Olaf crossed his arms over each other, spindly fingers gripping the rags more tightly about himself.  He started in almost immediately, and his words seemed rehearsed from many previous tellings.<br/><br/><em>"I was walkin' along, buzzed in the head but not dead in the noggin' jess yet.  Dun know what made me look up when I did.  The stars were out, so thar were light ta see by.  All 'cept fer whar <strong>it</strong> was."</em><br/><br/>He leaned forward earnestly, as if afraid they couldn't hear him otherwise.<em>"Black.  Thass what it were.  Blacker 'n pitch, blacker 'n oil, blacker 'n soot 'r coal.  It was like, where ever it went, it et up all the light inta itself.  It were all hunched, shoulders as wide as this here room, 'n arms that were mer like ropes 'r thread than meat 'n bone.  It were latched onta the side of a house like a tick, jess lookin' in the window fer somethin'.  Then there were a crack louder than anythin' I ever heard, 'n the damn wall jess...jess weren't there no more."</em><br/><br/><em>"'N there were this awful screamin', 'n the thing stuffed someone--Caroline, right?--inta a big 'ole burlap sack."</em>He shuddered, his yellow skin going white.<em>"Thass when it looked right at me.  I thought it were queer, how it were wearin' a hat.  Big 'ole tall hat as black as it were, but what were <strong>beneath it!</strong>  Hangin' there in the middle o' all that dark, pale as death, a face like I never seen.  More like a hunk o' raw meat than anythin', all stitched up 'n broken with teeth stickin' every which way.  'N one great lidless eye off ta one side, droopin' 'n starin' with hate!  Rooted me right ta the spot it did, 'neath that horrible gaze.  'N then it jess...turned away, jumped up over the rooftops like it didn't weigh a damn thin', right over the walls even!"</em><br/><br/>Olaf shook his head.<em>"Were a daemon, 'r somethin' worse than one."</em>