Амброз Бирс - The Damned Thing

Its light shone on the body of the dead man.

Hugh Morgan's throat had been torn open. There were many terrible deep injuries all over his body. His clothes were soaked with blood.

"Gentlemen, you've heard Mr Harker's story," said the coroner. "You've seen Mr Morgan's body. What shall we write on the death certificate? Did a wild animal kill Mr Morgan, or was he murdered? We must decide."

The seven men went out of the room and spoke together quietly for two or three minutes.

William Harker turned toward the coroner.

"I see that you have Morgan's diary, sir," he said. "Have you read it? Does it tell us anything important?"

"I've read it quickly," said the coroner, "No, it doesn't tell us anything about the cause of Mr Morgan's death."

The seven men came back into the room. One of them stood in front of the coroner and spoke.

"We believe that Hugh Morgan was killed by a mountain lion," he said.

"Thank you, gentlemen," said the coroner. "Everyone can leave now. Mr Morgan will be buried in the morning. I'll send for an undertaker."

That was the end of the inquest. But it was not quite the end of the story.

William Harker was a writer. He wanted to read Hugh Morgan's diary and write a story about his friend's death. He stayed in the town after Morgan was buried. A few days later, Morgan's property and belongings were sold. William Harker bought the diary.

Hugh Morgan had been a lonely man who had written all his thoughts in his diary. But he had not always written days and dates in the diary. And some of the pages in the book were torn. Other pages were missing. This is what Morgan had written before his death:

My dog is behaving strangely. He barks and turns around again and again. He looks at something that isn't there. He runs after something that he can't see. This has happened several times.

1 September

Tonight, I was looking at the stars in the sky above the hill. Then something strange happened. Someone-or something-moved between me and the stars. The stars suddenly looked like a pool when you drop a stone in the water. Am I going crazy?

27 September

It's been here again. It moves around the house. Now I keep my gun beside me always. Does this Thing only come at night? Today I saw footprints in the soft ground, near the house. What's happening here? Am I going crazy?

2 October

I shall not leave my home. I will not run away because of this Thing. But it might make me crazy.

5 October

I've invited my friend, Harker, to stay here. I'll say nothing. Maybe he'll find an answer. Maybe he'll see the Thing too.

Can the dog see it? I'm sure that the dog hears it. It hears things that I can't hear. Can the dog see things that I can't see? Perhaps that is the answer. If there are sounds that men can't hear, are there colors that men can't see? Is the Damned Thing a color that men can't see?

- THE END -

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