. 243. He noticed his wood was missing more then 42 logs and now his axe was missing. The old man froze in confusion. He searched for the axe and could not find it. Throughout the day, the old man searched until the moon creeped out. The old man was tired from the search, so he headed in his cabin in defeat. He struggled to light the fire, but used one of the wooden chairs in the cabin. He sat in his chair and rocked back and forth. The sound of scratching came upon his windows. The old man stood up and walked to the windows. The sound of scratching came from his door. He walked to the door and opened it.  There was nothing. The fire suddenly died and the old man was trapped in the darkness. He blindly moved towards the burning embers and dropped down to his knees attempting to relight the fire. The sound of scratching could be heard from inside the cabin. The old man panicked in fear. His hands trembling and shaking as he tried to bring the fire to life. The sound of scratching came from behind him. He whipped around to see the blade of his axe on the floor and a shadowy figure looming over him. He called out to the figure and no one answered. The figure raised the axe above its head and swung downwards splitting the old man in half. All was quiet, except the sound of the chair rocking back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.