1991 Phineas Records

In a dusty old study, a man finds himself examining an old cassette tape he had found in one of the drawers of an ornate writing desk. It was marked with only a date, “October 5th, 1991”. Digging through his messenger bag, he pulls out an old cassette player. Inserting the tape into the player gently, in hopes that the audio contained within was still intact. Pressing the play button, the machine whirred to life as somewhat crackly, but still decent quality, audio played out through the players speakers. 

“...into the woods, where I had an encounter with…a most peculiar creature. Snake-like in form and, fuzzy, I suppose you could say. It had quietly approached me while I wasn’t looking. When I had turned around to pick up the pack I had put on the ground I saw it digging through my pack. I know it sounds a bit out there but what happened next had me doing a double take.” 

The tape was only a little ways through, but the man was immediately transfixed. 

“It had taken my camera! The instant develop one Maria gave me for Christmas! It had the thing in between it’s…beak? Snout? Chompers? I’m honestly still not one hundred percent sure what it was…for now we’ll call it a snout. Anyways, it just…stood there, and we stared at each other, its eyes were a bit goofy looking but I was tense all the same. Eventually it dropped my camera but then stared intently at my pocket where I’d put my trail mix for safekeeping. I think it was trying to trade or hold my camera hostage or something but I was too intrigued, I thought if I gave it what it wanted it’d stay around a bit longer and I wasn’t entirely wrong I don’t think.” 

The man that had started the tape sat down at the old desk, setting his messenger bag to the side as he listened intently to the recording. 

“After handing it the bag of trail mix I went and picked up my camera, I thought maybe I could get a picture of the thing, but before I could it grabbed the trail mix and had slithered up into a nearby tree. I could see its beady eyes staring at me from the shade and hear the rustling of the bag that held my trail mix as it seemingly devoured everything left in it! Once it was done, it poked its head out of the tree once more, staring intently at me. I was completely awestruck to say the least, I had no idea what this creature was but its social behaviors astounded me. Not only did it try and take my camera, it then proceeded to bargain for something on my person. This creature HAD to be studied but…at the same time I don’t think I could bring myself to capture it, both because of its lasting impression on me and the fact that once I started moving through the forest again I barely even SAW it move. One second I’d be examining the specimens of fungi at the base of a tree, the next second it was staring me in the face, watching my actions carefully. I don’t know how it managed to be so quick and quiet, perhaps it was some kind of ambush predator that got a jump on its prey? It seemed like it was very passive though, and its enjoyment of my trail mix told me it was at LEAST an omnivore of some kind. I did try to take photos of the creature but a lot of them came out as red…blurry blobs, he did not seem intent on taking any kind of photo, I can’t blame him however, I know I hate having my own photo taken.”

 A loud boisterous laugh comes out of the tape recorder before the click! of the tape recorder’s autostop function cuts him off suddenly. His laugh was that infectious even back in the day, and that part about the pictures of red blurry blobs… 

Digging around in his messenger bag he takes out some old polaroid photos that were found in the bedroom’s nightstand dresser. It was just as described. Red blurry blobs captured on old photos, I’m sure it was much more painful than he let on, having to let the things develop and being disappointed by the result every time. Digging deeper into the drawer he found a few more cassette recordings, all of them having dates but only a few being labeled as to what the contents were. The man listened to a few more, his intrigue towards this cryptid-like creature grown having found out about its existence. He listened to tape after tape… Scattered throughout the recordings were mentions of the creature, sightings of it here and there, the occasional observation, very small snippets of information that leaked through each recording.

 October 30th, 1991 

“Mycelium Observation No. 25” “Ran into the creature again! Whenever I come out here with any kind of fruit or nut it seems to want to be around me and just generally observe me! I keep telling it, it should be the other way around!” 

December 3rd, 1991 

“Deer herding behavior No. 3” “I actually managed to see the creature behaving around herbivores! The deer seemed rather unfazed though…the creature was seemingly looking for food, it sort of stood up a bit tall and looked around. It had these very quick and purposeful movements, keeping its head on a swivel as it watched the deer, occasionally dashing in to partake in some of the food they found.” 

March 14th, 1992 

“Wild Bird Observation No. 10” “It has been awhile but the creature appeared before me once more on this particular observation…it seems to mimic certain wild birds, ruffling its fur as though they were feathers. Not only that, it chirps! I thought this would be some kind of predator mimicry, so it could perhaps attract birds to their unwitting fate. Instead…the creature just enjoyed their presence. Sitting near them, watching them contently. Occasionally a Jay or Robin would perch itself in the creature’s fur. It’s unlike anything I’d ever observed…”

As the cassette player played it’s familiar click! at the end of the tape, the man at the desk was at a loss. 

There was much to be learned from the professor’s research…but this creature seemingly broke entirely new grounds! Picking up the relevant tapes, the man put them into his messenger bag. Getting up from the desk, he let himself finally think clearly for a moment, the setting sun shining through the study’s window revealing the gratuitous amount of dust floating about the room. He had swept the professor’s entire house, the research team were probably wondering where he was. 

Though he was about to make his way to the front entrance, something drew him towards the garden. Maybe it was the fact he was inside that dusty study for so long, maybe it was the underlying hope that he could lay eyes on the mysterious creature. Maybe he wanted to say goodbye to his favorite teacher, one last time. Either way, stepping out the back door he let himself bathe in the glowing gold of the setting sun. Putting down his messenger bag he dug through it, taking a bottle of water to drink from as he set himself down in the garden, observing the flowers. 

When he turned around, he was face to face with a creature unlike any other, one he was already familiar with.

 It was digging through his messenger bag, and in its snout it had one of the tapes. The man tried to grab the tape but before he could even react the all too familiar red streak of fur had retreated into the forest. 

The man stared, helpless, he still had many tapes but the creature had taken the first one he’d listened to. He supposed…he could always come back. 

Perhaps it’d be willing to bargain for the tape for some trail mix.