My wife and I had recently decided we wanted a change of pace, and moved to live in the woods. Our house was big enough and was completely removed from the rest of society, secluded and peaceful. As far as we knew, we lived alone out there. A few weeks after moving, I had started to hear a tapping noise coming from outside. I assumed this was from trees outside banging into our walls, as it often got windy out there. Over the course of 2 or so months, the tapping got louder and louder. We wake up one morning before the sun had risen and I say goodbye to her as she heads off to work. I sit in our room as I listen to her car pull out of our gravel driveway and drive off. A few minutes later, I hear knocking at the door. I'm thinking maybe she had forgotten something, so I answer it. But no one's there. I try to see through the darkness and fog of the early morning out to our driveway, but I don't see anything parked. I look to my left and spot our black dog laying on the veranda playing with his toy, so I assume it was him who had just been scratching on the door. As a soft rain starts to fall, I go back inside. I close the door. Inside the living room, I hear that familiar tapping on the window, now the loudest I had ever heard it. Like a knock. These taps were too evenly spaced together to have been from any kind of tree being blown about by the wind. The rain is picking up now, coming down hard on my tin roof. Suddenly, from the other wall of the living room I hear that same knock. Outside I see the dark silhouettes of trees surrounding my house thrashing and waving back and forth in the storm's howling wind, and paranoia starts to fill my gut. I try to calm my nerves, reminding myself that I am the only thing out here. As waves of hail and rain come down on my house, I walk back to my bedroom. I look under the bed, the space between the frame and the floor too small for anything to fit underneath. The closet, full of clothes. Under the desk, nothing but lint and dirt. I go to check behind the curtains. As I start towards the window, I hear footsteps coming from the front porch and my heart starts racing. I pull the curtains back, and peer ever so slightly outside. The sun had started to rise, light creeping across the forest floor. I squint to see who is out there. A warm wave of relief washes over me as I see my wife and I's dog, toy in mouth, bowing at the front door, his dark coat drenched in mud and rain. He notices me watching him from the window and runs over excitedly, whining at me. His puppy dog eyes put a smile on my face, as I'm reminded that everything is as the way it had always been. I walk back to the front door, but hesitate for a moment. I recall my wife telling me not to let the dog in the house after it had been raining, as he'd get our carpet dirty. But hearing his whines, I tell myself she'd let it go just this once, and I open the door to let him in, quickly shutting it to keep the rain out. I sit down on our doormat and hug his muddy fur as he jumps about in my embrace. He shakes himself clean, now safe inside the warm house. But still his whining quickens, coming out in loud gasps as he drops his toy. The dog turns and takes my hand in his mouth, shaking it urgently. His whines are so loud, it sounds like a faint scream. I pull back from him and look into his beady eyes. As he stares back at me with a fearful expression I try and ask him what's wrong, but he continues to scream. Then his black eyes look somewhere behind me, and his gaze turns wide and white. In the reflection of the door's wood, I see two large, yellow eyes, staring right back at me. And then I woke up. ---- I'm not the best writer but I tried to capture the absolute terror I felt last night after being awoken by the first real nightmare I've had in years. Couldn't go back to sleep after this one.
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