Half-Awake and Half-Alive

Arthur whimpered. "Why does it have to be so dang wet out tonight?"

The postman had never been saddled with night delivery before--who'd even heard of such a thing? Arthur made one attempt after another to pull his drenched pant legs up as he sloshed through the damp leaves that coated the forest floor. That was his first mistake, taking the muddiest shortcut possible to get his rounds over with and get home quicker.

"H-hey!"

Something pulled at Arthur's ankle mid-stride. Jarred, he threw his arms out to save his face from the bitter sogginess below, without a clue about what he'd tripped on. It's not like he wasn't watching where he was going; he was doing his best to avoid the puddles!

A sudden creaky crackling behind him stirred him to investigate further. With not a soul to witness it, by God, the trees around him were alive.

With his hands stinging from the freezing rain and his layers soaked through, Arthur watched as the dozens of trees spasmed wildly overhead. Through inky blue moonlight, he could just make out a cloaked figure on the path in front of him.

"H-hello?!" he called out to it. "What's going on? Do you know?"

Arthur felt something slither up his back and wrap violently around him, squeezing him, hoisting him up into the air. He looked down at the ground he'd left behind and the soaked letters falling from his mailbag--and never felt dizzier.

"A-AH! PLEASE, HELP! SOMEONE!"

The figure only stood still as the arms thrashed him about. The stumps of long-dead trees on the path seemed to open wide, their jagged edges like gnashing teeth in gaping, bottomless maws.

The last thing Arthur remembered after being launched into the darkness was a shrill, sadistic feminine cackling in the air...